South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace revealed she suffered a “full blown panic attack” after speaking to several survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse.
Tears streamed down the Republican lawmaker’s face on Tuesday as she shuffled past reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C, following her early departure from a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee briefing.
A visibly shaken Mace was among the members of Congress who met privately with six Epstein accusers, as the GOP-led panel continues its investigation into the Trump administration’s handling of the disgraced financier’s case. House Speaker Mike Johnson and comittee Chairman James Comer were also in the two-hour-long meeting, according to The New York Times.
Mace, who earlier this year spoke on the House floor about her own experience as a sexual assault survivor, took to X on Tuesday to explain her sudden exit from the briefing.
“As a recent survivor (not 2 years in), I had a very difficult time listening to their stories. Full blown panic attack. Sweating. Hyperventilating. Shaking. I can’t breathe,” Mace wrote on X. “I feel the immense pain of how hard all victims are fighting for themselves because we know absolutely no one will fight for us. GOD BLESS ALL SURVIVORS.”
President Donald Trump has continued to face a wave of MAGA backlash for his administration’s handling of the Epstein case, after repeatedly hinting on the 2024 campaign trail that he would release the full files on the financier.
The uproar intensified after the Justice Department announced in early July that there was no evidence Epstein had a “client list,” and the Wall Street Journal reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi allegedly briefed Trump – who has never been accused of wrongdoing in the Epstein case – in May that his name was mentioned in the files.
Later Tuesday, Mace told The Independent’s Washington, D.C., Bureau Chief Eric Garcia that she was not worried about crossing Trump on the issue of Epstein, praising the president as a “hero” as he attempts to distance himself from Epstein.
“Donald Trump is the one who banned Jeffrey Epstein from Mar-a-Lago,” she said. “He was an FBI informant, and he talked to the feds to get this guy turned over. So Donald Trump is a hero in this.”
Ahead of the briefing, Johnson told reporters Tuesday that it was important to hear directly from the victims to ensure transparency in the investigation.
“Yes, it’s for us to hear from them, to express our deep sympathy for what they’ve been made to endure,” he said.
“And ensure that we have been and always will be for maximum transparency, for justice to be brought for all those engaged in these evils and to ensure that happens as quickly as possible.”
