Republicans on the House oversight committee released a report on Tuesday criticizing the federal government’s handling of the investigations into Jeffrey Epstein and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, and called on the Department of Justice to interview “key witnesses, investigate Epstein associates accused of criminal activity, and ensure survivors have access to their records”.

“The federal government has failed the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s horrific crimes for decades,” James Comer, the Republican congressman who chairs the committee, said in a statement.

Comer also urged Congress to pass legislation he introduced that he said would “ensure witnesses and survivors and sexual crimes are not deterred from speaking freely by nondisclosure agreements”.

“We cannot undo the horrific harm inflicted on these women” he said. “But we must ensure that allegations of criminal activity are thoroughly investigated, survivors are protected, and those responsible are held accountable. The failures of the past must not be repeated.”

In a statement, a justice department spokesperson said: “the Chairman’s recommendations have already been addressed.

“The Attorney General has repeatedly said that the Epstein case is not closed and there is no statute of limitations on human trafficking” the spokesperson said.

Shortly after Comer released the report, Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the committee, called the report “misleading” and “partisan”.

“Oversight Republicans have released a report based on an incomplete investigation and zero public hearings on Jeffrey Epstein” Garcia said. In his statement, he accused the justice department of continuing to “illegally withhold over 2.5m pages of documents” and said that there has been “no investigation of Ghislaine Maxwell’s transfer, and Attorney General Todd Blanche has yet to testify”.

The majority’s report outlines some of the findings that the oversight committee has come to during their 15-month long investigation into Epstein, including how Epstein cultivated and leveraged relationships with powerful people, and the failures of federal investigators and prosecutors, perhaps most notably the brokering of the controversial non-prosecution agreement and plea deal for Epstein in 2008, which led to his federal case at the time being shelved.

The panel’s investigation has included 19 transcribed interviews and seven depositions.

The report also claims that after the enactment of the Epstein Files Transparency Act last year, the justice department “failed to adequately communicate about document releases and failed to sufficiently protect survivors”.

It adds that “questions remain as to whether the DOJ has released all relevant documents”. Moreover, it states “given the speed with which EFTA records were released, several instances of deficient redaction exposed sensitive information of survivors.”

Among the recommendations, Comer is urging the justice department to further question and investigate Epstein’s longtime assistant, Lesley Groff, who testified before the panel earlier this year. Groff told lawmakers that she had no knowledge of Epstein’s crimes while working for him.

Comer also urged the justice department to investigate sexual assault allegations involving two men made by another one of Epstein’s former assistants, Sarah Kellen. Both men have denied any wrongdoing.

The Republican congressman also said the justice department should establish an “appropriate process for Epstein survivors and their representatives to access their personal files and records in unredacted form”, and more.

In a matter of weeks, Democrats will take over the committee in the 120th Congress. Garcia said: “We intend to hold real public hearings uplifting survivors and asking tough questions of the powerful men who associated with Epstein, including Donald Trump. Our work is just getting started”.