Republican lawmakers recently requested that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) launch an investigation into former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine following allegations of sexual assault made against him by Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime assistant.
House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman James Comer and GOP lawmakers sent a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to investigate Levine after allegations were made against him by Sarah Kellen in a transcribed closed-door interview in late May 2026.
congress ask justice to investigate allegations
Levine was Miami Beach's mayor from 2013 to 2017 and was a Democratic Party candidate in the 2018 Florida governor's race.
Testimony Accusing Levine of Sexual Assault
According to The Guardian, during her testimony, Kellen told the committee that she was “sexually and psychologically abused” by Epstein during her time as his assistant, additionally accusing French celebrity hairstylist Frédéric Fekkai and Levine of sexual assault in separate incidents in the early 2000s.
Fekkai and Levine reportedly mark the “first names of alleged criminal conduct” the Oversight and Reform Committee has referred to the DOJ during its time investigating Jeffrey Epstein, his “sex-trafficking rings,” his associates, and the documents released as part of the Epstein Transparency Act.
Committee's Letter to the DOJ
“Mr. Levine’s name appears over 600 times in files released by the Department of Justice (DOJ), pursuant to the Epstein Files Transparency Act, including in direct correspondence with Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell. Mr. Fekkai was a close friend of Mr. Epstein who played a role in his grooming schemes by routinely providing salon services to women at Mr. Epstein's instruction,” the committee wrote in its letter.
Kellen's Testimony
“Philip and I were still up. And he – he came up to me, and he was like, 'You know, must be so lonely for you working with them because you're with them all the time, and you can't have your own life, so you must be -- must be really lonely,' and he basically forced himself on me," Kellen said during her testimony, recalling an incident in which Levine had allegedly abused her one summer during the early 2000s in Saint Tropez.
Levine's Team Responds
"Nearly a quarter century ago, our client had a brief intimate encounter with another consenting adult. Any allegation suggesting otherwise is not true," a spokesperson for Levine wrote in a statement following the committee’s request.
