SCOOP: Trump’s DOJ never investigated Epstein’s alleged money laundering businesses
Recent depositions of Epstein’s ‘money men’ and uncovered documents reveal that federal agents never searched Epstein’s Virgin Island offices or questioned those who ran the books.
Cam here 👋 bringing you your daily dose of what people are doing – good, bad, and otherwise – in the world of politics. We’re diving into the stories you won’t see anywhere else. And remember, you can also keep up with me over on TikTok and Bluesky.
Since day one of Trump’s political career, people have desperately attempted to normalize his absurd abuses of power and blatant corruption – and 10 years later, much of corporate media remains a victim of their own attempts to return to a sense of normalcy.
It’s time to stop sane-washing the insanity.
What Happened
Billions of dollars in suspicious transactions flowed through sex trafficking kingpin Jeffrey Epstein’s financial accounts at the height of his influence. Yet federal law enforcement never searched his business officers, seized his records, or even questioned his accountant.
An ongoing investigation by COURIER into the individuals connected to Epstein’s criminal ring who have not faced charges uncovered internal FBI correspondence confirming that agents never searched Epstein’s businesses suspected of money laundering.
“It’s never been reported whether his business office in St Thomas, in the American Yacht Club was searched. We have talked to a merchant in the marina/office complex,” New York Times reporter Matthew Goldstein wrote in an October 2019 email. “Can you confirm the search for us on Aug. 12 or if that date is error, that the office was search [sic] by your agents.”
Minutes after receiving the email, agents confirmed internally that no such search had taken place. But it took more than a month — and pressure from Goldstein — for the FBI to respond that they couldn’t comment on an ongoing investigation.
Goldstein also asked about garbage bags of shredded paper allegedly found outside Epstein’s Southern Trust offices weeks before Epstein’s arrest, but it never ended up being reported on. COURIER reached out to Goldstein, who confirmed the correspondence, and said he lacked enough credible sourcing to report it at the time.
Whether the FBI searched the offices after the November 2019 exchange remains unclear. COURIER reached out to the FBI agent assigned to the case at the time, who did not respond to a request for comment.
However, depositions released Thursday by the US House Oversight Committee suggest that any search of Epstein’s offices — by the FBI or the six other federal agencies that were investigating him — would have been extremely unlikely.
The depositions, taken in mid-March and released Tuesday, include testimony from Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn, the longtime attorney and accountant Epstein named as executors of his estate. The depositions were part of a congressional investigation into the US Justice Department’s now-closed case into Epstein’s international sex trafficking operation.
Both Kahn and Indyke admitted for the first time that no federal agent or law enforcement officer had ever questioned either of them in relation to Epstein’s crimes.
“I’ve never been questioned by any government authority,” Khan said bluntly, when asked by Billy Grant, the Oversight committee’s deputy chief counsel.
“The answer is no. I don’t believe I have,” Indyke responded similarly. “Personally, no. I know that over the last several months, the estate has provided information to the Justice Department.”
The combined 13 hours of testimony from Kahn and Indyke paint a detailed picture of the duo’s intimate involvement with every aspect of Epstein’s financial affairs. Indyke created numerous LLCs and business holdings, withdrew hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, and handled paperwork for his many investments; Khan worked directly with banks, even impersonating Epstein at times, and facilitated fraudulent marriages involving some of his victims.
An interrogation of Kahn and Indyke would be standard procedure in any financial crimes investigation, had such an investigation taken place. Epstein’s financial documents are replete with both men’s signatures, and suspicious activity reports and “know-your-customer” checks — both required when a client is suspected of money laundering or human trafficking — filed by banks listed the three men as equals within Epstein’s financial empire.
Thousands of suspicious transactions worth billions of dollars are tied directly to Kahn and Indyke through Epstein. They include businesses like Southern Trust, Butterfly Trust, and other entities authorities believe helped facilitate money laundering, human trafficking, and other fraudulent activity, but appear to have never been seriously investigated. And while some of the banks used by Epstein have paid hundreds of millions in civil settlements, there has still never been any substantive criminal investigation to determine wrongdoing.
US Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA), a ranking member of the Oversight Committee, said the apparently intentional omission of financial scrutiny reflects a broader institutional failure by the Trump administration and private sector alike to sacrifice justice at the hands of profit.
“This is reaffirming all of the distrust that Americans have. It has felt like, from the beginning, from all of the various investigations that have actually taken place around Epstein, if you look at every step of the way, there has been collusion, has been what looks like conspiracy, there’s been hidden information,” said Lee. “We’re talking about banks. We’re talking about businesses. All of these in some way have failed, and allowed Epstein to have been able to do what he was able to do with as many people who had who knew it. It proves a deep distrust of why Americans do not believe that we have an equal justice system in this country.”
On March 17, Lee introduced articles of impeachment against US Attorney Pam Bondi, citing her role in the apparent coverup of Epstein’s criminal ring of financial fraud and sexual abuse. Bondi has repeatedly been defended by Trump — who is himself implicated in the Epstein Files — and has thus far avoided any serious scrutiny.
Lee believes that meaningful accountability for Epstein’s accomplices and co-conspirators will not be possible until Bondi is removed from her post.
While that may appear impossible with a Republican-controlled Congress — House Oversight Chair US Rep. James Comer (R-KY) held a “sham” deposition for Bondi recently, where she was neither under oath nor required to provide information — Lee views public pressure as a realistic path toward impeachment, and by extension, removing one of the main barriers to justice for Epstein’s victims and consequences for his enablers.
“We saw, even without articles of impeachment, Kristi Noem does not exist anymore. We need public pressure right now on this administration, from Americans of all stripes, who do not believe that she should continue to stay in this role. We’ve seen how that pressure worked to get the same files that we do have,” said Lee. “That’s why they are nervous, because they’re recognizing that they can’t run away from this one anymore. Between the outside pressure, between these articles that we will be pushing on the inside, and then the subpoena that [Bondi] says she may or may not answer… Those will all be pressure points that we will put on her to do the right thing, for Trump to do the right thing, or for Congress to have the opportunity to take action.”
Attempts to Sanewash
Epstein’s former attorney testifies to House committee, says he didn’t know about the abuse
High-profile figures, insiders set to testify in Epstein probe
Jeffrey Epstein left behind a $630 million estate. The people running it say they haven’t been paid.
Far-Right Spin
It’s easy for individual members of Congress to get overlooked by national outlets as they quietly skate to reelection again, and again, and again. The following is an overview of different congressional representatives you may not have heard of, with fun facts about their origin stories they’ve tried to keep out of the public narrative.
US Rep. Jeff Van Drew, New Jersey’s 2nd Congressional District
Since taking office in 2019, Rep. Van Drew has:
Refrained from trading stocks, while still maintaining a net worth somewhere between $2.4 million and $5 million
Sponsored 168 bills
Authored two bills that have been signed into law, both to rename post offices
Switched political parties after internal polling showed it would give him a better chance of winning
Voted to expand the draft to include women
Voted in 2022 to pass a law protecting same-sex marriage federally only to vote against it five months later
Believes drone sightings in New Jersey are linked to an Iranian “mothership” in international waters launching minivan-sized drones at the US
Fun Facts
Rep. Van Drew held elected office as a Democrat for 28 years before switching parties — along with almost all of his core principles and morals — in 2019. The break began during Trump’s first impeachment when Van Drew was one of two Democrats to vote against it. He later introduced legislation to have all impeachments expunged from Trump’s criminal record.
Shortly after, he met with Trump, offered his “undying support,” and went all-in. He contested the 2020 election results and defended Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene when she was reprimanded for her history of “anti-Semitism and xenophobia.”
On policy, Van Drew’s positions have also shifted. He founded the Offshore Wind Caucus to further US investment in renewable wind energy, but later changed his tune due to Trump’s erratic rage at wind farms. He quit the caucus in 2024 and personally drafted Trump’s executive order to freeze offshore wind energy projects.
His support of the LGBTQ community is tenuous at best, as illustrated by his involvement in the Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus: joined in 2019, left in 2020, joined again in 2021, then left again in 2022.
Van Drew claimed to support abortion rights protected under Roe v. Wade — until it was overturned in 2022. He has since described himself as pro-life.
No Kings Pre-gaming
By Melissa Ryan, author of COURIER’s CTRL-alt-Right-Delete
Tomorrow is No Kings Day. I’m really looking forward to attending with my family, and I hope you have a plan too. I wanted to mention that, in addition to the big events, there are plenty of smaller local options (which I, as the parent of small children, seek out), and that the website makes it possible to search for ADA-compliant and virtual events. No matter what you’re looking for, there are ways to make your voice heard and stand in solidarity against the Regime.
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