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GOP lawmakers urge DOJ probe of two men named by Epstein assistant Kellen

Neutral summary

Sarah Kellen, Jeffrey Epstein's longtime personal assistant and herself a figure in his criminal network, sat before a closed-door House oversight hearing last May and named two men she says sexually assaulted her: Frédéric Fekkai, the celebrity hair stylist, and Philip Levine, the former mayor of Miami Beach. Now Republican lawmakers have sent a formal request to the Department of Justice to investigate those allegations. Neither Fekkai nor Levine has been publicly charged, and neither has responded with public comment as of this writing. Kellen's testimony emerged as part of a broader congressional investigation into the full scope of Epstein's operation, which stretched across decades and implicated a constellation of powerful figures who have largely escaped serious legal consequence. The GOP push is notable because it represents an effort to extend accountability beyond Epstein himself, who died in federal custody in 2019. The hearing where Kellen testified was closed, and many of its details are only now becoming public. Whether the DOJ acts on the referral remains an open question, but the move puts fresh pressure on federal prosecutors to revisit allegations that have long sat in the shadows of one of the most scrutinized criminal cases in recent American history.

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What the left says

Left

“Epstein survivor's abuse claims target two powerful men as GOP seeks DOJ probe”

Left-leaning coverage foregrounds Kellen's experience as a survivor, situating her testimony within the broader pattern of powerful men in Epstein's orbit escaping accountability while women like Kellen faced legal jeopardy of their own for years. The Guardian frames this as a story about the limits of justice for those connected to Epstein's network, noting that neither Fekkai nor Levine has faced public charges despite serious allegations. Coverage in this vein tends to emphasize the structural dimension: that wealth and status have historically insulated men named in Epstein-adjacent investigations from meaningful consequences. The irony that it is Republican lawmakers driving the current accountability push, in a case that has also touched figures across the political spectrum, gets less attention than the survivor's testimony itself and what it reveals about how abuse allegations have been handled.

What the right has said

Inferred right

“Republicans push DOJ to investigate men accused by Epstein's former assistant”

Right-leaning coverage centers the Republican lawmakers as the active agents of accountability, framing their DOJ referral as a serious and overdue effort to pursue all corners of Epstein's network. The angle foregrounds the institutional demand for federal investigation rather than the closed-door hearing's limitations, casting the GOP move as proof that congressional oversight is functioning. Philip Levine, a Democrat and former Miami Beach mayor, draws particular attention in this framing, with his political affiliation treated as relevant context. Coverage in this register tends to emphasize that the allegations come directly from Kellen's own testimony and that Republican members are demanding the DOJ act on that record, implicitly contrasting congressional urgency with what they portray as federal inaction on a case that has never been fully resolved.