(LifeSiteNews) — Republican U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida said Tuesday that Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation was “a lot bigger” than anyone anticipated.
“There are some very rich and powerful people that need to go to jail,” Luna said in a statement after she and other lawmakers met with Epstein’s victims. “I think everyone’s frustrated as to why that hasn’t happened before.”
Luna then suggested potential government involvement in Epstein’s sex trafficking — previously alleged by U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta — that many observers believe helps explain the lack of transparency and accountability for those involved in Epstein’s criminal activities.
“It is very much so a possibility that Jeffrey Epstein was an intelligence asset working for our adversaries but also, the question we have is, ‘How much did our own government know about it?’” Luna continued.
Epstein’s involvement in U.S. intelligence was suggested by former U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta, when he explained why he agreed to a non-prosecution deal in the lead-up to Epstein’s 2008 conviction of procuring a child for prostitution. Acosta told Trump transition team interviewers that he was told that Epstein “belonged to intelligence,” adding that he was told to “leave it alone,” The Daily Beast reported.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released 33,295 pages of Epstein-related documents on Tuesday after issuing a subpoena to the Department of Justice. However, the files reveal minimal new information, according to Politico. They include public court documents, photos, and video footage, including police footage of Epstein’s Palm Beach home, and a clip of a woman recounting her time as one of Epstein’s masseuses.
Republican U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky filed a petition Tuesday “to force a vote on binding legislation to release” the full Epstein files. A White House official subsequently told NBC News that supporting Massie’s effort would be “viewed as a very hostile act to the administration.”
“They’re threatening anyone who helps bring true transparency and justice for the survivors,” Massie remarked on X. “This is a tacit admission the Oversight Committee data release is woefully incomplete.”
The FBI triggered a public outcry earlier this year when it released an incomplete set of Epstein files. Some Epstein flight records had been released in previous litigation, but they remain limited, as does other information regarding Epstein’s associates. Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn filed a subpoena in late 2023 to obtain the complete flight logs, and in January 2025 accused Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of blocking her request.
The Epstein saga has drawn international headlines for years after it became apparent the billionaire sex offender had ties to the Clintons, Prince Andrew, Bill Gates, and other high-profile elites.
In her book “One Nation Under Blackmail: The Sordid Union Between Intelligence and Crime That Gave Rise to Jeffrey Epstein,” investigative journalist Whitney Webb explained how the intelligence community leverages sex trafficking through operatives like Epstein to blackmail politicians, members of law enforcement, businessmen, and other influential figures.
Webb cited as evidence of this Acosta’s statement that he was told that Epstein “belonged to intelligence.”
While Epstein himself never stood trial, as he allegedly committed suicide while under “suicide watch” in his jail cell in 2019, many have questioned the suicide and whether the well-connected financier was actually murdered as part of a cover-up.
These theories were only emboldened when investigative reporters at Project Veritas discovered that the major news outlets of ABC and CBS News quashed a purportedly devastating report exposing Epstein.
A full list of the names of people mentioned in the previously released Epstein files, including many who have not been accused of any crimes, can be found here. Previously published Epstein flight logs show that former President Bill Clinton along with Secret Service members, actor Kevin Spacey, comedian Chris Tucker, and British model Naomi Campbell all flew on Epstein’s private plane central to his sex-trafficking case, dubbed the “Lolita Express” by the media.
In one batch of unsealed documents, Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre said he paid her $15,000 in 2011 to have sex with Britain’s Prince Andrew, and that she had sex multiple times with retail mogul Leslie Wexner, who was a financial client of Epstein’s for at least 20 years. Giuffre has since reportedly died by suicide.
