Rep. Jamie Ruskin says he flagged $1.5 billion in questionable financial transactions related to dishonorable financial operators.
House lawmakers stand up to Kash Patel via the Epstein Files
The House of Representatives pushed FBI Director Kash Patel over the Epstein file and the lack of transparency in the release of the documents.
WASHINGTON – House Republicans have refused efforts to summon four banks reportedly flagged around $1.5 billion in suspicious financial transactions related to the allegedly charges of dishonest financier and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Maryland Rep. Jamie Ruskin, a top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, has made the move at the group’s first oversight hearing, which pushed FBI director Kash Patel since taking over the department in February.
“These four banks have flagged it with a $1.5 billion suspicious transaction in question related to Epstein’s sex trafficking crimes and conspiracy.
Maryland lawmakers said they hope that the bank and its CEO will take over everything they had in connection with helping them move to Epstein, who died of suicide in 2019, awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
Specifically, Ruskin has pushed to the subpoena Jpmorgan Chase, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, Bank of New York Mellon (BNY) and its CEOs.
Republican lawmakers have joined Democrats mostly, saying they wanted answers to growing questions around Epstein, such as whether others used young women and underage girls to participate in his alleged sex trafficking rings.
But when it was time to vote for Ruskin’s allegations, Ohio Commission Chairman Jim Jordan approved either to approve the Republican move immediately or to shoot it down before lawmakers could discuss it. Rep. Thomas Massey of Kentucky was the primary sponsor of a resolution to force the release of all government files on Epstein, and was the overseer of Democrats and only Republicans who motivated and supported the subpoena efforts.
The committee did not stop discussing the allegations, so the GOP lawmakers who voted for their efforts did not immediately explain the reasons behind their votes. USA Today reached out to staff on the GOP House Judiciary Committee for comment.
A recent New York Times investigation cited by Ruskin and other Democrats argued that “(JP Morgan Chase) has spent, and benefiting, ignoring, ignoring the red flag, suspicious activity, and the executives involved.”
While Republicans move to block Ruskin’s motion, Maryland Democrats have said JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon will comply with the subpoena to hand over Epstein-related records.
“We regret our relationship with that guy at all, and of course, if it’s a legal requirement, we’ll comply with it,” Dimon told reporters after leaving Senate GOP lunch on September 17.
Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, a top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, has also been seeking access to Epstein-related bank records for months.
Wyden, one of the Treasury documents reviewed by Democrats and Republican staff on the Senate Treasury Committee, shows that between 2003 and 2019 there were over $1.08 billion in total wire transfers involving Epstein and his peers.
During the five-hour hearing on September 17, Ruskin and other Democrats stimulated Patel by publicly calling for the release of all Epstein documents before he became FBI director and then refused to release them because he was in charge. The director said he was blocked by court orders.
“Wear your big boy pants and tell me who the pedophile is,” Ruskin said at the five-hour marathon hearing.
