The House Oversight Committee is pressing the Justice Department to investigate sexual misconduct allegations against two men with ties to Jeffrey Epstein, based on testimony delivered this week by Sarah Kellen, who worked as Epstein's assistant for more than a decade.
Kellen provided a closed-door interview to the committee on May 21, describing incidents involving Philip Levine, former mayor of Miami Beach, and Frédéric Fekkai, a French celebrity hairstylist. Committee Chair James Comer sent a letter to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche requesting the DOJ open investigations into the allegations Kellen detailed during her transcribed testimony.
Kellen also accused a third figure, the late fashion photographer Patrick Demarchelier, of exposing himself to her. Demarchelier died in 2022.
In a statement Thursday, Comer said the committee, which is not a law enforcement body, was fulfilling its responsibility by passing the allegations to the department with the tools to investigate. "We will continue to follow the facts and ensure accountability for survivors," he said.
Kellen told the panel that Fekkai introduced her to Epstein and that he sexually assaulted her before she began working for the financier. She claimed Fekkai lured her to Hawaii under the pretense of modeling work, saying "there was no show" when she arrived. "He sexually assaulted me that night," she testified. Fekkai then introduced her to Epstein, whom he described as a Victoria's Secret scout.
She said Epstein used similar deception, arranging a "casting" call in Los Angeles and telling her to undress for him, which she did. Only after being hired as his assistant did she learn he was a money manager, not a modeling scout.
Regarding Levine, Kellen described an assault occurring in 2002 or 2003 while she was working for Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at a rented house in St. Tropez. She said Levine, a friend of Maxwell's, entered her bedroom and "basically forced himself on me." She also reported a second incident on the beach with him.
Kellen's account paints a portrait of systematic grooming by Epstein that left her financially and psychologically dependent. She told the panel that Epstein "groomed me, sexually and psychologically abused me, controlled me, manipulated me, dominated me and gaslit me until I could no longer tell which thoughts were mine and which were his." She said she remained in his employ because she had no money, family, or education and did not believe she deserved better.
She did not leave Epstein's orbit until 2013, when she became engaged to someone who gave her "a piece of footing outside of someone else's control," she said.
Fekkai denied the allegations in a statement, saying he "never abused anyone" and "never participated in any illegal behavior." He added that he knew nothing of Epstein's crimes. Levine's spokesman said any allegation beyond a consensual encounter between adults was untrue, describing it as a "brief intimate encounter" that occurred "nearly a quarter century ago."
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. If the agency acts on the committee's referral, it would mark the first active criminal investigation into the Epstein case since the prosecution of his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell. Last year, the DOJ and FBI said they had completed an "exhaustive" review and found insufficient evidence to investigate others, despite Epstein having preyed on more than 1,000 women.
Levine's name appears over 1,000 times in the investigative files released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, often in campaign emails to Epstein and flirty exchanges with Maxwell. In 2010, after Epstein completed a jail sentence on solicitation charges, Levine sent him an email saying "I am happy that everything has come to a positive ending for you during these tough times."
Fekkai's name appears over 3,000 times in the files, including references to numerous appointments with unidentified women at his Manhattan salon. One 2016 email from the salon to Epstein's bookkeeper noted it was a "big day" with "5 cuts in all." Another 2018 email mentioned a haircut "compliments of Jeffrey."
During her testimony, Kellen was asked about Epstein's relationship with President Donald Trump. She said Epstein frequently used the gym at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate early in her employment and that the two had a "friendly" relationship. She reported hearing that Trump banned Epstein from the resort after he "had like, hit on a member's daughter or something along those lines." Trump and Epstein were friends for years before a falling out, and Trump has denied any misconduct.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "The committee's move puts significant pressure on a DOJ that claimed just last year that there was nothing left to investigate, yet fresh testimony from someone inside Epstein's inner circle tells a very different story."
Comments