'60 Minutes' Epstein-banks story vanished amid CBS upheaval under Bari Weiss: report

A new Senate report on Wall Street banks' handling of Jeffrey Epstein's finances calls out President Donald Trump's Treasury Secretary, a Republican senator, and the Bari Weiss-led "60 Minutes."

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) sat for an interview in March with then-"60 Minutes" correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi to discuss Wall Street banks' relationships with Epstein, Bloomberg reported, but two months later the correspondent was gone.

CBS News fired Alfonsi after she publicly criticized network leadership and Weiss, the network's editor in chief, over editorial decisions on a separate, unrelated segment. Neither the Wyden interview nor the broader banks-and-Epstein story CBS had been reporting has ever aired.

A CBS spokesperson confirmed the Wyden interview took place but said the story simply didn't come together in time for the season that concluded in May, and declined to say whether it's being revived for the next one.

“Investigations into the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein have thus uncovered an important finding that extends beyond Epstein himself: Wall Street banks have been willing to turn a blind eye to the suspicious transactions of ultra-wealthy clients, even if the failure to scrutinize and report these transactions runs directly afoul of federal law,” stated Wyden's newly issued report. “If federal prosecutors are serious about preventing the next Jeffrey Epstein, they must hold Wall Street accountable.”

Wyden's investigation found Deutsche Bank AG failed to promptly report more than $250 million in suspicious transactions involving Epstein, and the Oregon Democrat's probe found Bank of America Corp. reported $170 million in Epstein-related transactions connected to billionaire Leon Black – including some that seemed to have “no apparent economic, business or lawful purpose.”

Black, the former Apollo Global Management chief executive, has said he paid Epstein for legitimate tax and estate-planning advice and was unaware of Epstein's crimes. His attorney, Susan Estrich, called the report's assertions "outrageous and false," pointing to a 2021 investigation commissioned by Apollo that found no evidence Black was involved in Epstein's criminal activity.

Democrats do not control the U.S. Senate, so Wyden was limited in his ability to obtain documents or interview witnesses – as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pointedly reminded him at one point.

After President Donald Trump, a longtime associate of Epstein, returned to office last year, Wyden sent three letters to Bessent seeking full access to the “suspicious activity reports,” or SARs, to continue his investigation, but each request was denied.

One response Wyden received in January from the department’s legislative liaison rejected his request and reminded him he was a single senator in the minority party: “Treasury works with Committees conducting official investigations.”

The Biden administration had allowed Wyden and his staff to access “suspicious activity reports,” or SARs, related to Epstein's financial activities, but the senator and his team were only allowed to review documents on-site and take notes.

Wyden's report also faults Deutsche Bank AG, Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. for failing to turn over documents about Epstein, and he singles out Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) for allegedly blocking the passage of legislation that would have forced the Treasury Department to release the SARs.

The banks disputed the report. Deutsche Bank declined to comment. A Bank of America spokesperson said the bank "did not facilitate wrongdoing" and takes its legal and regulatory responsibilities seriously. JPMorgan said it began filing reports on Epstein in 2002 and expanded them "after the full scope of his crimes became public in 2019," adding, "We acted appropriately on what we knew, when we knew it, as the law requires."