Heather Cox Richardson: The US DEA was running an investigation of Jeffrey Epstein and fourteen other people for drug trafficking, prostitution and money laundering. It started in 2010 under Obama. The task force running the investigation was dismantled under Trump.
“The basic question here is whether a bunch of rich pedophiles and Epstein accomplices are going to face any consequences for their crimes,” [Sen. Ron] Wyden said, “and Scott Bessent is doing his best to make sure they won’t. My head just about exploded when I heard Bessent say it wasn’t his department’s job to investigate these Epstein bank records…. From the beginning, my view has been that following the money is the key to identifying Epstein’s clients as well as the henchmen and banks that enabled his sex trafficking network. It’s past time for Bessent to quit running interference for pedophiles and give us the Epstein files he’s sitting on.”