Survivors of deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring called on Congress to pass legislation requiring the Trump administration to release all unclassified material gathered in a federal investigation of the operation, including information on clients who abused underage girls.
Flanked by Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Democrat Ro Khanna of California, survivors and their lawyers charged that the federal government has protected people complicit in Epstein’s crimes by keeping files secret. Even the survivors’ attorneys have been barred from sharing some documents, they said.
“Jeffrey Epstein received greater protection than any of the victims for years,” Brad Edwards, an attorney for some of the survivors, said during a press conference at the US Capitol on Wednesday. “While we have seen the documents, you haven’t. And when you see the documents, you will be appalled.”
Massie, who has frequently sparred with Trump, and Khanna have launched a campaign to deploy a seldom-used procedural maneuver known as a discharge petition to force a House vote on releasing the material against the opposition of Republican party leaders.
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“The perpetrators are being protected because they are rich and powerful,” Massie said during the press conference.
If the two lawmakers can gain the backing of a majority of House members, they can bypass House Speaker Mike Johnson, who ordinarily controls what legislation comes to a vote. All House Democrats support the discharge petition. Massie said only two more Republican lawmakers need to sign on in order for the legislation to advance.
“The truth needs to come out, and the government holds the truth,” said Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of the handful of Republicans who has signed the discharge petition.
“We have to fight like hell for those who are enduring sexual abuse and are living in a prison of shame,” Greene said. “All of the fault belongs to the evil people that do these things to the innocent.”
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, an ally of President Donald Trump, has subpoenaed the Justice Department for the documents but critics including Khanna and Massie say the committee’s approach has shielded much of the files from public view.
Trump has continued to be pressed about his previous relationship with Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 as he faced sex-trafficking charges.
The president has acknowledged he had a personal relationship with Epstein long ago and attended social gatherings with him but has denied knowing anything about his sex-trafficking operation. Trump has called controversy over the Epstein files “a big hoax.”
The oversight committee conducted closed door testimonies of former government officials including former Attorney General William Barr, with only brief statements to describe their depositions. Massie has derided the panel’s work as “smoke and mirrors.”