Banks with Jeffrey Epstein ties eyed by Democrats Warren and Garcia

Key points

• Warren and Garcia introduced the Epstein Wall Street Records Act on Thursday.
• The bill would make regulators release Epstein records and investigate banks.
• It would also impose industry bans and civil penalties on those found to have aided him.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., introduced legislation Thursday that would require financial regulators to produce records related to Jeffrey Epstein and investigate banks and executives with ties to the late financier's sex trafficking operation. The bill would also impose industry bans and civil penalties on those found to have aided him.

The proposal, called the Epstein Wall Street Records Act, would apply to the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Treasury's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Securities and Exchange Commission. A Federal Reserve spokesperson declined to comment, and spokespeople for the other regulators did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

What lawmakers said

Warren, who leads the Senate banking committee's Democrats, said in a statement that she had spent the last year calling on Donald Trump's financial regulators to investigate banks and executives who may have enabled Epstein's crimes. She said that since they have failed to act, Congress must.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said in a statement that the Epstein Files Transparency Act forced the Attorney General to release DOJ, FBI and U.S. Attorney's Offices files, and that the new bill does the same for bank regulators. He said justice for the survivors means following the money.

Since they have failed to act, Congress must.

— Sen. Elizabeth Warren

Bipartisan support and bank scrutiny

The legislation is co-led in the House by Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill. Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., signed on to the Senate version, and the House version has 17 Democratic co-sponsors.

Warren has sought answers from Barclays, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase on their connections to Epstein. Wyden, as the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, released an investigation in August that found significant evidence that JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank and Bank of America violated federal anti-money laundering laws by failing to screen and report Epstein's suspicious financial transactions in a timely manner. Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase declined to comment Thursday, and Barclays did not immediately respond to a request for comment.