Congress has taken on Epstein. But lawmakers and survivors are still searching for accountability

Victims of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse, from left, Liz Stein, Dani Bensky, Sharlene Rochard, Marina Lacerda and Andrea Sterling, are seen before former Attorney General Pam Bondi arrives for her deposition at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill, Friday, May 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Ceneta)2026-05-30T12:54:27Z WASHINGTON (AP) — For nearly a year, public demand and increasingly outspoken calls from the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse have driven Congress to mostly set aside party politics and search for accountability.Yet even after interviews with some of the highest-ranked officials to ever appear before a congressional investigation, including a former president, lawmakers have little to show in terms of criminal culpability for Epstein’s crimes or a definitive acknowledgment of government failure.Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California, who sponsored legislation to force the release of case files on Epstein, told The Associated Press he is still asking, “Why there has not been a single investigation of people who have allegedly abused or committed financial crimes?”Lawmakers hoped to get some answers to those questions during a transcribed interview Friday with Pam Bondi, President Donald Trump’s former attorney general who oversaw the release of the files. But the interview left Democrats fuming at Bondi’s decision to defend the Trump administration’s handling of that material, as well as her refusal to answer questions about the Republican president’s involvement. Democratic lawmakers also singled out Republican Rep. James Comer, chair of the House Oversight Committee, saying he has allowed administration officials to dodge tough questions from Congress. For survivors of Epstein’s abuse, including several who traveled to Washington to confront Bondi, it was a frustrating development at a time when many are weary of pleading their case before government officials. They say the Department of Justice’s chaotic release of the files, which included nude photos and personal information of potential victims, has only added to a wider failure by the criminal justice system to believe or protect them.“The government’s refusal to acknowledge the failures that were there have led to so much harm,” said Annie Farmer. “And I think whenever you’re thinking about things from a perspective of justice or healing, without acknowledgment, it’s really hard to move forward.” Read More Push for accountability scrambled political linesThe committee’s investigation has been remarkably bipartisan at many moments, with Democrats and Republicans joining to issue subpoenas and force witness testimony. Besides Bondi, lawmakers have interviewed former Democratic President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Trump’s commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick.That effort shows lawmakers are willing to cross political lines when there is overwhelming public pressure to act. Dozens of women have accused Epstein, a wealthy and well-connected financier, of sexual abuse and rape, including in the years after he reached a deal with federal prosecutors in 2008 to dispose of a federal investigation in exchange for pleading guilty to state level sex offense charges in Florida. Epstein, who was found dead in a New York jail cell in 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges, was accused of paying underage girls hundreds of dollars in cash for massages and then molesting them.His case has captured the public imagination as an example of how the rich and powerful escape accountability for wrongdoing. Lawmakers took up the cause last year after the administration failed to meet promises to provide transparency on the case. Different continents, different standards?Despite the investigation originating in the United States, the reckoning over Epstein has been relatively mild in the country compared with Europe. There, senior figures in governments including the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway and Slovakia have all been forced to step down over their ties to Epstein.In its investigation, the House committee spoke to some of Epstein’s closest associates, including his former financial client Les Wexner, his lawyer Darren Indyke and his accountant Richard Kahn. The Clintons, Lutnick and others were also called to testify.All have said more or less the same thing: They knew nothing about Epstein abusing underage girls.Still, the release of Epstein files has had consequences. At least eight American academic and business figures have been forced from positions of power, including former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers from teaching at Harvard University and Kathy Ruemmler from her post as the chief legal officer at Goldman Sachs. Bank of America and Epstein’s estate have reached multimillion-dollar settlements with women who have accused the institutions of facilitating Epstein’s sex-trafficking operations.Comer, R-Ky., said last week that the names of three people allegedly involved in abus

Victims of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse, from left, Liz Stein, Dani Bensky, Sharlene Rochard, Marina Lacerda and Andrea Sterling, are seen before former Attorney General Pam Bondi arrives for her deposition at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill, Friday, May 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Ceneta)2026-05-30T12:54:27Z WASHINGTON (AP) — For nearly a year,…

Victims of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse, from left, Liz Stein, Dani Bensky, Sharlene Rochard, Marina Lacerda and Andrea Sterling, are seen before former Attorney General Pam Bondi arrives for her deposition at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill, Friday, May 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Ceneta)2026-05-30T12:54:27Z WASHINGTON (AP) — For nearly a year, public demand and increasingly outspoken calls from the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse have driven Congress to mostly set aside party politics and search for accountability.Yet even after interviews…