Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse and two prominent members of Congress who have led the charge for more information to be released on Epstein’s abuse on Wednesday called for the rest of the files to be released.
“Our government could have saved so many women, but Jeffrey Epstein was too important and those women didn’t matter,” said Marina Lacerda. “Why? Well we matter now. We are here today, and we are speaking, and we are not going to stop speaking.”
Epstein was facing trial on sex trafficking charges when he died in federal custody in 2019 in what numerous investigations deemed a suicide. And after the Justice Department issued the findings of an internal review in July that found no “client list” or evidence that Epstein had blackmailed prominent figures, interest in the files swelled, spurring calls for greater transparency from the Trump administration and dividing the president’s base.
In addition to calling for transparency, the survivors on Wednesday also pleaded with lawmakers to protect their identities. Some of the survivors were speaking publicly for the first time.
As the news conference was winding down, President Trump spoke to reporters from the Oval Office, saying that the call for the release is a “Democrat hoax that never ends.”
“You know, it reminds me a little of the Kennedy situation [assassination], we gave them everything,” Mr. Trump said. “Over and over again. More and more and more. And nobody’s ever satisfied.”
Wednesday’s news conference came as Democrats and some Republicans have pushed for the release of the files. Massie filed a discharge petition on Tuesday to attempt to force a House vote on his and Khanna’s legislation compelling the Justice Department to publicly release the files. Massie said Wednesday that they need two more people to have enough votes to move forward with the petition.
Wednesday’s news conference comes as Democrats and some Republicans have pushed for the release of the files. Massie filed a discharge petition on Tuesday to attempt to force a House vote on his and Khanna’s legislation compelling the Justice Department to publicly release the files. At the same time, House GOP leaders are moving forward with a vote on a bill that would direct the House Oversight Committee to “continue its ongoing investigation into the possible mismanagement of the Federal government’s investigation of Mr. Jeffrey Epstein and Ms. Ghislaine Maxwell,” Epstein’s co-conspirator who is serving a 20-year prison sentence.
House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Wednesday that the “discharge petition has been made moot and unnecessary” because of the Oversight Committee’s ongoing investigation and the administration’s compliance.
“Everybody who wants disclosure — full and maximum transparency and disclosure of Epstein — has a vote today to be able to affirm it,” Johnson said.
Meanwhile, members of the House Oversight Committee, which received the files from the Justice Department met privately with the survivors on Tuesday. And the committee made public a portion of the documents late Tuesday, releasing more than 33,000 pages of files that included court documents and flight records, along with video and audio recordings. CBS News reviewed the files and confirmed that a large majority of them had previously been made public. Democrats on the committee claimed that 97% of the documents released Tuesday were already public.
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/jeffrey-epstein-victims-news-conference-capitol-hill/
