A group of women stood in front of the Capitol on Wednesday to share stories of abuse, describing their childhood memories of Jeffrey Epstein and calling on Congress and the White House for transparency.
But the mood was more circus than somber on the House Triangle, as throngs of reporters and observers crowded the press conference organized by Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky.
Speakers were at times barely audible over the din of protesters — who held signs with slogans like “Do right by the wronged” and old photos of a smiling Donald Trump standing next to Epstein — as Capitol Police worked to hold them back.
At one point, the loud roar of a U.S. military flyover drowned out the voices of the survivors, who raised questions they’ve been asking for years.
“Why did the government work so hard to protect Jeffrey and not so hard to protect me and my other innocent friends? Why was Jeffrey so important to the government, and why was I so insignificant?” asked Courtney Wild, who was 14 when she first met Epstein and is now a vocal victim rights advocate. “Why did nobody but our lawyers care before now? It seems people have only started to care because of Twitter and politics. But I would like to say this has nothing to do with politics.”
The event was part of a larger effort to bring renewed attention to the Epstein files, despite the objections of House leadership and the White House. Massie on Tuesday filed a discharge petition that could force a vote on legislation aimed at wresting more documents from the federal government.
In order to circumvent House leadership and get the measure to the floor, Massie needs 218 signatures, including at least six Republicans if all Democrats sign the petition. As of early Wednesday evening, 206 members had signed the discharge petition. Just three Republicans — Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia — had joined Massie.
Seemingly in an attempt to preempt Massie’s discharge effort, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, led by Rep. James R. Comer, R-Ky., on Tuesday began releasing a batch of documents obtained from the Justice Department.
Those documents fall short of the transparency they seek, Massie and Khanna said, as does a resolution adopted by the House on Wednesday afternoon that would simply direct the Oversight Committee to continue its investigation.
At the press conference, Massie urged his Republican colleagues to sign his discharge petition and slammed efforts by leadership to give lawmakers a “fig leaf” by allowing votes on what he sees as weaker legislation. When asked by reporters why the White House appeared to be whipping against his efforts, he said, “I have no idea why they’re doing it, other than I do believe they’re trying to protect people who are rich and powerful.”
Trump, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Bill Gates, Stephen Hawking and Prince Andrew are all part of a wide array of public figures who were once friends or acquaintances of Epstein, though association with the financier and sex offender does not imply any wrongdoing.
Buzz about an Epstein “client list,” potentially implicating some of Epstein’s powerful friends, has helped the issue pick up momentum in recent months.
“Epstein surrounded himself with the most powerful leaders of our country and the world,” said Chauntae Davies, who has shared her story publicly before. “He bragged about his powerful friends, including our current president, Donald Trump. It was his biggest brag, actually.”
But Bradley Edwards, an attorney representing the victims, said there was no client list in the way it’s been spoken about.
“Just to dispel kind of the common theme here, every one of these women was abused by Jeffrey Epstein, and his scheme was to personally abuse women,” Edwards said. “When they reached a certain age he did farm … some of them out to some of his friends. That doesn’t mean all of his friends.”
Lisa Phillips, who hosts a podcast about surviving sexual assault, said that some of Epstein’s victims were privately discussing compiling their own list of the powerful people they had encountered in Epstein’s world.
“Stay tuned for more details,” Phillips said.
In the meantime, the victims are calling on elected officials to help them. Though a White House official told news outlets that supporting Massie’s discharge petition would be viewed as a “hostile act” and Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., stressed the need to disseminate information in “the right way” to protect victims, all those present on Wednesday said they supported a fuller release.
Asked why Epstein victims were refraining from naming other people who participated in their abuse, some cited fear, intimidation and threats aimed at those who speak out. While Epstein died in federal custody in what was ruled a suicide, his associate Ghislaine Maxwell is currently serving a prison sentence for sex trafficking, and survivors described their shock when they learned Maxwell had been transferred to a minimum-security facility earlier this summer.
Greene — who at the start of the event was jeered by protesters who shouted “shame” and “you got us here Marjorie” at the Trump ally — asked the crowd to imagine how hard it would be for girls enduring abuse to name names, especially after seeing their abuser with some of the most powerful people in the world.
“But I will tell you, I’m not afraid to name names,” she said. “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.”
Asked what her message for Trump was, Marina Lacerda, a key witness in Epstein’s 2019 indictment who said she was now speaking out publicly for the first time, said, “I don’t want to send a direct message to him. I’m already scared enough.” But she stressed that the victims’ stories were “not a hoax” and urged passage of Massie and Khanna’s legislation.
This report was corrected to reflect the Capitol event took place on Wednesday.
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