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Survivors who endured maltreatment astatine the hands of convicted enactment offender Jeffrey Epstein gathered connected the steps of the United States Capitol successful Washington, DC, to request greater transparency from the national government.
Their quality came arsenic a bipartisan radical of legislators pushed to walk the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a measure that would unit Attorney General Pam Bondi to people each unclassified accusation astir the Epstein case.
On Wednesday, those legislators appeared broadside by broadside with the survivors, who shared their stories with supporters connected the Capitol steps.
“This is astir ending secrecy wherever maltreatment of powerfulness takes root,” said Anouska De Georgiou, a exemplary who has spoken publically astir her experiences arsenic a teen being groomed and raped by Epstein.
She called upon Congress not lone to walk the Epstein Files Transparency Act but to perpetrate to helping survivors of intersexual unit done ineligible assistance and different forms of support.
“To beryllium clear, the lone motive for opposing this measure would beryllium to conceal wrongdoing,” de Georgiou told the lawmakers. “You person a choice. Stand with the information oregon with the lies that person protected predators for decades.”
Anouska de Georgiou, left, hugs Marina Lacerda arsenic Courtney Wild speaks during the quality league [Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo]Epstein died by termination successful his jailhouse compartment successful 2019, but helium is believed to person abused hundreds of underage girls during his decades arsenic a high-powered financier.
Questions person lingered implicit however helium could person evaded justness for truthful agelong and whether his immense web of almighty contacts played a role.
Donald Trump was among those Epstein appeared to person encountered socially, and the lawsuit has go a thorn successful the broadside for the United States president.
As helium campaigned for re-election past year, Trump teased helium would merchandise much files from the national Epstein probe should helium triumph a 2nd term. In September 2024, for instance, helium told podcaster Lex Fridman helium would “take a look” astatine releasing the files.
But since helium took bureau successful January, Trump’s supporters person been underwhelmed by the deficiency of revelations successful the documents his medication has released.
Certain medication statements person besides fuelled the conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein’s crimes. Rumours person agelong swirled that Epstein kept a lawsuit database to blackmail almighty radical successful authorities and industry.
And successful February, Attorney General Bondi told Fox News specified a database was “sitting connected my table close now”.
But successful July, the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation jointly denied the beingness of a lawsuit database and said determination was nary grounds of blackmail.
Still, Trump has sought to dispel scrutiny that his sanction mightiness appear successful unreleased files from the Epstein case.
On Wednesday, successful an Oval Office gathering with the president of Poland, Trump was asked astir the quality league happening extracurricular successful enactment of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
He responded by framing the attraction connected Epstein arsenic a politically motivated effort to discredit his administration.
“So this is simply a Democrat hoax that ne'er ends. You know, it reminds maine a small of the Kennedy situation,” Trump said, referencing his merchandise of files related to the assassination of erstwhile President John F Kennedy.
“We gave them everything implicit and implicit again, much and much and more, and nobody’s ever satisfied.”
Trump continued by saying that the Epstein lawsuit was a distraction from his administration’s work.
“They’re trying to get radical to speech astir thing that’s wholly irrelevant to the occurrence that we’ve had arsenic a federation since I’ve been president,” Trump said, adding that “it’s enough”.
Some of the survivors astatine the event, however, directed their comments straight towards the president, calling upon him to instrumentality their demands seriously. Haley Robson, 1 survivor, adjacent invited Trump to conscionable with her successful person.
“I americium a registered Republican. Not that that matters due to the fact that this is not political,” she told reporters.
Hearing the Epstein lawsuit described arsenic a “hoax”, she added, was similar “being gutted from the wrong out”.
“It feels similar you conscionable privation to detonate wrong due to the fact that cipher again is knowing that this is simply a existent situation,” Robson said. “These women are real. We’re present successful person.”
Another survivor, histrion Chauntae Davies, shared her communicative astir proceeding Epstein utilizing almighty friends similar Trump to physique clout. She explained that Epstein adjacent took her connected a travel with erstwhile President Bill Clinton and “other notable figures”.
“Epstein surrounded himself, I’m sorry, with the astir almighty leaders of our state and the world. He abused not lone maine but countless others, and everyone seemed to look away,” Davies said.
“The information is, Epstein had a escaped pass. He bragged astir his almighty friends, including our existent president, Donald Trump. It was his biggest brag, actually.”
One survivor, Marina Lacerda, explained that Wednesday’s lawsuit was the archetypal clip she had ever spoken publically astir her experiences.
“ The lone crushed that I americium present is due to the fact that it feels similar the radical who substance successful this state yet attraction astir what we person to say,” Lacerda told the assemblage gathered astatine the Capitol.
A Brazilian immigrant, she explained that she was a struggling 14-year-old, supporting her family, erstwhile she met Epstein.
At first, she said, helium offered her wealth successful speech for massages. But soon, his power implicit her beingness forced her to driblet retired of schoolhouse earlier she could implicit the ninth grade.
“It went from a imagination occupation to the worst nightmare,” she said, adding, “ I had nary mode retired until helium yet told maine that I was excessively old.”
Just a time earlier the women gathered connected Capitol Hill, the oversight committee successful the US House of Representatives released 33,295 pages of records from the national probe into Epstein. But truthful far, determination appears to beryllium small caller accusation among the trove of documents.
Still, US representatives similar Democrat Ro Khanna, Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene and Republican Thomas Massie person pushed for a afloat merchandise of each the documents available.
They appeared alongside the survivors astatine the Capitol connected Wednesday.
“A federation that allows affluent and almighty men to postulation and maltreatment young girls without effect is simply a federation that has mislaid its motivation and spiritual core,” Khanna said.
Massie, meanwhile, offered immoderate pointed remarks astir those who mightiness disregard the survivors’ suffering arsenic a hoax.
“ I deliberation it’s shameful that this has been called a hoax,” Massie said.
“Hopefully, contiguous we tin wide that up. This is not a hoax. This is real. There are existent survivors. There are existent victims to this transgression enterprise. And the perpetrators are being protected due to the fact that they’re affluent and almighty and governmental donors to the constitution present successful Washington, DC. So today, we’re lasting with these survivors.”
English (US) ·