FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 23, 2025 – 8:20 PM EST
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Maria Farmer, the first whistleblower to report Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to law enforcement in 1996, released the following statement today in reaction to the news of Congressman Robert Garcia requesting the Office of the Inspector General to conduct an independent investigation into the failure of the FBI to properly investigate her reports of child pornography and abuse:
“The release of the Epstein files has been many things – initial victory and optimism for a long-fought push for truth, crushing disappointment and frustration at the Department of Justice’s continued evasion of the truth with the heavily yet irresponsibly redacted release of the files, and the surrealism of finally being vindicated after the truth was revealed.
We now all know that the FBI ignored my 1996 reports of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislane Maxwell’s sexual abuse of minors and possession of CSAM, which I made – not for myself – but for vulnerable girls like my younger sisters and Virginia Roberts Giuffre. Since then, they have engaged in a systematic cover-up to protect him and his circle of powerful abusers.
This revelation brings some validation – but not justice or accountability. It must lead to real answers about who knew what and when, and why our government’s justice system failed so badly. I am grateful to Congressman Garcia’s leadership in continuing to demand answers and join him in insisting that the Office of the Inspector General stop protecting institutions and start providing the truth that survivors and the public have been denied for far too long.”
Ranking Member Robert Garcia Demands Answers on FBI’s Failure to Investigate Jeffrey Epstein After Survivor Maria Farmer Warned Agency in 1996, Newly Released Records Prove
Washington, D.C. — Today, Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, requested an investigation by the Department of Justice Inspector General into the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) failure to investigate Jeffrey Epstein after records revealed that Maria Farmer, an Epstein survivor, warned the FBI in 1996 that Epstein and his associates were sexually abusing minors and producing child sexual abuse material. Farmer’s official complaint to the FBI was recently made public under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
“The American public should be outraged that the FBI had information about the horrific crimes Jeffrey Epstein was committing in the 1990s, and yet failed to protect women and children for decades. We are fighting to end the Epstein cover-up for survivors like Maria Farmer, who was failed by her own government over and over. We will not stop until we have transparency for the survivors and the American people,” said Ranking Member Robert Garcia.
In the letter, Ranking Member Garcia wrote, “Oversight Democrats are investigating Jeffrey Epstein; his enablers, network and accomplices; and the numerous failures by the United States government that denied justice to survivors. Recent disclosures made under the Epstein Files Transparency Act have underscored the depth of these failures. Records prove that Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes were first reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 1996, nearly a decade before Palm Beach police opened the investigation that resulted in Epstein’s first indictment. As we continue our inquiry, we request that the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (DOJ OIG) investigate the FBI’s failure in the 1990s to adequately respond to or investigate allegations of misconduct by Jeffrey Epstein, including his alleged possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and to examine why subsequent internal Department reviews failed to meaningfully address that failure.”
