Bipartisan U.S. Lawmakers Unveil Bill to Hold 'Epstein-Connected' Wall Street Bosses to Account for Financing Crimes

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers announced on Thursday, October 15, that they've introduced legislation that would require government bank regulators to make public any documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, while also mandating an investigation into Epstein-connected banks and bank officials for possible violations.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) were the leading sponsors of the Epstein Wall Street Records Act. The act was supported by several other co-sponsors, including Republican Rep. Thomas Massie.

The bill would make federal financial regulators divulge to members of Congress and the public the supervisory files related to Epstein and his associates. In addition, the bill would make the regulators investigate all Epstein-connected banks and bank officials regarding potential violations of banking, securities, or illicit financing laws, according to an official press release from Garcia's office.

The proposed legislation would bar those found to assist Epstein financially from their respective industries and subject them to civil fines. Possible criminal violations could also be referred to the U.S. Department of Justice. The legislation has been introduced in Congress with the support of several lawmakers, including Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), as well as Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.).

Warren said that for a year now, she has been asking the Trump administration to take a closer look at the banking industry. "I have spent the last year calling on Donald Trump's financial regulators to launch investigations into the big banks and executives who may have enabled Jeffrey Epstein's horrific crimes," she explained. "Since they have failed to act, Congress must."

Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said lawmakers want answers. "We need to know what financial institutions and their executives knew about Epstein, whether they complied with relevant law, and what regulatory agencies learned," he said.

Massie compared this legislation with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed by President Donald Trump last November and which required the Justice Department to make its files about Epstein available. "The Epstein Wall Street Records Act requires the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, the Comptroller of the Currency, and the SEC to release their files on Jeffrey Epstein's money," Massie said. "This bill does the same for bank regulators. Justice for the survivors means following the money."

The proposed law follows a report by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee that suggested JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Deutsche Bank may have violated anti-money laundering laws because they didn't properly monitor suspicious financial activity associated with Epstein. From 1998 until 2013, JPMorgan Chase provided banking services to Epstein. In 2023, JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay $290 million to settle a class action lawsuit filed by Epstein's sexual abuse victims without admitting liability.

Epstein died in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal s-- trafficking charges. The bill must pass both chambers of Congress and be signed by Trump before it can take effect.