They stood in the blinding sunshine, facing cameras without shade in front of the Capitol for almost an hour and a half on Wednesday morning.
These dozen or so women had the absolute worst thing in common — all had been groomed and sexually abused by financier Jeffrey Epstein and his former girlfriend and procurer Ghislaine Maxwell. Most were young teenagers when the abuse began.
Now as adults, wearing butterfly pins to symbolize their resilience, Epstein survivors came together as a group to demand that Congress stop playing games, stop protecting the rich and powerful and pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act. They are not happy with the slow pace of the House Oversight Committee’s investigation, which has trumpeted its production of thousands of documents, almost all of which are already in the public domain.
Written by California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna and Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, the act would require the Justice Department, the FBI, the Treasury Department and the national security agencies to unseal and release everything they have on Epstein, regardless of who might suffer “embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary.” It is entirely possible that prosecutions could ensue.
“The days of sweeping this under the rug are over,” said Anouska De Georgiou, who was a budding model in London when she was drawn into Epstein hell and abused in his homes around the world. “Make no mistake: My polished exterior is a shield hiding a wound that still bleeds. I am no longer weak, no longer powerless. I am no longer alone.”
Speaking publicly for the first time Wednesday, Marina Lacerda, identified as Victim No. 1 in Epstein’s 2019 indictment for the sex trafficking of minors, said she still didn’t fully understand the crimes that were committed against her during three years of abuse and exploitation. “There are people out there who know more about my abuse than I do,” she said. “The documents could help me put the pieces of my life back together.” (After Lacerda turned 17, she said, Epstein told her she was “too old.”)
President Trump, a one-time friend of Epstein whose name reportedly appears numerous times in the files (but who has not been implicated in this particular scandal) promised his base during the 2024 campaign that he would not oppose releasing the files. In fact, in 2009, when survivors’ attorney Brad Edwards was building a case against Epstein, Trump was not just the first of the financier’s high-profile associates to answer a subpoena but one of the few who did not try to dodge it.
“Mr. Trump called me at exactly the time he was supposed to, said that he’d heard I had questions about Jeffrey Epstein, and asked me how he could help,” wrote Edwards in his 2020 book “Relentless Pursuit.” Trump, wrote Edwards, was not as close to Epstein as people assumed. When Edwards reminded Trump that he’d called Epstein a “terrific guy” in a 2002 New York magazine article, Trump claimed he was only doing a favor for Epstein and that Epstein had written the quote himself. Trump seems to have forgotten all that.
“So, this is a Democrat hoax that never ends,” Trump said Wednesday, resorting to his favorite insult. Friday, he blamed the “radical left” for keeping the issue alive.
Haley Robson told reporters Wednesday that she was 16 and “making good grades and high aspirations for college” when she was recruited by a classmate who asked her if she wanted to earn some money by giving “an old rich guy” a massage. Hearing Trump call the Epstein scandal a hoax, she said, is like “being gutted from the inside out.” A registered Republican, Robson offered to meet with the president, pleading, “Humanize us. There is no hoax.”
While the White House has said that Trump would consider it “a very hostile act” should any Republican sign onto the discharge petition that allows the legislation to bypass committee approval and be put to a vote by the entire House, three of his most fervent supporters have admirably defied him: Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert and South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace, a survivor of sexual abuse who emerged Tuesday from a closed-door session with the survivors with tears running down her cheeks.
All 212 Democrats are expected to endorse the petition, and two more Republican signatures are needed. House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he does not believe the Republican support will materialize, but Khanna told me Thursday he is confident it will by the end of the month. “The speaker isn’t counting correctly,” Khanna said. “I really don’t get it. This is about protecting America’s children. This is about restoring trust in our government. This is about standing with survivors. This should be beyond politics. It’s a moral issue, and the survivors actually are the first people I see who are bringing this country together. I mean, Marjorie Taylor Greene gave me a hug at the press conference.” (Unfortunately, global warming has made it impossible for hell to freeze over, but still …)
Lisa Phillips, who hosts “From Now On,” a podcast about survivors of sexual abuse, was blunt about what she and her fellow Epstein survivors are capable of now that they are no longer afraid to speak out.
“Us Epstein survivors have been discussing creating our own list,” Phillips said. “Stay tuned for more details.”
The conspiracy-minded MAGA world is obsessed with the belief that a global network of pedophiles is protected by the highest levels of government. The release of the Epstein files would supposedly incriminate a host of liberal elites complicit in child sex-trafficking and, as the Guardian once put it, “expose the moral rot at the heart of the Democratic establishment.” God only knows why these folks think Democrats have cornered the market on pedophilia and sexual assault.
It is true that in Epstein’s case, a rich, well-connected pedophile was protected for years. He was given a virtual slap on the wrist after pleading guilty to solicitation of prostitution with a minor in 2008.
His world crumbled in 2019, after dogged pursuit by survivors’ attorneys and investigative reporting by the Miami Herald led to new criminal charges. Epstein killed himself in jail while awaiting trial, depriving his numerous victims the opportunity to face him in court.
But they are not willing to wait anymore, and they have no patience for Republican foot dragging on the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
“We know who was involved,” Robson said. “We know the players, and we are sitting here for 20 years waiting for you to get up and do something. Well, guess what? Your time is up and now we’re doing it.”
Bluesky: @rabcarianThreads: @rabcarian
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