President Donald Trump continues to dismiss the Epstein files as “a hoax.” But it is impossible to silence and dismiss the courageous survivors who are sharing their stories. Releasing the Epstein files is a rare issue that unites Americans on both the right and the left: We cannot have an America where the rich and powerful are protected while young women are abused and silenced.
Releasing the files is not about scoring political points or winning elections. It’s about justice for the over 1,000 survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse and their families. It’s about public trust in government and transparency at a moment when there is a deep skepticism of our institutions. It’s about standing up to special interests and the well connected who are being shielded from accountability.
The information Congress has received is far from enough.
Those who have tried to politicize this issue have failed. The bipartisan discharge petition that I am leading with Republican Rep. Thomas Massie will soon have the 218 signatures required to force a vote on our bill to release the full files — with redactions to protect the survivors. The petition has 216 signatures currently. When two newly elected Democrats are sworn in this fall, it will reach 218.
The White House claims our discharge petition is unnecessary, because the Justice Department “is fully supporting a more comprehensive file release effort from the [House] Oversight Committee,” on which I serve. Yet the information Congress has received is far from enough. The Justice Department’s first release to the Oversight Committee ran to 33,000 pages, but that is approximately less than 1% of the total files, and only 3% of that information is new. That is why it is critical that we pass our bipartisan bill to release the full files so that the survivors and the public have answers about who was involved and who is being protected.
Last week, I held a news conference on Capitol Hill with Reps. Massie, Marjorie Taylor Greene and survivors of Epstein’s abuse. Among those survivors was Marina Lacerda, who made her story public for the first time. Marina was 14 years old when she was first abused by Epstein. Another survivor, Anouska De Georgiou, delivered a strong message to Congress: “The only motive for opposing this bill would be to conceal wrongdoing.”
Their stories made it clear that for years, the government has chosen to protect Epstein and the well connected over children who were being abused. And while the government failed to do the right thing, brave advocates like Brad Edwards and Brittany Henderson, the survivors’ attorneys, have been fighting for justice.
That is why it is so important to continue pursuing the truth. Last month, after reporting from The Wall Street Journal and Lawrence O’Donnell, I requested the “birthday book” from Epstein’s estate — a collection of letters compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein’s 50th birthday. When the estate indicated they would comply with a subpoena, I pushed for our committee to act. This week, the Oversight Committee made Trump’s letter to Epstein public — revealing the document that the president had claimed did not exist.
People are tired of a broken system that shields the wealthy and well connected.
A nation that allows rich and powerful men to traffic and abuse young girls without consequence is a nation that has lost its moral core. Nearly 70% of Americans think the federal government is not telling the full truth about Epstein. Refusing to release the files erodes public trust and faith in our institutions.
And if people cannot trust the government, how can we unite our country behind affordable health care, lowering prescription drug costs and good-paying jobs in communities left out? People are tired of a broken system that shields the wealthy and well connected from accountability. It’s time to fix that system.
When our discharge petition succeeds and our bill to release the files is brought to the House floor for a vote, everyone will see where their member of Congress stands. I hope for the courageous survivors, the advocates and the Americans of all political views who are speaking out that my colleagues will do the right thing.