SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
It's been more than a year since the House Oversight Committee launched its investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Today, the Republican-led committee published its report on that investigation, and the report puts a lot of blame on the federal government for a decades-long failure to hold Epstein accountable for his crimes. NPR's Ava Berger has been reading that report, and she's with me now in the studio. Hi, Ava.
AVA BERGER, BYLINE: Hi, Sacha.
PFEIFFER: I assume this is not a short report, but could you recap it for us?
BERGER: I can. It is not short. It's 136 pages. It's a hard read, Sacha. It's based on 19 interviews and depositions with some big names that we've heard before - the Clintons, Bill Gates, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. There's two big takeaways. First, the report blames the federal government for mishandling the investigations into Epstein, like you said. And second, it says the Department of Justice needs to interview or reinterview key witnesses. I mean, basically, start this investigation again. Here's the chair of the committee, James Comer, in a social media video posted today. He's a Republican from Kentucky.
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JAMES COMER: The Department of Justice must interview key witnesses, investigate everyone who participated in or facilitated these crimes and provide survivors access to their records. Congress could investigate, but it cannot deliver justice alone.
BERGER: This is notable, Sacha, because right now the oversight committee is led by Republicans. And this is them taking a strong stance on the investigation into the convicted sex offender, even to go as far as to say that Trump's DOJ failed to protect survivors when they released the Epstein files. In many cases, their personal information was made public.
PFEIFFER: Any response from the DOJ on these charges levied against it?
BERGER: Yes, the DOJ told NPR in a statement today that they have already addressed these recommendations put forward by the report and that the Epstein case is not closed.
PFEIFFER: As we have talked about repeatedly before on our air, President Trump's name has come up repeatedly in the Epstein files. Did the report today say anything about him?
BERGER: Yes. It said that from everything they found, these interviews in this investigation, Trump was not implicated in any of Epstein's crimes. This lines up with what the president has said many times before. The report also said that Democrats have made this process political by insinuating Trump's connection with Epstein and his crimes. You can see there where the Republicans and Democrats on the committee differ. Robert Garcia, he's the lead Democrat on the committee, he said in a statement that today's report was partisan and incomplete.
PFEIFFER: Ava, if you've been able to reach any survivors of Epstein's abuse, how are they reacting to the report?
BERGER: Yeah, I talked with Dani Bensky today. She says that when she was 17, Epstein abused her as a young dancer. She's been speaking out with other survivors. She wants the DOJ to keep investigating and look into some of the people named in the report. But she also said the report gives her hope.
DANI BENSKY: I do feel hopeful. I mean, to us, it's never been partisan, and it's never been a Democrat versus Republican thing. It's always been whoever will follow the evidence wherever it goes is who we will support and where we'll land.
BERGER: Bensky and other survivors will actually be on the Hill next week to mark one year since the Epstein Transparency Act was signed. That was that unanimous Senate vote that ordered the DOJ to release the millions of Epstein files to the public.
PFEIFFER: The midterms, as we know, have changed control of the House, and as a result, in January, the Democrats will lead the oversight committee. What will they do differently, if anything?
BERGER: Robert Garcia, who I mentioned before, he will likely be the leader of the committee. He says that under the Democrats' leadership, the committee will hold hearings in public, which they have not done before, and they say they will continue to question powerful men associated with Epstein, including Trump. He, Garcia, has also emphasized that he wants the survivors of Epstein's abuse, like Bensky, to be at the center of this work.
PFEIFFER: That's NPR's Ava Berger. Thank you.
BERGER: Thanks, Sacha.
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