Associate News Editor
Senator Ron Wyden has questioned why a60 Minutesinterview with now-former correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi on Jeffrey Epstein’s banking practices never aired, adding it had been "suppressed."
The Oregon Democrat raised the issue in a new Senate Finance Committee report, published on August 4, alleging Deutsche Bank failed to promptly disclose more than $250 million in suspicious Epstein-related transactions.
"It is disappointing that, instead of advancing new facts that would help bring accountability to the men who participated in Epstein’s trafficking operation, the report largely recycles allegations that have already been exhaustively examined by courts and the government," a spokesperson for JPMorgan Chase toldNewsweek.
Asked for comment, Wyden’s office pointedNewsweekto page 61 ofthe report, where it says his taped interview with Alfonsi was intended for a broader60 Minutessegment on banks and Epstein, adding that it is unclear whether CBS News leadership will allow the broader segment to air following Alfonsi's departure from the network.
CBS News says the segment simply was not ready before the show’s season ended.
Pushing back against any suggestion that the interview was buried, a spokesperson for the network said in a statement shared withNewsweekvia email: “We air pieces when they are ready, and suggesting that an interview is being ‘suppressed’ for any reason is categorically false.”
According to Wyden's report, "the investigation found significant evidence thatJPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, andBank of Americaviolated federal anti-money laundering laws by failing to screen and report Epstein’s suspicious financial transactions in a timely manner."
A spokesperson for Bank of America toldNewsweek: “We take our legal and regulatory obligations seriously and, as we have previously said, the bank did not facilitate wrongdoing.”
Newsweekalso reached out to Alfonsi via her talent agency, and Deutsche Bank for comment via email on Wednesday morning.
Wyden’s Senate Finance Committee report says his investigation examined suspicious activity reports, lawsuit materials, court filings and requests for information sent to banks and the Treasury Department.
TheSenate Finance Committee press releasesaid the report capped a four-year investigation into howWall Streetbanks handled Epstein-related financial activity.
Wyden, a ranking member on the Senate Finance Committee, released the report on August 4.
The committee said it concerned “years of complicity by top officials at multiple Wall Street Banks” and alleged that Epstein was able to move large sums of money while banks delayed reporting suspicious activity.Newsweekcould not independently verify the claims made in the report.
“I said from the start that if you want to get to the bottom of the Jeffrey Epstein cover-up, you had to follow the money,” Wyden said in a statement after the report’s release.
