https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/us/politics/epstein-jpmorgan-banks-senate-letter.html No paywall: https://removepaywalls.com/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/us/politics/epstein-jpmorgan-banks-senate-letter.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/10/us/politics/chuck-schumer-effort-epstein-files.html No paywall: https://removepaywalls.com/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/10/us/politics/chuck-schumer-effort-epstein-files.html

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ron-wyden-orders-probe-into-epstein-and-peter-thiels-relationship/ No paywall: https://web.archive.org/web/20250912021537/https://www.thedailybeast.com/ron-wyden-orders-probe-into-epstein-and-peter-thiels-relationship/

"The basic question here is whether a bunch of rich pedophiles and Epstein accomplices are going to face any consequences for their crimes, and Scott Bessent is doing his best to make sure they won’t,” he said. “My head just about exploded when I heard Bessent say it wasn’t his department’s job to investigate these Epstein bank records.” Wyden said he’s long believed 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.”

His statement on Wednesday added, “It’s past time for Bessent to quit running interference for pedophiles and give us the Epstein files he’s sitting on.”

In addition to investigating Thiel, who is CEO of Palantir, Wyden said he hopes a congressional probe will uncover whether J.P. Morgan and other banks violated federal anti-money laundering laws.

Republicans hold a three-seat voting majority in the Senate, meaning Wyden’s bill will require some GOP lawmakers to break with the party line to pass. Bessent, a Trump appointee, has not indicated that he plans to offer up documents freely to the committee and said last month that the Treasury Department does not possess the power to investigate. In that same spiel, he said it might have to investigate Wyden.

“Any law enforcement person who wants to come and see them, we hold them. Our job—we are not detectives. We collect them. It’s just like the—when we make payments, the Treasury, the Commerce Department, tells us to make a payment. We are a paymaster,” Bessent said. “Sen. Wyden’s rich… Sen. Wyden trades better than Paul Pelosi. He was up 125 percent and then 75 percent. So, I would—I’m not going to disclose anything because I’ve never looked, but I would guess there’s some stories on Sen. Wyden.”