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Which jurisdictions (US states or countries) pursued investigations or legal actions against Epstein-related entities in 2024?
Executive summary
Multiple jurisdictions and actors pursued investigations or legal actions tied to Jeffrey Epstein in 2024: U.S. federal entities and Congress were the focus of litigation and disclosure fights, state-level actions in Florida and civil suits in federal courts advanced, and private civil lawsuits targeted individuals and institutions. Notable 2024 items include a federal judge unsealing thousands of pages from Virginia Giuffre’s 2015 civil case in January (release of about 950 pages) and a February federal lawsuit by a dozen alleged victims suing the FBI for failing to investigate Epstein [1] [2].
1. Federal unsealing and congressional pressure — a nationwide theater
In January 2024 a federal judge unsealed substantial court records from Virginia Giuffre’s 2015 defamation lawsuit, revealing names and prompting public and congressional interest; outlets reported about 950 pages and roughly 150 associates named in the newly public set of documents [3] [1]. That unsealing triggered intense pressure on the U.S. Department of Justice and Congress to produce or force-release additional files, and by late 2024 and into 2025 House committees were actively releasing more material and seeking DOJ files [4] [5] [6].
2. Federal lawsuits against U.S. agencies — victims vs. the FBI/DOJ
In February 2024 a group of a dozen alleged victims filed suit against the United States, accusing the FBI of repeated failures that allowed Epstein’s trafficking to continue and asking courts to unseal FBI records; Reuters and The Guardian reported the filing in the Southern District of New York and framed it as a challenge to federal inaction [2] [7]. Those suits explicitly target federal investigative agencies rather than state prosecutors, making the federal judiciary itself a major forum for 2024 action [2].
3. Civil suits against individuals and professionals — new targets in 2024
Throughout 2024 civil litigation expanded beyond Epstein’s estate to include suits naming former associates and professionals. Reuters reported a June 2024 lawsuit by an accuser against a prominent psychiatrist alleged to have enabled or shielded Epstein’s activities; that suit sought damages under theories including the Trafficking Victims Protection Act [8]. These civil claims show plaintiffs pursuing accountability both against institutions and individual facilitators in federal civil courts [8].
4. State-level role: Florida and legacy of earlier plea deals
State actors and state records have factored into litigation and advocacy. Reporting and fact-checks highlight the long-running fallout from Epstein’s Florida case and earlier plea deals, and in 2024 lawmakers and litigants continued to press for transparency and reforms tied to state prosecutions and victim notice around plea deals [9]. While sources note Florida as the locus of original police work in the 2000s, 2024 actions focused largely on federal records and unsealing rather than new criminal prosecutions led by a specific state attorney in 2024 reporting [9].
5. Financial and institutional litigation creeping into the mix
By 2024 and into 2025, plaintiffs and lawyers were increasingly eyeing banks and institutional actors for civil claims; Forbes and later coverage show plans and filings that aimed at banks and others linked to Epstein via accounts or services, with the idea that financial litigation might yield new documents or accountability [10] [11]. Available sources in this set describe these lawsuits emerging and being pursued in U.S. courts rather than in foreign criminal courts in 2024 [10] [11].
6. Political maneuvers that shaped which investigations advanced
Political pressure from national figures reshaped the legal landscape in 2024: the push to release “Epstein files” became bipartisan theater, with House members pushing for forced disclosure and the executive branch resisting or redirecting inquiries; later developments show the Trump administration and Attorney General moves to review or declassify material, but those are described mainly in 2025 reporting. In 2024, however, the unsealing and ensuing congressional releases and lawsuits were the dominant mechanisms revealing new material [6] [4] [12].
7. What the sources do not say or are silent on
The provided material does not list other countries launching formal criminal investigations in 2024 specifically tied to newly unsealed documents; international criminal actions or prosecutions in 2024 are not mentioned in the current reporting set (available sources do not mention other countries pursuing fresh criminal probes in 2024). Likewise, the sources do not show any new state criminal prosecutions initiated in 2024 that produced convictions; most 2024 activity documented here is about unsealing, civil suits, and federal-records fights (available sources do not mention new state convictions in 2024).
8. Bottom line: mainly U.S. federal courts, civil suits and congressional action in 2024
In sum, the 2024 wave of Epstein-related legal activity centered on U.S. federal courts (unsealing orders and victims’ suits against the FBI), civil litigation against alleged facilitators and institutions, and congressional moves to compel DOJ disclosure—rather than a slate of new criminal indictments by states or foreign countries in that year, according to the available reporting [2] [8] [3] [4]. Where coverage diverges, some outlets emphasize political motives for probes while others stress victims’ demands for transparency; readers should weigh both the legal filings and the partisan context when assessing which jurisdictions acted and why [13] [14].