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---
category: "U.S. Government"
tags:
- Organization
- VirginIslands
- JeffreyEpstein
- TaxIncentives
- SouthernTrust
- GovernmentCapture
- RegulatoryFailure
alias:
- Virgin Islands Economic Development Commission
- V.I. Economic Development Commission
- USVI Economic Development Commission
- EDC
summary: "The Economic Development Commission is the U.S. Virgin Islands tax-incentive board that granted Jeffrey Epstein's Financial Trust and Southern Trust companies benefits from 1999 until his death, after his sex-offender registration."
location: "St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands"
relations:
- type: member_of
with: "[[Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority]]"
role: "subsidiary commission"
fn: 1
- type: funded
with: "[[Financial Trust Company]]"
start: 1999
fn: 3
- type: funded
with: "[[Southern Trust Company]]"
start: 2013-02-01
end: 2023-01-31
role: "10-year certificate, 90 percent income-tax exemption"
fn: 1
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Stacey Plaskett]]"
reverse: true
start: 2007
end: 2014
role: "general counsel"
fn: 3
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Sandra Bess]]"
reverse: true
role: "program compliance officer"
fn: 2
created: 2026-09-25
updated: 2026-09-25
---
The Economic Development Commission is the board of the [[Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority]] that grants tax-incentive certificates to companies operating in the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]], trading large reductions in territorial income, gross-receipts, excise, and withholding taxes for local employment and investment. It certified [[Jeffrey Epstein|Jeffrey Epstein's]] [[Financial Trust Company]] from 1999 and his [[Southern Trust Company]] from 2013, and his companies kept their benefits after his 2008 [[Florida]] conviction, his 2010 registration as a sex offender in the territory, and a January 2015 internal query about "current media discussions surrounding a principal of Southern Trust Company." The future governor [[Albert Bryan]] chaired the commission when it issued Southern Trust's certificate in January 2014, and the future congressional delegate [[Stacey Plaskett]] was its general counsel from 2007 to 2014. A consultant retained by [[JPMorgan Chase]] put Epstein's total benefits at about 300 million dollars.[^1][^2][^3]
### Structure and the Incentive Program
The commission is a subsidiary of the Economic Development Authority, a semi-autonomous territorial instrumentality created and governed under Title 29, section 1101 of the Virgin Islands Code. Beneficiaries apply, present their business at a public hearing, and receive a certificate setting the term, the percentage exemptions, and the employment, residency, and charitable-giving conditions they must meet. The authority's compliance staff then review annual reports submitted by the certificate holders.[^1][^2]
Its general counsel from 2007 to 2014 was Stacey Plaskett, who had worked for the St. Thomas attorney [[Erika Kellerhals]] before her election as the territory's delegate to the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]]. Kellerhals represented Epstein before the commission. The attorney [[Henry Smock]], who assisted Epstein in the 1998 purchase of [[Little St. James]], served for years as counsel to the authority's board. Plaskett, like the other officials named in the [[Epstein Files|Epstein files]], has denied wrongdoing.[^3]
### Financial Trust Company, 1999 to 2012
Epstein bought Little St. James in 1998 and incorporated Financial Trust Company in the territory on November 6, 1998. The commission granted it benefits beginning in 1999. The authority did not audit Financial Trust until 2008, nearly ten years after the original grant. Asked in a May 2023 deposition whether it would be unusual for a certificate holder to go nine years without a compliance report, the compliance officer [[Sandra Bess]] answered, "It is, should not be unusual but it maybe has happened in one or two cases." Financial Trust reported assets of 212 million dollars on its last public balance sheet, filed in 2012.[^1][^2]
[[Cecile de Jongh]], the wife of Governor [[John de Jongh]], was office manager of Financial Trust from 2007 and dealt with the authority on the company's compliance; Bess identified her as the company's "compliance person." When a Washington reporter asked Government House in 2012 whether she had helped the company obtain its benefits, she proposed a response to Epstein: "Cecile de Jongh currently works for Financial Trust Company in the capacity of office manager. She had nothing to do with Financial Trust Company receiving EDC tax benefits." Epstein wrote back, "I would simply state that you are an office manager," and she replied, "That's what John went with."[^2][^4][^5]
### Southern Trust Company, 2012 to 2019
Southern Trust was incorporated on November 18, 2011 as Financial Informatics, Inc., and renamed in September 2012; most of Epstein's territorial companies were created in 2011 and 2012, after his 2010 registration as a sex offender. It applied to the commission in October 2012. At a public hearing on November 15, 2012, Epstein and Kellerhals testified under oath that the company provided "cutting edge consulting services" in "biomedical and financial informatics." According to the hearing transcript, no one asked Epstein about his conviction or registration.[^1][^2]
The commission granted Southern Trust a ten-year package running from February 1, 2013 to January 31, 2023, with a 90 percent exemption from income taxes and 100 percent exemptions from gross-receipts, excise, and withholding taxes. The certificate is dated January 24, 2014 and signed by Bryan, as chairman, and Epstein, as president. That day Cecile de Jongh asked Epstein to match 15,000 dollars she had raised for her husband's final State of the Territory reception, and an hour later asked Epstein's accountant [[Richard Kahn]] to "prepare a check for $15,000 made payable to Governor's Special Events Fund." Bryan and Governor de Jongh both signed off on an extension of the Southern Trust benefits, and Bryan was serving as commission chairman and as the territory's Commissioner of Labor at the same time in 2013.[^1][^2][^3]
Between 2013 and 2019 Southern Trust employed thirteen people besides Epstein, eleven of them in administrative or support roles. The territory later alleged that its information-technology manager, reported as a Virgin Islands resident, held a Florida driver's license with a Miami address and served as Epstein's driver; that an "executive assistant" lived at 301 East 66th Street in Manhattan, a building Epstein's address book listed as an "Apt. for models"; and that another employee was represented by Kahn as an interior designer and a dentist. Southern Trust affirmed to the commission that it had no non-resident employees while employing non-residents, had no visible clients, and held no investments for others.[^1]
### The Money
Southern Trust reported net income of 50.3 million dollars in 2013, 67.5 million in 2014, 52.8 million in 2015, 4.8 million in 2016, and 17.1 million in 2017, and about 184 million dollars in revenue for 2013 to 2017. Bank records showed that "virtually all" of its income came from a single source, which the territory's complaint did not name. "In all, the single source paid $158 million to Defendant Southern Trust Company from 2013 to 2017, which constitutes 85% of the total revenues reported by Southern Trust Company. These funds appear to have not been used to pay for informatics or datamining services." The money moved through other Epstein entities and personal accounts, with [[Darren Indyke]] as signatory on the company's primary account and Kahn as treasurer. An independent review commissioned by [[Apollo Global Management]] found that the Apollo co-founder [[Leon Black]] paid Epstein about 158 million dollars between 2012 and 2017 for tax and estate-planning advice.[^1][^6]
For 2013 through 2017 Southern Trust received tax exemptions of 73.6 million dollars, and after it elected S-corporation status Epstein's personal income-tax exemption for the period was 71.3 million dollars. Including gross-receipts taxes, the territory estimated that the certificate allowed Epstein to avoid 80,576,236 dollars in taxes. Southern Trust had assets of about 391 million dollars by 2015. The authority's records show Epstein's companies received 144.9 million dollars in incentives between 2013 and 2019 alone, according to filings by the Virgin Islands [[Department of Justice]].[^1][^5]
### Oversight
Bess testified that compliance review consisted of checking that the figures on the summary page of a beneficiary's annual report matched the supporting pages, "many of which were authored by the company itself": "I would look at the presentation and what was presented at the back and ensure that the numbers total." Asked whether any part of her job involved "reviewing the character of the people who are the owners of the companies receiving tax benefits," she said no, and said such review "would usually come from the application side."[^2]
In January 2015 the authority's director of compliance requested an assessment of the impact on Southern Trust's business "in light of current media discussions surrounding a principal of Southern Trust Company." Southern Trust kept its benefits for five more years. On July 10, 2019, four days after Epstein's arrest in [[New Jersey]], authority spokeswoman Shanell Petersen advised the authority's "Business Ambassador," Governor Bryan's wife [[Yolanda Bryan]], about two press inquiries concerning "Jeffrey Epstein being an active EDC Beneficiary": "I recommend contacting Southern Trust and IYG (companies which he has ownership interest) to update them that we have provided public information based on the Sunshine Act... Informing them will allow them to prepare their PR team." Smock was part of the authority's nine-step protocol for answering press inquiries after the arrest. In October 2019, when a [[The New York Times|New York Times]] reporter asked about oversight of Epstein's companies, managing director [[Margarita Benjamin]] forwarded the query to colleagues: "I personally think the questions are opening us up to public scrutiny."[^2][^3]
### Litigation and Aftermath
In its January 2020 civil action against the Epstein estate, the territory alleged that Southern Trust fraudulently induced the commission to grant its benefits. The November 2022 settlement returned "more than $80 million in economic development tax benefits that Epstein and his co-defendants fraudulently obtained." In the territory's 2022 suit against JPMorgan, the bank's consultant [[Carlyn Irwin]] found that "the EDC did not investigate or question" Epstein's claims, including "computer generated solutions for medical problems"; that the territory, expecting 1.30 dollars in economic benefit for each dollar of tax benefit, received a return of pennies on the dollar; and that "giving Mr. Epstein $300 million in benefits made no economic sense." Irwin also found that Epstein "funneled a $15,000 donation from Southern Trust to Ms. Plaskett and a $10,000 donation to the Mapp-Potter Inaugural committee." Plaskett acknowledged in a May 2023 deposition receiving about 30,000 dollars in campaign contributions from Epstein and his employees.[^3][^5][^7]
The Virgin Islands Department of Justice answered JPMorgan's account of the program through its spokesperson Venetia Velazquez, who said that "the USVI identified and addressed deficiencies in Southern Trust's and Financial Trust's compliance with the federal tax incentive program." As of June 2023 the territory had not amended its law to bar registered sex offenders from obtaining incentive certificates. Companies affiliated with the investor [[Stephen Deckoff]], who bought Little St. James and [[Great St. James]] from the Epstein estate in 2023, have held commission benefits since 2012.[^2][^5][^8]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein, No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint, paragraphs 37, 137 to 140, and 157 to 176, filed as Exhibit 1 to Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 1-1 (December 27, 2022), ECF pp. 29 to 37. https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011558/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/001-01.pdf (EDC as EDA subsidiary under 29 V.I.C. section 1101; Southern Trust incorporation, application, hearing, grant terms, staffing, income, single-source payments, tax figures).
[^2]: "V.I. Officials Enabled Epstein to Act With Impunity, JPMorgan Alleges in Latest Salvo." *St. Thomas Source,* June 16, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20240721172424/https://stthomassource.com/content/2023/06/16/v-i-officials-enabled-epstein-to-act-with-impunity-jpmorgan-alleges-in-latest-salvo/ (benefits from 1999; Bess deposition; 2008 first audit; January 2015 compliance letter; October 2019 Benjamin email; January 24, 2014 certificate; Velazquez statement).
[^3]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Docs confirm Bryan pressed for special treatment of sex offender." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/docs-confirm-bryan-pressed-for-special-treatment-of-sex-offender/article_5e9483c9-38d2-406c-8bb0-e5757ce287f2.html (300 million dollars in benefits; Plaskett as EDC general counsel 2007 to 2014; Smock as EDA board counsel; Petersen report and Yolanda Bryan notation; Bryan and de Jongh extension; Irwin report).
[^4]: "Virgin Islands governor's wife employed by convicted sex-offender billionaire." *The Daily Caller,* April 22, 2012. https://dailycaller.com/2012/04/22/virgin-islands-governors-wife-employed-by-convicted-sex-offender-billionaire/
[^5]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Court filings show V.I. First Lady's loyalty to Epstein." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* June 21, 2023. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/court-filings-show-v-i-first-ladys-loyalty-to-epstein/article_c2dca0a7-a243-5365-88c0-389c576ad022.html (2012 response exchange; 144.9 million dollars in incentives 2013 to 2019; Plaskett deposition; no amendment of the law).
[^6]: "Apollo Announces Review of Significant Governance Enhancements as Part of Continued Evolution and Institutionalization of the Firm and Leadership Transition." *Apollo Global Management,* January 25, 2021. https://www.apollo.com/insights-news/pressreleases/2021/01/apollo-announces-review-of-significant-governance-enhancements-as-part-of-continued-evolution-and-institutionalization-of-the-firm-and-leadership-transition-211534651 (Dechert LLP review: about 158 million dollars paid by Black to Epstein, 2012 to 2017).
[^7]: "U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Settles Sex Trafficking Case Against Estate Of Jeffrey Epstein And Co-Defendants For Over $105 Million." *U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice,* December 1, 2022. https://usvidoj.com/u-s-virgin-islands-attorney-general-settles-sex-trafficking-case-against-estate-of-jeffrey-epstein-and-co-defendants-for-over-105-million/
[^8]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Still no resort plans for Epstein's islands purchased by Deckoff." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 6, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/still-no-resort-plans-for-epsteins-islands-purchased-by-deckoff/article_84d776de-8427-4080-a1b5-6cf81418e23d.html (Black Diamond Advisors and Black Diamond Holdings receiving EDC benefits since 2012).

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---
category: "U.S. Government"
tags:
- Organization
- VirginIslands
- JeffreyEpstein
- GovernmentCapture
- JPMorganChase
- SexOffenderRegistration
- Litigation
alias:
- Government of the Virgin Islands
- Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands
- USVI government
- GVI
summary: "The Government of the United States Virgin Islands is the territorial executive that registered and subsidized Jeffrey Epstein for two decades and after his death recovered about 180 million dollars in Epstein-related settlements."
location: "Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands"
relations:
- type: head_of
with: "[[Kenneth Mapp]]"
reverse: true
start: 2015-01-05
end: 2019-01-07
role: "governor"
fn: 7
- type: investigated
with: "[[JPMorgan Chase]]"
start: 2022-12-27
end: 2023-09
role: "Trafficking Victims Protection Act suit, settled for 75 million dollars"
fn: 8
- type: investigated
with: "[[Leon Black]]"
end: 2023-01
role: "potential Epstein-related claims, resolved by a 62.5 million dollar payment"
fn: 10
created: 2026-09-25
updated: 2026-09-25
---
The Government of the [[United States]] Virgin Islands is the executive government of the unincorporated U.S. territory of the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]], headed by an elected governor with supervision over all executive departments under the [[Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands|Organic Act]]. From 1998, when [[Jeffrey Epstein]] bought [[Little St. James]], to his death in 2019, its agencies registered him as a sex offender, verified his address, received his travel notices, inspected his construction, and through the [[Economic Development Commission]] granted his companies tax benefits later put at about 300 million dollars, while the wife of one governor managed his office and the next two governors' inaugural committees solicited or received his money. After his death the government, as plaintiff, sued his estate and [[JPMorgan Chase]], and with a payment from [[Leon Black]] recovered about 180 million dollars after legal fees. JPMorgan Chase argued in that litigation that the government itself had shielded Epstein, which the government called an attempt to shift blame.[^1][^2][^3][^4]
### Governors and Attorneys General
Three governors held office during and after Epstein's years as a registered sex offender in the territory: [[John de Jongh]] (2007 to 2015), [[Kenneth Mapp]] (2015 to 2019), and [[Albert Bryan]] (from January 7, 2019). Bryan served as de Jongh's Commissioner of Labor from 2007 to 2015 and, in 2013 and 2014, simultaneously chaired the Economic Development Commission. De Jongh's wife, [[Cecile de Jongh]], was office manager of Epstein's territorial companies throughout her husband's two terms. In March 2026 Bryan said the Organic Act gave the governor authority to order any department to act: "I could just tell them do it, you don't do it, you're fired."[^3][^5][^6]
The Attorney General heads the [[Virgin Islands Department of Justice]], which kept the territory's sex-offender registry. [[Vincent Frazer]] allowed Epstein to give 24 hours' notice of travel instead of the usual 21 days; acting Attorney General [[Carol Thomas-Jacobs]] rescinded that arrangement in March 2019 after Epstein was detained in the [[Dominican Republic]]. [[Denise George]], appointed by Bryan in 2019, filed the cases against the estate and JPMorgan and was fired on December 31, 2022. She was followed by Thomas-Jacobs, again acting, and by [[Ariel Smith]], who had been Civil Division chief on the estate case. In 2024 Bryan appointed [[Gordon Rhea]], who had represented Epstein's co-executor [[Richard Kahn]] in the estate litigation and said he would recuse himself from Epstein matters.[^3][^4][^7]
### Registration and Monitoring
Epstein registered as a sex offender in the territory in 2010 as a Tier 1 offender on the strength of his 2008 [[Florida]] conviction for procuring a minor for prostitution, which required annual registration, advance notice of travel, and random address checks. Most of his territorial companies were created in 2011 and 2012, soon after he registered. At his last verification, in July 2018, he refused to let Department of Justice investigators, assisted by [[United States Marshals Service|U.S. Marshals]], go beyond the dock of Little St. James, calling the dock his "front door," and arranged to meet them at his office on St. Thomas. His March 19, 2019 notice of a ten-day trip to France omitted travel to [[Vienna]] and [[Monaco]]. The [[Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources|Department of Planning and Natural Resources]] found his inspections of unpermitted construction on [[Great St. James]] objected to as "invasions" of his constitutional right to privacy in a home he defined as the entire island.[^2]
In May 2019 Bryan's nominee for planning commissioner, [[Jean-Pierre Oriol]], said publicly that Epstein was continuing construction on Great St. James despite a stop-work order; Epstein complained to Bryan, who replied "We got u." Following Epstein's July 2019 arrest, George said a civil claim filed in New York was insufficient to open a territorial investigation without a local complaint. Asked in March 2026 about territorial oversight of Epstein, Bryan said, "Are there any victims in the Virgin Islands saying they were abused?"[^5]
### Money and Access
The Economic Development Commission granted Epstein's [[Financial Trust Company]] benefits from 1999 and his [[Southern Trust Company]] a ten-year package from February 1, 2013, certified on January 24, 2014 over Bryan's signature as chairman. The territory later estimated that the Southern Trust certificate allowed Epstein to avoid 80,576,236 dollars in taxes; Economic Development Authority records put his incentives from 2013 to 2019 at 144.9 million dollars. The commission's general counsel from 2007 to 2014 was [[Stacey Plaskett]], who later became the territory's delegate to Congress and acknowledged receiving about 30,000 dollars in campaign contributions from Epstein and his employees.[^2][^3][^8][^9]
The JPMorgan exhibits record Epstein's office handling requests from the governors' political committees. In December 2014 Cecile de Jongh asked him to confirm a 10,000 dollar donation from Southern Trust to the Mapp-Potter inaugural committee; on September 1, 2016 Epstein told her to "prepare a check for mapps super pac. For 75k"; and on December 20, 2018 she relayed a request from the Bryan/Roach inaugural committee for 25,000 dollars. The JPMorgan exhibits do not show whether the Bryan committee was paid. The former senator [[Celestino White]], whom Bryan renominated to the [[Virgin Islands Port Authority]] board, had offered to work on Epstein's behalf, including on the purchase of the government-owned Dog Island.[^5][^9]
### Litigation and Recovery
On January 15, 2020 George sued the estate in the Superior Court under the territory's Criminally Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, naming the co-executors [[Darren Indyke]] and Richard Kahn and Epstein's companies. The case settled on November 30, 2022 for 105 million dollars, half the proceeds of the sale of Little St. James (about 11 million dollars), and 450,000 dollars for remediation on Great St. James; the law firm [[Motley Rice]], retained on contingency, stood to receive more than 23 million dollars. In January 2023 Leon Black paid 62.5 million dollars to resolve potential claims. The government sued JPMorgan on December 27, 2022 in the [[U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York]] before Judge [[Jed Rakoff]], and the bank settled in September 2023 for 75 million dollars.[^1][^4][^8][^9][^10]
JPMorgan's defense was that "the entity that most directly failed to protect public safety and most actively facilitated and benefited from Epstein's continued criminal activity was the plaintiff in this case, the USVI government itself." The government's spokesperson Venetia Velazquez said the bank had "cherry-picked and mischaracterized Epstein's interactions with U.S. Virgin Islands officials" and that "the USVI identified and addressed deficiencies in Southern Trust's and Financial Trust's compliance." In an October 2023 interview with the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]], George said Bryan had pressed her to grant Epstein a travel-notice waiver in 2019 and later to settle the estate case for 80 million dollars through the attorney [[Henry Smock]], saying the estate "just wanted to clear people"; Bryan has said Epstein received no special privilege from his administration.[^3][^5][^8]
The government received about 180 million dollars in Epstein-related settlements after Motley Rice's fees. A 2024 territorial law required a full report on how the money was spent; as of January 2026 the Bryan administration had not filed it, and it was unclear how much remained. As of June 2023 the territory had not amended its law to bar registered sex offenders from obtaining economic-development tax benefits.[^3][^9]
### Footnotes
[^1]: "U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Settles Sex Trafficking Case Against Estate Of Jeffrey Epstein And Co-Defendants For Over $105 Million." *U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice,* December 1, 2022. https://usvidoj.com/u-s-virgin-islands-attorney-general-settles-sex-trafficking-case-against-estate-of-jeffrey-epstein-and-co-defendants-for-over-105-million/
[^2]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein, No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint, paragraphs 6, 132 to 137, 157 to 159, and 175, filed as Exhibit 1 to Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 1-1 (December 27, 2022), ECF pp. 3, 28 to 30, 33 to 34, 37. https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011558/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/001-01.pdf
[^3]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Docs confirm Bryan pressed for special treatment of sex offender." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/docs-confirm-bryan-pressed-for-special-treatment-of-sex-offender/article_5e9483c9-38d2-406c-8bb0-e5757ce287f2.html
[^4]: "Virgin Islands prosecutor fired after accusing JPMorgan of aiding Epstein's sex trafficking ring." *The Washington Times,* January 3, 2023. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/jan/3/virgin-islands-prosecutor-fired-after-accusing-jpm/
[^5]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Bryan unapologetic for texts with Epstein, doubles down on denial of wrongdoing." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* March 3, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/bryan-unapologetic-for-texts-with-epstein-doubles-down-on-denial-of-wrongdoing/article_8bab46a1-6075-4c7c-abec-6efb19622e62.html
[^6]: "DOJ Drops Charges Against Former Governor De Jongh After $380,000 Settlement." *The Virgin Islands Consortium,* January 22, 2016. https://viconsortium.com/vi-vic_news/doj-drops-charges-against-former-governor-de-jongh-with-prejudice-after-380000-settlement
[^7]: "Governor Albert Bryan Jr." Biography submitted to the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources, hearing of March 24, 2021. https://docs.house.gov/meetings/II/II00/20210324/111384/HHRG-117-II00-Bio-BryanJrA-20210324.pdf
[^8]: "V.I. Officials Enabled Epstein to Act With Impunity, JPMorgan Alleges in Latest Salvo." *St. Thomas Source,* June 16, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20240721172424/https://stthomassource.com/content/2023/06/16/v-i-officials-enabled-epstein-to-act-with-impunity-jpmorgan-alleges-in-latest-salvo/ ; "US Virgin Islands sue JPMorgan Chase over handling of Jeffrey Epstein accounts." *JURIST,* December 30, 2022. https://www.jurist.org/news/2022/12/us-virgin-islands-sue-jp-morgan-over-handling-of-jeffery-epstein-accounts/ ; "Attorney general going after Jeffrey Epstein's estate says she was fired for her dogged pursuit." *Fortune,* November 17, 2023. https://fortune.com/2023/11/17/jeffrey-epstein-us-virgin-islands-jpmorgan-attorney-general-investigation-fired/
[^9]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Court filings show V.I. First Lady's loyalty to Epstein." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* June 21, 2023. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/court-filings-show-v-i-first-ladys-loyalty-to-epstein/article_c2dca0a7-a243-5365-88c0-389c576ad022.html
[^10]: "Financier and MoMA Trustee Leon Black Agrees to Pay $62.5 Million to Settle Jeffrey Epstein-Related Claims in the Virgin Islands." *Artnet News,* 2023. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/leon-black-62-million-settlement-with-virgin-islands-epstein-claims-2341599

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---
category: "U.S. Government"
tags:
- Organization
- Government
- Congress
- CongressionalOversight
- JeffreyEpstein
- EpsteinFiles
- Subpoena
- ContemptOfCongress
alias:
- House Oversight Committee
- House Committee on Oversight and Accountability
- House Committee on Oversight and Reform
- United States House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight
- House Government Reform and Oversight Committee
- House Committee on Government Reform
- United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
summary: "Principal investigative committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, which from 2025 subpoenaed Jeffrey Epstein's estate, deposed Bill and Hillary Clinton, subpoenaed Attorney General Pam Bondi and cited Leon Black for contempt."
start: 1927
location: "Washington, D.C."
relations:
- type: head_of
with: "[[James Comer]]"
reverse: true
role: "chairman"
fn: 2
- type: investigated
with: "[[Bill Clinton]]"
start: 2025-08
end: 2026-02
role: "subpoena, contempt vote and deposition in the Epstein inquiry"
fn: 12
- type: investigated
with: "[[Alexander Acosta]]"
start: 2025-09
role: "deposition on the 2008 non-prosecution agreement"
fn: 9
- type: investigated
with: "[[Ghislaine Maxwell]]"
start: 2025-07
end: 2026-02
role: "subpoena and deposition"
fn: 10
- type: investigated
with: "[[Pam Bondi]]"
start: 2026-03-04
role: "subpoena for testimony on the Epstein files"
fn: 3
- type: investigated
with: "[[Leon Black]]"
start: 2026-03-03
end: 2026-09-16
role: "subpoenas and contempt of Congress citation"
fn: 15
created: 2026-09-25
updated: 2026-09-25
---
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the principal investigative committee of the [[United States House of Representatives]], with jurisdiction over the operations of the federal government and authority to investigate any matter within the jurisdiction of any other House committee. It was formed in 1927 as the Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments and has since been renamed several times with changes of party control: Government Operations from 1952, Government Reform and Oversight from 1995, Government Reform from 1997, Oversight and Government Reform from 2007, Oversight and Reform from 2019, and Oversight and Accountability for the 118th Congress (2023 to 2025). The rules package of the 119th Congress restored the name Oversight and Government Reform in January 2025.[^1] Its chairman is [[James Comer]] of Kentucky; its ranking Democrat is [[Robert Garcia]] of California.[^2][^3]
### Earlier Investigations
As the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight under [[Dan Burton]], the committee investigated fundraising for the 1996 Clinton campaign; its 1998 interim report traced the partnership between the [[Lippo Group]] of the [[James Riady|Riady]] family and the [[Jackson Stephens|Stephens]] family of Arkansas through [[Stephens Finance Ltd.]] and [[Worthen Bank]].[^4] On July 2, 2008, the chairman [[Henry Waxman]] released documents showing that officials of the State and Commerce Departments knew of [[Hunt Oil]]'s interest in Iraqi Kurdistan months before its contract with the Kurdistan Regional Government.[^5] On July 26, 2023, a subcommittee of the renamed Committee on Oversight and Accountability heard [[David Grusch]], formerly of the [[National Reconnaissance Office]], testify that officials had told him of special access programs for the retrieval of unidentified anomalous phenomena that had not been disclosed to Congress.[^6]
In February 2025 Comer created a Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets under Representative [[Anna Paulina Luna]], with a remit covering the assassinations of [[John F. Kennedy]], [[Robert F. Kennedy]] and [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], unidentified aerial phenomena, the origins of COVID-19, the September 11 attacks and the Epstein "client list." Its Republican members included [[Nancy Mace]], [[Lauren Boebert]] and [[Tim Burchett]]. The task force had no subpoena power of its own.[^7]
### The Epstein Inquiry
On August 25, 2025, Comer subpoenaed the estate of [[Jeffrey Epstein]], and the committee also approved subpoenas to former officials and to Bill and [[Hillary Clinton]]. On September 2, 2025, it released records received from the [[Department of Justice]], and on September 8 the estate's first production, including the fiftieth-birthday album assembled by [[Ghislaine Maxwell]] in 2003. Comer said Democrats were "cherry-picking documents" and that "President Trump is not accused of any wrongdoing," and the committee stated that it had "obtained information about Epstein's bank accounts" and would "pursue these bank records."[^8] [[Alexander Acosta]], who as United States Attorney in Miami negotiated the [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement|2008 non-prosecution agreement]], sat for a closed deposition of about six hours in September 2025, and the committee released the transcript on October 17.[^9] On a motion by Burchett, Comer subpoenaed Maxwell in July 2025 for a deposition at the federal prison in [[Tallahassee, Florida|Tallahassee]] on August 11. Her lawyers asked for immunity and wrote that if she "were to receive clemency" she would testify in public; the committee refused immunity and postponed the deposition. By then she had already been interviewed by Deputy Attorney General [[Todd Blanche]] on July 24 and 25 under a grant of limited immunity and moved to a minimum-security camp in Texas. At her deposition in early February 2026 she invoked the Fifth Amendment in answer to every question, and her lawyer said she would testify if [[Donald Trump]] granted her clemency.[^10]
On November 12, 2025, the committee's Democrats released three estate emails, including a 2019 message to the writer [[Michael Wolff]] in which Epstein wrote that Donald Trump "knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop," and a 2015 exchange in which Wolff suggested that a denial by Trump of having been on the plane or at the house would give Epstein "a valuable PR and political currency." Garcia said the emails "raise serious questions about what else the [[White House]] is hiding." Committee Republicans released about 20,000 pages from the estate the same day.[^11]
The Clintons declined to appear under the subpoenas. On January 21, 2026, the committee voted 34 to 8 to recommend that Bill Clinton be held in contempt of Congress and 28 to 15 for Hillary Clinton; nine Democrats voted for the first resolution and three for the second. Both were then deposed in late February 2026 near their home in Chappaqua, New York, where Bill Clinton said, "I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong," and video of the depositions was released in early March.[^12][^13]
On March 4, 2026, on a motion by Mace, the committee voted 24 to 19 to subpoena Attorney General [[Pam Bondi]], with Mace, Burchett, Boebert, [[Michael Cloud]] and [[Scott Perry]] joining the Democrats; Comer had told members that Bondi's chief of staff offered to brief small groups instead. Mace said: "The Epstein case is one of the greatest cover-ups in American history." The subpoena, issued on March 17, set a deposition for April 14.[^3] Donald Trump removed Bondi on April 2. Comer said he would consult committee Republicans on whether to pursue the subpoena; Garcia said Bondi "remains legally obligated to appear before our Committee under oath."[^14]
On March 3, 2026, Comer asked [[Leon Black]], the co-founder of [[Apollo Global Management]] who paid Epstein about 158 million dollars, for a transcribed interview into how the federal government "for decades failed survivors" and "how Mr. Epstein sought to curry favor with influential individuals to avoid scrutiny." The [[Senate Committee on Finance]] minority referred its own findings on Black to the committee on June 4, 2026. Black walked out of a voluntary interview on June 26, 2026, and was subpoenaed for a deposition and for the nondisclosure agreements he had signed, including any with Epstein's victims; he did not appear on September 3 and sued the committee and Comer in the [[United States District Court for the District of Columbia]] (Black v. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, No. 1:26-cv-03084). The committee voted 41 to 0 on September 15 to recommend contempt, and on September 16, 2026, the House held Black in contempt by unanimous consent, the first witness in the Epstein inquiry so cited, with referral to the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. Comer said: "No one is above the law." Black's lawyers called the action "outrageous."[^15][^16][^17][^18]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Congressional Research Service, *House Rules Changes Affecting Committee Procedure in the 119th Congress (2025-2026),* R48466. https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R48466 ; U.S. Government Publishing Office, "House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform," committee publications index. https://www.govinfo.gov/committee/house-oversight
[^2]: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, "About," committee website, accessed September 2026. https://oversight.house.gov/about/
[^3]: Dareh Gregorian, Kyle Stewart, Owen Hayes and Michael Kosnar, "House Oversight Committee votes to subpoena Pam Bondi for testimony on Epstein files," NBC News, March 4, 2026. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/pam-bondi-subpoenaed-testify-epstein-files-house-oversight-committee-rcna261779 ; House Oversight Committee Democrats, "Ranking Member Robert Garcia Statement on Securing Subpoena for Attorney General Pam Bondi," March 4, 2026. https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/news/press-releases/ranking-member-robert-garcia-statement-on-securing-subpoena-for-attorney-general-pam-bondi-to-testify-before-oversight-in-epstein-files-cover-up ; Office of Representative Nancy Mace, "Rep. Nancy Mace Issues Statement After Oversight Committee Issues Subpoena to AG," March 17, 2026. https://mace.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-nancy-mace-issues-statement-after-oversight-committee-issues-subpoena-ag
[^4]: U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Government Reform and Oversight. *Investigation of Political Fundraising Improprieties and Possible Violations of Law: Interim Report.* House Report 105-829, 105th Congress, 2nd Session, 1998, vol. 2. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-105hrpt829/html/CRPT-105hrpt829-vol2.htm
[^5]: Waxman, Henry A., letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, July 2, 2008, as reported in "U.S. officials condoned Kurdish oil deal," NBC News, July 2008. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna25506968
[^6]: U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs. *Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency,* hearing, July 26, 2023.
[^7]: "Congress creates task force to look into UAPs, COVID origins, JFK assassination, Epstein client list," The Washington Times, February 11, 2025. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/feb/11/congress-creates-task-force-investigate-uaps-covid/
[^8]: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, "Oversight Committee Releases Records Provided by the Epstein Estate, Chairman Comer Provides Statement," September 8, 2025. https://oversight.house.gov/release/oversight-committee-releases-records-provided-by-the-epstein-estate-chairman-comer-provides-statement/ ; "US representative files discharge petition to compel release of Epstein investigation documents," JURIST, September 5, 2025. https://www.jurist.org/news/2025/09/us-representative-files-discharge-petition-to-compel-release-of-epstein-investigation-documents/
[^9]: "Alex Acosta, former US attorney who negotiated Epstein's plea deal, appears before House Oversight Committee," ABC News, September 2025 (transcript released October 17, 2025). https://abcnews.com/Politics/alex-acosta-former-us-attorney-negotiated-epsteins-plea/story?id=125731737
[^10]: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, "Chairman Comer Subpoenas Ghislaine Maxwell for Deposition at Federal Prison," July 2025. https://oversight.house.gov/release/chairman-comer-subpoenas-ghislaine-maxwell-for-deposition-at-federal-prison ; "House Oversight Committee rejects Ghislaine Maxwell's request for immunity," NBC News, 2025. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-oversight-committee-rejects-ghislaine-maxwells-request-immunity-rcna221773 ; "Ghislaine Maxwell pleads the Fifth, with lawyer saying she'll testify in Epstein probe if Trump grants her clemency," CBS News, February 2026. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ghislaine-maxwell-house-oversight-committee-deposition-fifth-amendment/ ; Office of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, "Whitehouse Demands Documents on Transfer of Ghislaine Maxwell to Minimum-Security Bureau of Prisons Facility," August 11, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/whitehouse-demands-documents-on-transfer-of-ghislaine-maxwell-to-minimum-security-bureau-of-prisons-facility
[^11]: House Oversight Committee Democrats, press release, November 12, 2025. https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/news/press-releases/house-oversight-committee-releases-jeffrey-epstein-email-correspondence-raising ; "House committee releases over 20,000 documents from Epstein estate," NPR, November 13, 2025. https://www.npr.org/2025/11/13/nx-s1-5607057/house-committee-releases-over-20-000-documents-from-epstein-estate
[^12]: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, "Oversight Committee Republicans and Democrats Hold Bill and Hillary Clinton in Contempt for Defying Lawful Subpoenas," January 21, 2026. https://oversight.house.gov/release/oversight-committee-republicans-and-democrats-hold-bill-and-hillary-clinton-in-contempt-for-defying-lawful-subpoenas ; "Vote to hold Bill and Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress passes House Oversight Committee," The Washington Post, January 21, 2026. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/01/21/bill-clinton-hillary-clinton-epstein-contempt-congress-oversight-vote/
[^13]: "Bill Clinton defends himself at House deposition on Epstein: 'I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong,'" CBS News, February 2026. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bill-clinton-epstein-house-oversight-committee-deposition/ ; "Videos of Clinton depositions in Epstein investigation released," The Washington Post, March 2, 2026. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/03/02/bill-hillary-clinton-deposition-videos/
[^14]: "Trump fires Pam Bondi as attorney general, installs Todd Blanche as acting AG," CBS News, April 2, 2026. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-pam-bondi-attorney-general/
[^15]: "House holds billionaire Leon Black in contempt of Congress over Epstein investigation," NPR, September 16, 2026. https://www.npr.org/2026/09/16/nx-s1-5954258/leon-black-jeffrey-epstein-contempt-congress ; "House votes to hold Leon Black in contempt of Congress over Epstein subpoenas defiance," CNBC, September 16, 2026. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/16/leon-black-contempt-house-epstein-subpoenas-refusal.html
[^16]: U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, "Wyden Refers Findings on Leon Black's Epstein Ties to House Oversight Committee," June 4, 2026. https://www.finance.senate.gov/ranking-members-news/wyden-refers-findings-on-leon-blacks-epstein-ties-to-house-oversight-committee
[^17]: U.S. House of Representatives, *Resolution Recommending That the House of Representatives Find Leon D. Black in Contempt of Congress,* House Report 119-831, September 2026. https://www.congress.gov/committee-report/119th-congress/house-report/831/1
[^18]: Black v. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, No. 1:26-cv-03084 (D.D.C., filed September 3, 2026). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74743039/black-v-house-committee-on-oversight-and-government-reform/