A newly released House investigation has documented an encounter at St. Thomas airport in 2007 in which Jeffrey Epstein allegedly intervened to prevent FBI agents from questioning two women, according to testimony from a former Epstein associate.
Sarah Kellen, who worked as Epstein's assistant and has described herself as a survivor of his abuse, told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that Epstein directed her and another woman to wait while he approached the agents. Within roughly ten minutes, he returned, instructed them to leave, and the federal agents had departed.
Kellen characterised the episode as a demonstration of Epstein's reach into law enforcement. "He could also control any law enforcement agency," she stated during her May 21, 2026, testimony.
The account appears on page 62 of a 137-page report released November 10 by Republican staff on the House committee, which spent 15 months examining how federal authorities handled investigations into Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. The report does not disclose what Epstein communicated to the agents or explain their decision to leave without conducting interviews. The information comes solely from Kellen's recollection rather than from independent verification.
Kellen also told investigators that the absence of questioning from law enforcement shaped her understanding of Epstein's situation. She said he portrayed himself as falsely accused, and because no one had interviewed her, she relied entirely on his account. "Nobody questioned me, nobody approached me, so I only had his narrative," she testified.
The House majority's findings conclude that federal investigators and prosecutors across multiple levels failed to gather evidence and pursue witnesses that might have halted Epstein's continued criminal activity. The investigation identified the 2007 non-prosecution agreement negotiated by South Florida authorities as a critical decision that allowed Epstein to escape federal prosecution and remain active for years afterward.
According to the report, crimes Epstein committed after 2005 could have been prevented through proper investigation and prosecution.
The congressional inquiry also documented a separate occasion when Epstein allegedly blocked federal agents from delivering legal papers. Investigators had planned to serve a target letter to an alleged associate at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, but Epstein redirected his plane to the U.S. Virgin Islands instead, preventing the delivery. The report does not confirm whether this Teterboro incident and the St. Thomas airport encounter involved the same situation.
The committee criticised authorities for failing to pursue additional interviews with people in Epstein's circle and called on the Justice Department to revisit certain investigative paths.
Financial records uncovered during the investigation revealed $26,260 in payments Epstein made to Antilles School, a private institution on St. Thomas. A Deutsche Bank presentation from September 2019, prepared for federal prosecutors in New York, documented three transactions: $8,697 on July 17, 2015; $8,688 on August 26, 2016; and $8,875 on January 17, 2018.
The congressional report describes these payments as tuition on behalf of several Epstein employees, though the names of those who benefited remain redacted in publicly available records. Neither the House report nor the bank records indicate any impropriety by Antilles School.
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