‘Please release the records’: Epstein survivors urge Congress over DoJ files | Jeffrey Epstein

A group of survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse gathered outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday morning, demanding justice, accountability and the release of justice department files on the late sex offender.

Haley Robson, one of the survivors, said: “It’s time to put aside political agendas and party affiliations. This is a humanity issue, this is about children.” “There is no place in society for the exploitation of sexual crimes or the exploitation of women in society.”

The press conference came just hours before the House of Representatives nearly unanimously passed a bill requiring the justice department to release a cache of records related to Epstein, who died while awaiting trial in prison in 2019. case on federal charges of sex trafficking of minors.

Wendy Avis, who said she met Epstein when she was 14, said at the press conference: “We’re tired of surviving the trauma and then surviving the politics that revolve around it.” “I ask Congress, please pass the bill, please release the records, stop survivors fighting alone for the truth.”

The measure recently received enough bipartisan support that it passed the House on Tuesday.

The vote came as it became clear it was likely to succeed, and Donald Trump, who has spent the last few months resisting the release of the files and urging Republicans to reject the proposal, reversed his stance on Sunday and urged Republican lawmakers to support the bill.

In an interview with GIS On Tuesday morning, Democratic representative Ro Khanna, one of the members of Congress leading the bipartisan push to release the files, said he was “very surprised” by Trump’s backtrack, adding that the president “has been fighting with Thomas Massie and me for five months,” referring to the Republican representative who led the effort with Khanna to get this bill voted on in the House.

Both Khanna and Massie stood with Epstein survivors and made statements.

“This is one of the most horrific and disgusting corruption scandals in the history of our country,” Khanna said. “Thanks to the survivors speaking out and their courage, the truth will eventually come out.”

Massie urged the Senate, to which the bill would be sent if it passes the House, “not to screw it up.”

“If you do anything to hinder any disclosure, you are not on the side of the public and you are not part of this effort,” Massie said.

Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican and longtime Trump ally who has pushed for the release of the Epstein dossier, also joined Khanna and Massie at the conference.

“These women fought the scariest fight that no woman should ever have to fight, and they did it by coming together and never giving up,” Greene said. “We did this today by fighting so hard against the most powerful people in the world, even the president of the United States, to make this vote happen.”

Greene also touched on her recent clash with Trump, who withdrew his support for her on Friday following her deviations and criticisms of Trump and his administration on certain issues, including the handling of the Epstein records.

“I never owed him money, but I fought for him, for the policies, and for America first, and he called me a ‘traitor’ for standing with these women and refusing to remove my name from the discharge petition,” Greene said.

Robson, an Epstein survivor, also used his remarks at the press conference to speak directly to Trump.

“I understand that your stance on the Epstein files has changed, and I appreciate your commitment to sign this bill, but I can’t help but be skeptical about what the agenda is,” he said. “With that said, I want to convey this message to you: I am traumatized. I am not stupid.”

Another survivor, Jena-Lisa Jones, also addressed Trump directly.

“President Trump, I’m begging you, please stop making this political, this isn’t about you,” he said.

“I voted for you, but your behavior on this issue has been a national embarrassment,” Jones added. “It’s time to understand who Epstein’s friends were, who was protecting him, what financial institutions allowed his trafficking to continue, not to use pieces of the files as weapons against random political enemies who did nothing wrong.”

The Epstein case, which has been the subject of countless conspiracy theories for years, has troubled the Trump administration for months. Over the summer, the administration faced backlash after Trump said the justice department would not release any additional dossiers, despite campaign promises. The decision sparked outrage on both sides of the political spectrum, with some accusing the administration of a “cover-up”.

Last week, the House oversight committee released more than 20,000 documents it had obtained from Epstein’s estate; these include an email in which Epstein claimed Trump “knew about the girls.” The email reignited scrutiny of Trump’s past ties to the disgraced financier and intensified calls for the release of all Justice Department and FBI records.

Trump has consistently denied any knowledge of or involvement in Epstein’s crimes, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt last week denied the release of the emails, accusing Democrats of “selectively” leaking them to liberal media “in order to create a false narrative to smear President Trump.”