Now that we're making progress on Epstein - after President Trump and Mike Johnson were forced to cave under overwhelming pressure for DOJ disclosure - a logical next step is to look into who was funding the notorious sex-trafficker.
On Thursday morning, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) called for an investigation into whether JPMorgan Chase deliberately concealed suspicious transactions by Epstein.
You really just need to look at Exhibit A in Wyden's memo (dated Wednesday) based on unsealed court records: the number of transactions flagged as suspicious between 2002 - 2016, vs. a flurry of almost $1.3 billion in suspicious transactions that the bank scrambled to file right after Epstein died in jail awaiting trial.
Wyden writes:
The unsealed court records include copies of SARs that JPMC filed on Epstein’s accounts between 2002 and 2019. Between 2002 and 2016, JPMC filed 7 SARs flagging only $4.3 million in suspicious transactions from Epstein’s accounts.¹ Only after Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges did JPMC report the full extent of Epstein’s suspicious financial activity. In August and September of 2019, JPMC filed two SARs flagging more than 5,000 suspicious wire transfers moving approximately $1.3 billion in and out of Epstein’s accounts.² This is the strongest evidence yet that JPMC should face an investigation for failure to appropriately monitor and report Epstein’s financial activity.
According to internal bank emails, JPMorgan may have held off on filing the SARs (suspicious activity reports) because it wanted "to continue working with Epstein," who was a great source of referrals despite firing him as a client in 2013, the report found.
The bank said in late October that "it was flagging about 4,700 transactions, totaling more than $1 billion, because they were potentially related to reports of human trafficking involving Mr. Epstein. It also mentioned Mr. Epstein’s wire transfers to Russian banks and sensitivities around “his relationships with two U.S. presidents.” Mr. Epstein at times was close with President Trump and former President Bill Clinton," according to the NYT.
Wyden said in a statement that it was "clear that JPMorgan Chase ought to face criminal investigation for the way it enabled Epstein’s horrific crimes," and that both Congress and the DOJ should investigate the bank - which has repeatedly issued statements of regret for working with Epstein, and claims it did all it could with the information it had at the time.
"The second the government finally made public the sex trafficking details in 2019 — information they clearly had for years — we identified for law enforcement a range of Epstein’s past transactions intended to assist with the investigation," said bank spokeswoman Patricia Wexler on Thursday.
Will Wyden actually follow the money?
Related:
The Overlooked Shell Company Operated By Epstein's Accomplices
Epstein's Inbox Lays Out Gift Networks, PR Tactics, And Strange Habits
Revelation Of Epstein Investment Tied To Peter Thiel Adds To Growing Concerns About Palantir
Victoria's Secret Boss Wexner Swears He Didn't Know About Epstein Penchant For Pedophilia
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