July 23,2025

As Trump Sits on Key Epstein Files, Wyden Lays Out “Follow the Money” Investigation for DOJ

Years into His Own Epstein Investigation, Finance Ranking Democrat Recommends Seven Major Lines of Investigation for Trump’s Idle Department of Justice

Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Ranking Democrat Ron Wyden, D-Ore., slammed the Trump administration’s failure to properly investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking network and financing in a new letter sent today to Attorney General Pam Bondi, and he laid out seven leads for federal prosecutors based on the findings of his own years-long inquiry.

“After reviewing the Epstein memorandum you recently published, it is obvious that the DOJ failed to conduct a real investigation into the funding of Epstein’s sex trafficking operation. In fact, I am convinced that the DOJ ignored evidence found in the U.S. Treasury Department’s Epstein file, a binder that contains extensive details on the mountains of cash Epstein received from prominent businessmen that Epstein used to finance his criminal network,” Wyden wrote. “Due to the DOJ’s lack of thoroughness, I would like to offer you a roadmap with a list of ‘follow the money’ leads on Jeffrey Epstein that you must follow up on immediately.”

The seven lines of investigation Wyden laid out in his letter are as follows:

Direct DOJ prosecutors and FBI agents to immediately investigate the evidence contained in the Treasury Department records on Epstein. The Treasury Department’s Epstein file contains actionable information on thousands of wire transfers and more than $1 billion dollars flowing in and out of Epstein’s accounts, all of which merit further investigation.
Direct DOJ prosecutors and FBI agents to investigate why several ultra-wealthy Wall Street financiers paid Jeffrey Epstein hundreds of millions of dollars. For example, billionaire Leon Black paid Epstein $170 million for purported tax and estate planning advice, far more than other professional attorneys and advisors involved in Black’s estate planning. This is an abnormal amount to pay for tax advice, yet no satisfactory explanation has been provided as to why Black paid Epstein such extraordinary sums without a written contract or agreement.
Investigate the role of sanctioned Russian banks in the financing of Epstein’s sex trafficking activities. The Treasury Department’s Epstein file contains information indicating that Epstein used several now sanctioned Russian banks for hundreds of millions of dollars in wire transfers. It appears that these wire transfers were correlated to the movement of women or girls around the world.
Direct the DOJ to subpoena internal bank records related to Jeffrey Epstein. Some of the biggest banks in the world, including Bank of America, JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank, processed billions in suspicious transactions that flowed through Epstein’s accounts. The DOJ and FBI must subpoena internal bank records concerning payments to Epstein to better understand whether financial institutions conducted appropriate due diligence of these transactions or whether the banks willingly looked the other way to not upset wealthy clients that were funding Epstein’s operations.
Direct the DOJ and FBI to conduct an investigation into banks that failed to properly report large payments to Epstein in a timely manner. Federal anti-money laundering laws require banks to conduct due diligence on large transactions and report suspicious activity to the U.S. Treasury Department in a timely fashion. The Finance Committee investigation found that several major banks likely broke the law by only reporting large payments to Epstein well after Epstein was charged. In one case, a major U.S. bank flagged more than $170 million in payments to Epstein seven years late, only after Epstein had already died in his cell.
Conduct depositions with bankers responsible for overseeing large accounts transacting with Jeffrey Epstein, particularly relationship managers and their supervisors. Epstein’s accounts routinely had hundreds of millions of dollars in them. Epstein also received large inflows of cash from some of the wealthiest men in America, typically in large installments in the tens of millions of dollars. Ultra-high net worth persons ($30 million and up) benefit from white glove treatment from private bankers who are compensated on a percentage of the value of the accounts they manage. These bankers are also required to conduct “know your customer” reviews on their clients and conduct enhanced due diligence of large wire transfers. Accordingly, DOJ must immediately conduct transcribed interviews with bankers overseeing Epstein’s accounts as well as the wealthy businessmen who helped finance his operations.
Subpoena documents from the USVI Attorney General related to its settlement agreement that gave Leon Black immunity from prosecution in the USVI for Epstein related crimes. As you may be aware, the U.S. Virgin Islands and billionaire Leon Black in 2023 signed a settlement agreement related to Jeffrey Epstein. As part of that settlement, Leon Black paid $62.5 million in order to receive immunity from any criminal prosecution in the USVI related to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking operations. Disturbingly, the settlement includes an assertion that “Jeffrey Epstein used the money Black paid him to partially fund his operations in the Virgin Islands.” This revelation suggests that one of the most powerful figures on Wall Street financed Jeffrey Epstein’s human trafficking operations in the USVI with impunity.

“As you know, my staff have been working to expose the financing of Epstein’s sex trafficking for years. I can say with a high degree of confidence that there is a lot the DOJ and the Treasury Department are not telling the public about Jeffrey Epstein. It is clear that more needs to be done and it would be inexcusable for you not to immediately follow up on these common sense, actionable recommendations,” Wyden concluded.

The complete text of Wyden’s letter to Attorney General Bondi is available here.

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