Explosive House report exposes failures it says allowed Epstein's abuse to continue for years

James Comer's investigation alleged conflicts of interest among federal prosecutors and criticized work-release privileges

FIRST ON FOX: The House Oversight Committee released a report concluding that prosecutorial failures, preferential treatment and institutional negligence allowed Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to continue sexually exploiting young women and girls for years.

The investigation, led by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest involving federal prosecutors, financial institutions that overlooked warning signs of sex trafficking and individuals accused of facilitating Epstein's abuse.

The report identified two former federal prosecutors whose involvement in Epstein's original investigation raised potential conflicts of interest.

Matthew Menchel, a senior federal prosecutor who recommended resolving Epstein's case through a non-prosecution agreement, previously had a romantic relationship with Lilly Ann Sanchez, who later represented Epstein.

Menchel did not recuse himself from the investigation and continued communicating and meeting with Epstein after the agreement, according to documents cited by the committee.

Investigators also learned of an alleged photograph showing Menchel skiing with Epstein in Colorado in the early 2000s but could not verify its existence or establish that Menchel's decisions were improperly influenced.

Menchel, however, denied ever having skied with Epstein in a statement to the Miami Herald but did not deny meeting with him after leaving the U.S. Attorney's Office. His attorneys said their correspondence concerned potential legal representation and referrals, none of which resulted in business.

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That Jeffrey Epstein worked for Mossad to run a state-sponsored blackmail or “honeypot” operation .........trading sex for state secrets.......... is a prominent topic of public debate and investigative reporting due to documented connections between Epstein, high-level intelligence figures, and diplomatic back-channels.

Claims that Epstein operated as an “intelligence asset” rely largely on circumstantial evidence, uncorroborated informant reports, and statements from commentators rather than declassified government confirmation.

A 2020 FBI memo released by the Department of Justice documented a confidential source claiming Epstein was a “co-opted Mossad agent” trained under former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

<><>Former U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta reportedly told transition officials that he was warned to back off Epstein’s 2008 non-prosecution agreement because Epstein “belonged to intelligence”. Acosta later denied making that statement during congressional testimony and stated he had no knowledge of Epstein working for any intelligence community.

<><>Former Israeli intelligence officer Ari Ben-Menashe has publicly claimed that Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s father, Robert Maxwell, worked for Israeli intelligence to gather compromising material on elites. Similarly, former CIA officer John Kiriakou speculated that Epstein fit the textbook profile of an “access agent”.

<><>Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed by Epstein’s lawyers and lawmakers seeking records of his affiliation with the CIA and NSA resulted in standard “Glomar” responses, meaning the agencies would neither confirm nor deny the existence of classified records.

<><>While direct employment as a spy is unsubstantiated, released emails, calendars, and financial records show that Epstein frequently operated in the privileged orbit of intelligence and diplomatic figures.

Epstein maintained a close financial and personal relationship with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

Records show Barak’s senior aide, Israeli military intelligence officer Yoni Koren, stayed at Epstein’s Manhattan apartment multiple times between 2013 and 2015. Epstein also helped broker security agreements between Israel and nations like Mongolia and Côte d’Ivoire.

Early in his career, Epstein also worked with figures tied to the CIA’s Iran-Contra affair, including Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, and oversaw the restructuring of CIA-linked contractor Southern Air Transport for billionaire Leslie Wexner.

Intelligence experts, former officials, and reviewers of Epstein’s seized files argue against the theory that he was a formal intelligence operative.

cont

Both current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett have flatly denied that Epstein worked for Mossad. Netanyahu argued that Epstein’s close ties to his political rival Ehud Barak proved Epstein was not working for the Israeli state.

People with direct access to the massive trove of records and hard drives seized by the FBI from Epstein’s properties reported finding no evidence linking him to U.S. or foreign intelligence operations. No intelligence ties were introduced during the 2021 federal sex-trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell-—whose father was a high-placed Mossad official.

Intelligence analysts note that agencies rarely trust or utilize erratic, high-profile criminals who attract heavy media scrutiny, as their reckless behavior poses a severe counterintelligence liability. Epstein’s longtime lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, echoed this view, stating that no intelligence agency would ever trust Epstein with state secrets.

Historical Context on Intelligence “Honeypots”

The tactic described—using sexual entrapment (”honeypots” or kompromat) to blackmail influential targets—is a well-documented espionage method used historically by various intelligence agencies, including the Soviet KGB and the CIA.

During the Cold War, the CIA famously ran domestic and foreign surveillance programs, such as Operation Midnight Climax in the 1950s and 1960s under the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations, which utilized safe houses, hidden cameras, and sex workers to study mind control and compromising tactics.

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