The House Oversight Committee on Tuesday again urged the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, after an former assistant to Jeffrey Epstein told the committee that Levine was among the men who abused her. The committee released a 136-page majority staff report on the federal handling of the Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell cases that includes transcripts of interviews with victims and witnesses.
The report says the committee referred Levine and French hairstylist Frédéric Fekkai to the DOJ for further investigation based on testimony from Sarah Kellen, who worked for Epstein for 15 years. Kellen described an assault by Levine in the early 2000s, during a stay at a house in Saint-Tropez. Nobody witnessed the incident, according to her interview.
Levine’s spokesman told New Times that Levine “categorically denies” the allegation, describing a consensual relationship between two adults more than 25 years ago. The spokesman also disputed the report’s claim that Epstein used “Disney princess” names as code for young women. A DOJ spokesperson previously said prosecutors found “no prosecutable case” after interviewing Kellen, but said the department would reconsider if it received a criminal referral with new evidence.
Levine’s name appeared more than 600 times in the Epstein files the Justice Department released January 30. The documents show a relationship with Epstein dating to at least 2003, along with emails between Levine and Maxwell. Levine served as Miami Beach mayor from 2013 to 2017.
