House report faults US agencies for failures in Epstein case
What's new: The panel urged the Justice Department to re-interview witnesses, probe associates and tighten protections for survivors' records.
A Republican-led House Oversight Committee report found that federal authorities failed for years to hold Jeffrey Epstein accountable and mishandled survivors' interests after his death. The report, released Tuesday after a 15-month inquiry, said prosecutorial failures, preferential treatment and institutional negligence let Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell continue abusing young women and girls. It also blamed the Justice Department for poor handling of document releases that exposed sensitive survivor information and described Epstein's 2019 jail death as the product of institutional failures, including staffing shortages and lax security. Democrats called the report incomplete and partisan, while the committee pressed the Justice Department to keep investigating Epstein's associates.