Executive Summary
- Rep. Robert Garcia has asked the DOJ Inspector General to investigate the FBI’s failure to act on a 1996 complaint against Jeffrey Epstein.
- The complaint, filed by Maria Farmer, alleged theft of photos involving minors and threats of violence.
- Documents released by the DOJ confirm the FBI received the allegations a decade before opening a formal investigation.
- Farmer claims she was ignored by federal agents at the time, describing the inaction as a betrayal.
Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, formally requested on Tuesday, Dec. 23, that the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General investigate the FBI’s handling of a 1996 criminal complaint filed against Jeffrey Epstein. The request follows the release of documents revealing that the bureau received allegations concerning Epstein a full decade before opening an official investigation.
In a letter addressed to William Blier, the Justice Department’s acting inspector general, Rep. Garcia characterized the delay as a failure of government responsibility. “For survivors like Maria Farmer, her family, and all the people Jeffrey Epstein abused in the decades that followed this unanswered complaint, this was not merely a missed investigative opportunity—it was a profound betrayal by their own government,” Garcia wrote.
The scrutiny centers on a 1996 complaint filed by Maria Farmer, an artist who worked for Epstein. According to the recently released documents, Farmer accused Epstein of stealing photographs she had taken of her 12- and 16-year-old sisters. The complaint further alleges that Epstein threatened to burn down Farmer’s house if she disclosed the existence of the photos to anyone. Despite these specific allegations, federal authorities did not open an investigation into Epstein’s alleged trafficking and grooming activities until 2006.
Farmer, whose name was initially redacted but who has since identified herself as the complainant, alleges in the filing that Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell sexually assaulted her during a trip to Epstein’s Ohio residence in 1996. A lawsuit filed by Farmer indicates she discovered a lockbox containing the missing photos of her sisters had been forced open during a visit to one of Epstein’s properties. “When I was ignored and hung up on by the FBI in 1996, my world turned upside down, and I felt frozen in time,” Farmer said in a statement regarding the document release.
According to the timeline outlined in Garcia’s letter, the FBI failed to pursue the 1996 allegations or provide meaningful follow-up to Farmer. The eventual federal investigation launched a decade later resulted in a controversial non-prosecution agreement for Epstein in 2008. Maxwell was later convicted in 2021 and sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in the abuse.
Oversight and Accountability Implications
The demand for an Inspector General inquiry highlights the continuing legislative focus on historical procedural failures within federal law enforcement. An OIG review is a significant administrative step intended to determine whether the lack of action in 1996 resulted from negligence, resource misallocation, or systemic flaws in how the FBI processed complaints involving high-profile figures. The outcome of such an investigation could drive policy changes regarding the intake and prioritization of allegations involving minors. It is important to note that all individuals named in criminal complaints or investigations are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
