Topline
House Judiciary Committee Republicans blocked a Democrat effort Wednesday to subpoena a group of major banks as part of a renewed investigation into late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s financial ties.
Congressman Jim Jordan, R-OH, is the chairman of the committee. (Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Anadolu via Getty Images
Key Facts
A near party-line vote squashed the effort to vote on a subpoena, with Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who is leading a separate effort to force the Justice Department to release more Epstein case materials, voting alongside Democrats.
The vote, if successful, would have resulted in the issuing of subpoenas to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing and Bank of New York Mellon CEO Robin Vince.
The subpoenas would have specifically looked into multiple reports that claimed the four banks flagged $1.5 billion in suspicious transactions linked to Epstein.
The failed effort from Democrats followed an FBI oversight hearing in which agency director Kash Patel misleadingly claimed the FBI cannot release many of the files it has on Epstein.
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Crucial Quote
Dimon, who attended a lunch with Senate Republicans before the vote, according to Politico, told reporters, “We regret any association with that man at all. And, of course, if it’s a legal requirement, we would conform to it. We have no issue with that.”
Chief Critic
“Republicans had the chance to subpoena the CEOs of JPMorgan, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, and Bank of New York Mellon to expose Epstein’s money trail,” the House Judiciary Democrats said in a tweet. “Instead, they tried to bury it. Every Republican except one voted against the subpoena.”
Further Reading
Can FBI Release Full Epstein Files? Why Kash Patel’s Claims Are Misleading (Forbes)