Victims of the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein gathered on Capitol Hill to express their support for the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The women are demanding the Justice Department release everything it has about his trafficking of underage girls.
“I think all of them are on the same page that they want everything released,” attorney Brad Edwards said to cheers at the Capitol Wednesday.
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If passed, the legislation would require the Justice Department to release everything in its possession about Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell — that includes the client list, flight logs, internal DOJ communications about the case and anyone who may have entered settlements or received an immunity deal.
“There are real victims to this criminal enterprise, and the perpetrators are being protected because they’re rich and powerful and political donors to the establishment here in Washington, D.C.,” Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said.
Who wants the files released?
Massie, alongside Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., introduced a discharge petition that would force a vote on the legislation. They have 216 signatures — every Democrat and four Republicans — but need 218. They are looking for two more Republicans to sign on against the wishes of Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.,
“A nation that allows rich and powerful men to traffic and abuse young girls without consequence is a nation that has lost its moral and spiritual core,” Khanna told reporters.
The Epstein victims who went to the Capitol Wednesday confirmed they are confidentially compiling a client list.
“We know the names. Many of us were abused by them. Now together as survivors, we will confidentially compile the names we all know who regularly and who are regularly in the Epstein world,” Epstein victim Lisa Phillips said.
“I think if someone’s interested in prosecuting, they may have something different to say about sharing a list, but they’re not sharing a list for nothing to happen, and that’s the experience that they’ve had for all of these years,” attorney Brittany Henderson said.
What was mentioned during the hearing?
Two names were mentioned — former President Bill Clinton and President Donald Trump. In an interview with NBC News, the victims said they never saw either one of the presidents do anything inappropriate.
“[Epstein’s] biggest brag forever was that he was very good friends with Donald Trump,” Shante Davies said. “He had an 8-by-10 framed picture of him on his desk with the two of them.”
“Most of these individuals, the victims, are very scared to say these names because they could get sued,” Edwards said. “They’re going to get attacked, and nobody protected them the first time, and that was against one person. So, is there a list? There is a list.”
The Constitution’s speech and debate clause gives members of Congress immunity for things they say on the House floor. So while someone could sue one of the victims for releasing a list of alleged clients, they could not do that to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.
“These are some of the richest, most powerful people in the world that could sue these women into poverty and homelessness,” Greene said. “It’s a scary thing to name names, but I will tell you, I’m not afraid to name names, and so if they want to give me a list, I will walk in that Capitol on the House floor, and I’ll say every damn name that abused these women.”
How has Trump responded to the investigation?
Trump recently called the Epstein case a hoax, which caused confusion and dismay among the victims and their lawyers. Edwards explained that Trump was very cooperative in 2009 when victims were trying to get the Epstein non-prosecution agreement unsealed.
“He helped me. He got on the phone, he told me things that were helping our investigation. Our investigation wasn’t looking into him, but he was helping us,” Edwards said. “Then he didn’t treat this as a hoax. So at this point in time, I would hope that he would revert back to what he was saying. To get elected, which is, I want transparency.”
“Mr. President, Donald J. Trump — I am a registered Republican, not that that matters, because this is not political. However, I cordially invite you to the Capitol to meet me in person so you can understand this is not a hoax,” victim Haley Robson said. “We are real human beings. This is real trauma.”
