Jeffrey Epstein‘s victims have been tragically sidelined over the years. The growing controversy surrounding the billionaire financier’s web of child abuse generally focuses on the wealthy and powerful men who took part in it. But in Washington, DC, this week, the victims themselves are front and center.
Yesterday, Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace met with them and was visibly moved by their stories. She departed the room looking distraught with tears running down her face, confirming she’d signed the discharge petition to release the full Epstein files:
— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) September 3, 2025
HUGE!! Republican Rep. Nancy Mace just DEFIED TRUMP and signed the Massie-Khanna petition to release the FULL Epstein files after she suffered a panic attack and ran out of a meeting with Epstein’s victims in tears.
Survivors are SPEAKING. Trump’s coverup is collapsing. pic.twitter.com/J6UOuSypPf
Mace later explained her reaction, saying that as a survivor herself, she’d had “a difficult time listening to their stories” and that it had resulted in a “full blown panic attack”:
Since it’s already being reported – Yes I left the Oversight briefing with Epstein victims early.
— Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) September 2, 2025
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.
I…
“Cowards who think they can prey on women and get away with it”
Back in February, Mace made a “scorched Earth” speech in the House in which she identified four men (including her ex-fiance), saying “I rise today to call out the cowards who think they can prey on women and get away with it,” saying these men had committed some of the most heinous crimes against women imaginable.”
“We’re talking about rape, nonconsensual photos, nonconsensual videos of women and underage girls and the premeditated, calculated exploitation of women and girls in my district.”
As such, it’s hardly a surprise that Mace has disobeyed both Trump and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to vote for the discharge petition. Johnson has now released 3,000 pages of the Epstein files in an attempt to make the discharge petition “moot”, arguing this means it’s now “superfluous”.
Many disagree, pointing out that the majority of the files “released” were already publicly available, and those that weren’t have been so heavily redacted they’re simply entire pages of black bars. The top Democratic representative on the oversight committee, Robert Garcia, underlined that this wasn’t what they wanted, telling voters, “don’t let this fool you,” and vowing to continue cross-party cooperation to ensure that these victims receive justice.
