Jeffrey Epstein’s lawyer Darren Indyke and accountant Richard Kahn told House lawmakers they were never interviewed as part of formal federal investigations into their late client’s sex crimes, according to videos of their depositions released Tuesday.
Their claims underscore the enormous gaps in the Justice Department’s efforts to hold Epstein and his inner circle accountable over multiple administrations of both parties.
It also could raise the stakes for the ongoing Epstein investigation being led by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is already being relied upon to gather new evidence after the Trump Justice Department signaled it would no longer be releasing additional Epstein case files in compliance with the law Congress passed last fall.
Both Indyke and Kahn sat for hours-long depositions with the Oversight panel earlier this month. They have denied knowing anything about Epstein’s crimes before the later allegations emerged. They also said their client told them, in the case of the 2008 sex crime conviction, he was unaware of his involvement with a minor.
Neither have been charged with a crime in connection with Epstein, though some lawmakers have portrayed them as key enablers of Epstein’s activities. Rep. David Min (D-Calif.), a member of the Oversight Committee, has gone so far to suggest Indyke perjured himself when he said he did not have knowledge of Epstein’s offenses.
The two men also explained their decisions to continue working for Epstein after the earlier allegation of sexual assault had been brought against him in the 2000s. Indyke said he was “very loosely” a member of Epstein’s defense team during the first sex crime case against him in the 2000s and said, back then, he “drank the Kool-Aid” and believed his client was misunderstood. He even provided a character reference for Epstein at the time.
Kahn told investigators he had considered dropping Epstein as a client and regretted believing Epstein in the wake of the 2008 case when the late financier said it “would never happen again.” But the financial upside proved too great to quit, Kahn said.
“We were in the middle of a financial crisis, and I had a family to support, so I made the wrong decision in staying,” Kahn said, according to the video of his testimony. “Because I later learned … that Epstein continued to abuse hundreds of minors and adults, so I made an improper decision.”
Both Indyke and Kahn are co-executors of Epstein’s estate, which has turned over a broad swath of materials to the Oversight panel including the so-called birthday book that included a lewd note allegedly written by President Donald Trump to Epstein. Trump has denied writing the letter.
They have also brandished their efforts to set up a compensation program for Epstein’s victims, which has doled out millions of dollars to dozens of women who have brought claims against the disgraced financier.
Lawmakers and the Justice Department are under heightened pressure to shepherd some kind of criminal accountability in the Epstein case amid lingering questions over why only one other person has been charged in connection with Epstein’s crimes — Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently seeking clemency from Trump.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has indicated in congressional testimony that the DOJ is actively investigating potential conspirators related to Epstein, but she has not provided any details on who may be targets.
The Oversight panel has also asked a number of other witnesses to sit for interviews in the coming weeks, including billionaire tech tycoon Bill Gates and financier Leon Black. Both have suggested they are open to cooperating with the panel’s questioning in compliance with congressional subpoenas.
