By Nia-Malika Henderson / Bloomberg Opinion
Survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein have a direct message for Congress; particularly for Republicans who spent years calling for more information about the sexual predator’s circle of well-connected friends, and who have somehow now lost interest.
Their message, both about their own abuse and a seeming cover-up? “You have a choice. Stand with the truth. Or with the lies that have protected predators for decades,” said Anouska de Georgiou, an Epstein survivor, at a two-hour news conference in Washington on Wednesday.
“President Trump, you have so much influence and power in this situation,” de Georgiou continued. “Please use that influence and power to help us. Because we need it now and this country needs it now.” She was one of several Epstein survivors calling on the Department of Justice to release all its files on Epstein. (On Tuesday, the House Oversight Committee released 33,000 pages of documents related to the Epstein case that the Department of Justice provided, the bulk of which had already been released.)
Epstein, a billionaire hedge fund manager, pleaded guilty in 2008 to state charges of abusing underage girls in Florida and was charged in July 2019 with sex trafficking of minors, some as young as 14. He committed suicide in jail a month after he was arrested. His connections with high-profile figures like Prince Andrew and Donald Trump have helped keep his name in the news; and conspiracy theories around him swirling.
The women spoke of Epstein bragging about famous friends, including Trump, yet were careful to say that this was not a red or blue issue.
Trump, who has tried mightily to make the Epstein story go away, did again what he has already done: Suggested that the whole thing was a “Democrat hoax that never ends.”
Yet in coming to Washington, the survivors are directly challenging Trump, complicating his efforts to dismiss their abuse as simply another political game meant to undermine him.
Marina Lacerda, speaking out for the first time, said she was just 14 when someone offered her $300 to massage an old rich guy.
The abuse went on until she was 17.
It wasn’t a hoax.
“It’s so hard to begin to heal knowing that there are people out there who know more about my abuse than I do,” said Lacerda, who said speaking out was therapy for her. “The worst part is that the government is still in possession right now of the documents and information that could help me remember and get over all of this maybe and help me heal.”
Chauntae Davies said she was a young actress living in California in 2002 when someone connected her with Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 of sex-trafficking.
“What I endured will haunt me forever,” said Davies, who said she was taken on a trip to Africa with former President Bill Clinton. “One thing is certain, unless we learn from this history, monsters like Epstein will rise again.”
The survivors also came with questions.
Why was Jeffrey Epstein so protected?
Who is still being protected?
And who protected them all?
These are the same questions being asked by some of Trump’s most loyal supporters. While Trump was out of power, they conjured a partisan conspiracy theory that involved Democrats who would be brought to justice once Trump was back in office. Eight months into his second term, Trump hasn’t delivered, seeming instead to protect “the deep state” he promised to uncover and vanquish.
Trump, as well as others who knew Epstein like President Clinton and Prince Andrew, have denied any wrongdoing, though the royal agreed to a confidential settlement with one of Epstein’s victims.
The administration’s handling of the Epstein case has sparked bipartisan outrage, with Trump’s own base among the most vocal. His go-to move of blaming Democrats and the media has failed.
“I think it’s shameful that this has been called a hoax,” said U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who appeared with the survivors. “Hopefully today we can clear that up. This is not a hoax. This is real.”
Massie, alongside California Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., introduced the Epstein Transparency Act in July, which would require Attorney General Pam Bondi to release all of the Department of Justice’s documents and records related to Epstein.
A discharge petition signed by half the members of the House could force a floor vote. Democrats are expected to support the bill unanimously. If six Republicans agree to sign the petition, a vote on the act could happen in two weeks.
“This is the most important fight we can wage here in Congress, is fighting for innocent people that never received justice, and the women behind me have never received justice; and do you want to know why?” said MAGA star Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga,, who has signed the petition. “It’s because Jeffrey Epstein somehow was able to walk among the most rich, powerful people in not only in America, but foreign countries.”
She continued: “The truth needs to come out. And the government holds the truth. The cases that are sealed hold the truth. Jeffrey Epstein’s estate holds the truth. The FBI, the DOJ, and the CIA holds the truth. And the truth we are demanding come out.”
The “we” in this instance is a surprisingly bipartisan group, among them MAGA stalwarts like Representatives Nancy Mace and Lauren Boebert, who typically fall in line with Trump. Choosing to side with the Epstein survivors is not without risk, but hearing their stories could stiffen the spines of other Republicans who now have something more powerful than a partisan conspiracy theory to contend with: names, faces and and voices that refuse to be silenced.
Nia-Malika Henderson is a politics and policy columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. A former senior political reporter for CNN and The Washington Post, she has covered politics and campaigns for almost two decades.
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