TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (CBS12) — A Florida congresswoman is pushing new legislation to ensure people tied to the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein cannot escape accountability — even if they live outside the U.S.
On Friday, Wasserman Schultz (FL-25) announced a new bill dubbed the No Escaping Justice Act, a bill that would impose sanctions on foreign nationals implicated in the Epstein Files.
The legislation, if passed, would require the federal government to provide Congress with a list of foreign individuals believe to have participated in– or benefited from sex trafficking activities connected to Epstein.
In a statement, Schultz said even with the redacted release’s of the Epstein Files, a lack of accountability remains:
After House Democrats successfully forced the Trump Administration to release the Epstein Files, there remains a glaring absence of real transparency and a total lack of accountability,. Trump’s Department of Justice, under Attorney General Pam Bondi, is too focused on covering up Trump’s relationship with Epstein and refuses to investigate the wealthy, powerful individuals who were clearly complicit in these abuses. This is a first step to bring some measure of justice for foreign nationals who conspired with Epstein to sexually exploit American children.
The bill would require the administration to provide Congress with a list of foreign nationals believed to have engaged in the following activities:
- Sex trafficking of minors
- Benefiting financially from participating in such activities
- Obstructing investigations into these crimes
Those individuals would then be subject to visa bans, preventing them from entering the United States, as well as asset-blocking sanctions. If the president chooses to exempt someone from these sanctions for national security reasons, he would be required to provide a full explanation to Congress.
