More than a dozen accusers of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein plan to attend the State of the Union address Tuesday night as guests of Democratic lawmakers, who have insisted that the Trump administration has not fully complied with a law that should have forced the Justice Department to release most of its files related to the deceased financier.
The survivors said they want their presence in the chamber to remind President Donald Trump — who has repeatedly tried to minimize the Epstein issue, calling the focus on it a Democratic “hoax” — that the harm done by Epstein was very real.
At a news conference ahead of Trump’s address, Democratic lawmakers and Epstein survivors pushed for investigations into the powerful people who corresponded with Epstein and called for the release of files that have been withheld by the Justice Department.
They also called for the passage of Virginia’s Law, a bill proposed by congressional Democrats that is named after deceased Epstein survivor Virginia Giuffre. Democrats say the bill would remove a statute of limitations that has shielded sex traffickers such as Epstein.
“As we prepare to attend the State of the Union, survivors and this country have so many questions that need to be answered,” Dani Bensky, an Epstein accuser who is attending the State of the Union address as a guest of Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York), said during the news conference.
“Where are the rest of the files? … Why are there no investigations when there are plenty of people to investigate? Have you read them? Why is the FBI director out there partying like a college kid when he should be investigating the vast criminal enterprise?,” she asked. Bensky appeared to be referencing FBI Director Kash Patel’s recent appearance at the Winter Olympicsin Italy at the men’s hockey final.
Giuffre’s sister-in-law, Amanda Roberts, said at the news conference that although Trump, during his address, “may say it’s time to move on from this Epstein thing … today we are saying we will not move on and the world is not moving on.”
In a statement Tuesday, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said that the administration had cooperated with Congress and that “President Trump has done more for Epstein’s victims than anyone before him.”
Other Epstein accusers planning to attend the address as guests include Marijke Chartouni, Annie Farmer, Teresa Helm, Jena Lisa Jones, Marina Lacerda, Lara Blume McGee, Jess Michaels, Lisa Phillips, Haley Robson, Sharlene Rochard and Liz Stein. Also in attendance will be Sky Roberts, Giuffre’s brother.
Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-New Mexico) is slated to bring New Mexico state Rep. Andrea Romero (D), who led an effort to create a “truth commission”to investigate allegations of criminal activity at Epstein’s New Mexico ranch, as her guest.
Many of the survivors attending the address were involved last year in a public push to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a bill spearheaded by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) and Ro Khanna (D-California) to force the Justice Department to disclose most of its files related to Epstein, with redactions allowed to protect victims.
In several public appearances, the women — some of them revealing their identities for the first time — testified about how they were lured as teenagers into an elaborate sex-trafficking operation run by Epstein and his now-imprisoned associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and was signed into law in November.
The Justice Department last released a tranche of nearly 3 million files related to Epstein, but some lawmakers say the disclosure was unsatisfactory.
The release took place more than a month after the law’s Dec. 19 deadline. Some files were heavily redacted, while others included personal identifying information about Epstein’s victims — and millions of pages remain withheld by the Justice Department.
At the time, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the department’s efforts to review and redact the files and said that batch was expected to be the last major release of Epstein materials.
Lawmakers and survivors said Tuesday that the Justice Department’s response was unacceptable.
“Survivors — and the American people — deserve the full truth. Instead, Trump’s DOJ is stonewalling: slow-walking disclosures, blacking out page after page. That’s not transparency. It’s a cover-up. Period,” Schumer said in a statement.
Other Democrats are using Tuesday night’s address as an opportunity to bring guests whose lives have been altered by the administration’s policies.
Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-New York) invited the brother of a U.S. girl who was detained and deported to Mexico by the Department of Homeland Security while seeking urgent care for a life-threatening form of brain cancer.
Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Illinois) invited Marimar Martinez, an Illinois teacher and U.S. citizen who was shot five times by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent as she headed to donate clothes to her church. Martinez was falsely labeled a “domestic terrorist” by the Trump administration, but charges against her were later dropped.
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) invited Vonetta Rougier, a 71-year-old mother and full-time bus operator who has struggled to support her family amid rising prices, according to his office.
Mariana Alfaro contributed to this report.
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