Democrats promise to follow the Epstein investigation where it leads. But the man about to become the next House speaker has spent his career protecting the one foreign government that keeps showing up in the files: Israel. Oh, and he’s also in the files.
In January, the gavel changes hands. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson is out. Democrat Hakeem Jeffries is in. But in less than 12 hours, nearly 200,000 people have signed a petition urging House Democrats to choose a different speaker.
Democrats won the House and the Senate on a promise of accountability, and the Epstein files sit at the top of that list. Rep. Robert Garcia, expected to chair the House Oversight Committee, had a two-word message for Epstein’s powerful friends: “LAWYER UP.” But Garcia, like Jeffries, receives most of his funding from Pro-Israel PACs.
On the Epstein files, Jeffries says Democrats will “follow the facts” and “let the chips fall where they may.” So, what happens when the facts lead to Israel?
When the trail leads to President Donald Trump, Jeffries is happy to ask, “What, if anything, is the Trump administration and the Department of Justice hiding?”
I have not found a single instance of Jeffries calling for scrutiny of Epstein’s ties to Israel. He has not called for an investigation into former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak or Mossad. Virginia Giuffre alleged that Barak violently raped her on Epstein’s island.
Jeffries solicited money from Epstein
Jeffries also has a personal reason to want the Epstein files contained. In 2013, a fundraising firm working with his campaign (Dynamic SRG) emailed Epstein, by then a convicted child sex offender, inviting him to a Democratic dinner and offering “an opportunity to get to know Hakeem better.”
Jeffries said he had no recollection of the email. But a leader whose own name surfaces in the Epstein files should not be be picking who serves on the investigative committees.
Later that year, Epstein was invited to another fundraiser for Jeffries.
In 2017, Epstein was asked to attend a fundraising dinner with Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett and Hakeem Jeffries in St. Thomas.
In 2018, Epstein gave career advice to Plaskett via text messages.
Plaskett explained to Epstein that she was running for one of three DPCC co-chair positions of which Jeffries was already one. Epstein asked her how he could help. She later met with Epstein in his New York mansion which led to a $30,000 DCCC donation.
Israel is in the Epstein files
Of all the foreign governments in Epstein’s orbit, one appears again and again. Recall that former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak met with Epstein at least 30 times between 2013 and 2017, according to The Wall Street Journal.
In a deposition unsealed in 2024, Virginia Giuffre alleged that Epstein trafficked her to Barak. Giuffree alleged that Barak violently beat her and knocked her unconcious while he raped her on Epstein’s Little St. James island. She alleged that Barak raped her a second time on Epstein’s private jet. Barak has denied the allegations.
Yet we have not seen a single subpoena issued to Barak. More than 4,000 records in the Justice Department’s recent Epstein disclosures mention Barak.
Epstein advised Barak on the tech firm Palantir. Jeffries takes contributions from Palantir’s executives.
An October 2020 FBI document released by the Justice Department records a source’s claim that Epstein “trained as a spy” under Barak and was co-opted by the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency. That claim is unverified, and Israeli leaders deny it. Who’s investigating these claims? Not Jeffries.
Jeffries received major contributions from Apollo Management Group
Apollo Global Management was one of the top organization contributors to Hakeem Jeffries' campaign committee, providing approximately $83,157. That amount was almost entirely from individuals tied to Apollo. Leon Black created Apollo in 1990 alongside Marc Rowan, Josh Harris, and Antony Ressler.
Leon Black resigned in 2021 following an investigation into his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Some of the most disturbing allegations of sexual abuse within Epstein’s criminal enterprise involve Leon Black.
Jeffries meets with Jared Kushner
Don’t forget that Jeffries met privately with Jared Kushner this past August. Neither Kushner nor Jeffries commented about what they discussed.
Jeffries will choose who investigates the files
If Jeffries becomes speaker, he will have broad discretion to appoint the majority members of select committees—members who will pick and choose the scope of the investigations into Epstein and Trump.
Garcia, currently the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, is expected to become its chairman in January. Garcia—like Jeffries—receives his largest funding from Pro-Israel PACs and lobbyists.
Jeffries has conflicting interests
Jeffries’ single largest source of financial support has been the Israel lobby. He has taken about $1.6 million from pro-Israel PACs and lobbyists, including direct and earmarked contributions.
Jeffries has taken money from PACs and employees of weapons makers RTX (Raytheon), Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Boeing and Honeywell; health insurers UnitedHealth Group and New York Life; Wall Street firms JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Bain Capital, D.E. Shaw and Renaissance Technologies; and executives at Palantir, Anduril and Blackstone.
Jeffries insists none of it matters. “Nobody can point to a single instance of me taking a vote that had anything to do with being influenced by any outside group,” he said.
But Jeffries has been called “one of the most pro-Israel Democrats in the House.”
In 2020, Jeffries told an AIPAC conference that “back home in New York City we consider Jerusalem to be the sixth borough.”
When the Gaza war began, Jeffries called America’s commitment to Israel “ironclad.” In November 2023, he rejected calls for a ceasefire.
Since entering Congress, Jeffries has traveled to Israel at least five times, including an April 2023 congressional delegation trip on which he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog. He met with Netanyahu again in April 2025—in the middle of the Gaza war.
In July, Jeffries opposed Rep. Thomas Massie’s amendment to eliminate $3.3 billion in U.S. military aid to Israel. It failed, 104-314, with Jeffries voting “no.”
Jeffries opposes the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and has consistently rejected proposals to condition U.S. military aid to Israel. He has held that line even after a United Nations Commission of Inquiry concluded in 2025 that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, and as human rights organizations continue to document war crimes.
Jeffries has funded what a U.N. commission defines as “genocide,” while at the same time has restricted what Americans are allowed to say about it. In 2023, he voted for a House resolution declaring that Israel is not a racist or apartheid state.
Jeffries voted to force the sale or ban of TikTok, the platform where millions of young Americans were watching Gaza unfiltered. The law, signed by President Joe Biden, later let Trump steer TikTok’s U.S. operations to a group of Trump-friendly billionaire investors, including Oracle’s Larry Ellison and Michael Dell.
When Republicans moved to censure Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, over her criticism of Israel, Jeffries voted against the censure but publicly condemned the slogan she had used, “from the river to the sea.”
Jeffries says he has been motivated since law school by fights over racial justice. He calls himself “a Black progressive Democrat concerned with addressing racial and social and economic injustice with the fierce urgency of now,” and vows he will never “bend the knee to hard-left democratic socialism.”
How does one claim to be an advocate for social justice while sending billions in weapons to a government that a U.N. commission found is committing genocide?
If Jeffries becomes speaker, he will do anything in his power to limit the scope of the investigations into Epstein and Trump to protect Israel. Even if you believe Jeffries is not compromised by Israel, the appearance of impropriety is enough. Americans should not be in a position where they have to question whether their elected officials are compromised by foreign interests.
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