House Probe Heats Up on USVI Ties to Epstein

M.A. Dworkin

Washington, D.C. - There’s an old saying: “You may be through with the past, but the past may not be through with you.” When you think about Jeffrey Epstein you don’t think about your garden variety type of criminal, nor do you think of him as any sort of criminal mastermind. Because when you think of Jeffrey Epstein, in any informed way, you must think in terms of one of the most disgusting, low-life monsters to ever walk the earth. 

He was a lot worse than Madoff, who robbed people of their life savings. He was a lot worse than any number of hardened criminals who feel they have the right to take what they want from whoever they want. No, no, Jeffrey Epstein was in the business of robbing young women of their self respect, of their right to be in control of their own bodies, robbing them of the sacredness of their youth. He believed, in his deranged state of mind, that he could take young, unsuspecting teenage girls and brainwash them into doing whatever he wanted them to do. This convicted child sex offender passed these young innocent girls along to his rich and influential friends to feed their perverted sexual desires. He somehow felt in his sick and demented mind that it was his authority to deal their lives out as he saw fit.

Make no doubt about it, Epstein and whoever flitted around this monster, looking for money and/or favors, was complicit in his schemes. When you stand next to a man who shoots and kills someone, it is called felony murder. You could say you didn’t know, you could give whatever excuse of ignorance you want, but you’ll still be charged with some sort of crime. 

So it should come as no little surprise, to anyone with any sense of justice, that certain higher ups in the government, no matter if for political reasons or reasons of human decency, have formed investigative committees and have kept the branding irons burning, six years after Epstein’s death. They are trying to set the record straight as to who did what and who was responsible or complicit, for allowing this hideous madman, this disgusting pig of a person, disguised as some high-class financier, some confidante to the mighty and powerful, to go on his merry way with his psychopathic sexual perversions for so many unreported years.  

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has already released 65,000 documents related to Epstein. Now, the House Committee is demanding Epstein financial records from JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Why the U.S. Virgin Islands? There’s a simple explanation: Epstein had set up shop here in the USVI on Little St. James Island, from 1998 to his death in 2019, where he no doubt sexually abused dozens of young teenage and under-age girls, and lent them out to his rich and influential friends for their perverted sexual pleasures. If any sound minded person does not believe that this was the case, and also does not believe that a number of people in the USVI had to have either been complicit or knowledgeable that this was going on, or at the very least suspect it was going on, well, there isn’t much to say for that person’s powers of deductive reasoning.

The House Committee on Oversight and  Government Reform issued a series of subpoenas this week for some of Epstein’s financial records in an apparent attempt to get to the bottom of who did what during Epstein’s years as a sexual predator. It will come as no surprise that this may only be the tip of the iceberg in the Epstein probe, especially now that Congress (on both sides of the aisle) and the public, finally have access to the Epstein documents, of which President Trump has vigorously fought for months to block their release. Trump’s blocking actions can only be interpreted as being related to his own alleged Epstein involvement and his desire, along with other powerful men, to stop the trail of their crimes from being fully exposed. 

“The House Oversight Committee is conducting a thorough review of the federal government’s investigation of Jeffrey Epstein in order to bring transparency for the American people and accountability for survivors,” said Rep. James Comer, Chairman of the Committee. 

According to the subpoenas, JPMorgan Chase began an internal investigation into accounts previously held by Epstein, flagging some 4,700 transactions as “suspicious” in the process. Epstein also had accounts at Deutsche Bank from 2013 until late 2018.

The letter that was sent to the USVI, via Attorney General (AG) Gordon Rhea, demanded all related financial documents involving Epstein and the USVI. These demands come after the initial slew of Epstein documents that were released last week, subsequently revealing the bombshell connection that Virgin Islands Congresswoman Stacey E. Plaskett had with Epstein by consulting with Epstein via text during a 2019 hearing with Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen, who accused Trump, at the hearing, of being a racist, a conman, and a cheat.

The House directive sent to the USVI, requires AG Rhea to turn over all documents, unredacted and dating back to January 1, 1998, relating to, but not specific of, four major cases involving Epstein, his estate, and JPMorgan Chase. The Committee’s letter to the USVI also requests every communication, record, or investigative document tied to any federal or local criminal inquiry involving Epstein or his imprisoned accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. 

“The material is needed to assist the Committee’s oversight of this matter. Congress is evaluating legislative changes on sex-crime enforcement, plea agreements, and ethics reporting requirements,” wrote Committee Chairman James Comer to AG Rhea.

The demand directed to AG Rhea carries a deadline of December 2, 2025. It involves records from the Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein, Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands v. Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein, Government of the Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase, and all communications linked to any criminal investigation into Epstein or his accomplice Ghiselaine Maxwell. 

Epstein owned Little St. James and Great St. James islands in the USVI from 1999 until his death in 2019, which was ruled a  suicide in a jail cell in NYC. The Committee has made it very clear that they are well aware that Epstein conducted extensive business operations in the USVI during that period. Epstein controlled companies such as the Financial Trust Company, which the Committee states he received hundreds of millions of dollars in tax incentives between 1999 and 2012. The Committee is also aware that Epstein employed the former Governor John P, de Jongh Jr.’s (2007-2015) wife Cecile, as his Office Manager and Business Manager on St. Thomas for a number of years, while she was First Lady of the USVI; and that Epstein also hired an architectural firm owned by Gov. de Jongh’s uncle.  

“The Committee is in a constant state of interviews and talking to people. We’re having conversations regularly with survivors, we’re taking information from these survivors,” cited a source close to the investigation. “We’re talking regularly to folks that were in Epstein’s network that knew him. We have an active whistleblower line and these people send information to us.”

It will be interesting to see where this all leads under the renewed scrutiny of the federal government’s investigation. Partisan politics may not enter into such a pent-up desire to finally get at the truth. As far as the USVI is concerned, up until this point, any examination of these matters has been left up to the local authorities.