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Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin is launching an investigation into whether Jeffrey Epstein acted as an unregistered foreign agent for multiple countries, requesting records from the Trump administration on the scope of the late convicted sex offender’s foreign ties.
In the Republican-controlled House, Raskin’s demands to the Department of Justice, Department of State and intelligence community are likely to go unanswered, but his push as the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee serves as a preview for how Democrats will pursue investigations if they reclaim the House majority in the next Congress, which would give them control of committees with subpoena power.
In a new letter, Raskin points to documents released by the Department of Justice and the House Oversight Committee and says that he has found “substantial evidence” that Epstein “acted to advance the interests” of the Saudi Arabian and Kuwaiti governments, advised the Russian government and worked as a consultant for a former Israeli prime minister. Raskin also raises concerns about the potential security risks Epstein’s foreign ties posed, given he was never registered as a foreign agent.
“Our examination of available evidence has already revealed damning indications of Mr. Epstein’s activities on behalf of foreign states,” Raskin wrote.
CNN has reached out for comment to the Justice Department, the State Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
But Raskin believes there could be even more information about Epstein’s foreign ties within the approximately 2.5 million documents that the Justice Department has not released related to Epstein. The Democratic lawmaker is requesting any records related to Epstein’s interactions with foreign officials. In addition, Raskin is also calling on DOJ to provide a written response to address if there has ever been an investigation into whether Epstein acted as a foreign agent.
“Despite having such extensive, well-documented personal and professional contacts with officials of foreign governments, Mr. Epstein never registered as a foreign agent,” Raskin wrote.
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