Sep 17, 2025; Washington, DC, USA; Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), right, speaks during FBI Director Kash Patel’s hearing in front of the House Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C., on Sept.17, 2025. Mandatory Credit: Jack Gruber-USA TODAY via Imagn Images

WASHINGTON – House Republicans rejected an effort to subpoena four banks that reportedly flagged about $1.5 billion in suspicious financial transactions linked to disgraced financier and alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, made a motion during the group's first oversight hearing pressing FBI Director Kash Patel since he took over the bureau in February.

“These four banks have flagged to the government $1.5 billion in suspicious transactions related to the sex trafficking crimes and conspiracy of Epstein, [his associate Ghislaine] Maxwell and all of their collaborators,” Raskin said Sept. 17.

The Maryland lawmaker said he wanted the banks, and their CEOs, to turn over everything they had in connection with helping move money to or from Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 as he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.

Specifically, Raskin pushed to subpoena JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank and Bank of New York Mellon (BNY) and their CEOs.

Republican lawmakers have largely joined Democrats in saying they want answers to the growing questions around Epstein, including whether others participated in his alleged sex trafficking ring using young women and underage girls.

But when it came time to vote on Raskin’s motion, committee Chair Jim Jordan of Ohio quickly approved a Republican move to table it, or shoot it down before lawmakers could discuss it. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a lead sponsor of a resolution seeking to force the release of all the government's files on Epstein, was the only Republican siding with Democrats in opposing that move and supporting the subpoena effort.

The committee did not stop to debate the motion, so the GOP lawmakers who voted to table the effort didn't immediately explain the reasoning behind their votes. USA TODAY has reached out to GOP House Judiciary Committee staff for comment.

A recent New York Times investigation, cited by Raskin and other Democrats, alleged “(JP Morgan Chase) spent years supporting — and profiting from — the notorious sex offender, ignoring red flags, suspicious activity and concerned executives.”

While Republicans were moving to block Raskin’s motion, the Maryland Democrat noted that JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said his bank would comply with any subpoena to hand over Epstein-related records.

“We regret any association with that man at all. And of course, if it's a legal requirement, we're going to conform to it,” Dimon told reporters after leaving a Senate GOP lunch on Sept. 17.

Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, also has been pushing for access to Epstein-related bank records for months.

Wyden has said one of the Treasury Department documents reviewed by Democratic and Republican staff of the Senate Finance Committee indicated that between 2003 and 2019, there were more than 4,725 wire transfers totaling $1.08 billion involving Epstein and his associates.

At the five-hour hearing on Sept. 17, Raskin and other Democrats excoriated Patel for publicly calling for the release of all Epstein documents before he was FBI director and then refusing to release them now that he's in charge. The director has said he's blocked by court orders.

“Put on your big boy pants and let us know who the pedophiles are," Raskin said during the marathon five-hour hearing.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: GOP shuts down House Democrats' effort to subpoena banks handling Jeffrey Epstein money

Reporting by Josh Meyer, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect