Epstein Victims Hold Presser; Trump Shrugs It Off as ‘Hoax’

Summary

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Bulwark Takes – Episode Summary

Episode: Epstein Victims Hold Presser; Trump Shrugs It Off as ‘Hoax’
Date: September 3, 2025
Hosts/Guests:

• Sam Stein (A) – Managing Editor, The Bulwark
• Joe Perdicone (B) – Author of Press Pass
• Ro Khanna (C) – U.S. Congressman (soundbite)
• Marjorie Taylor Greene (E) – U.S. Congresswoman (soundbite)
• Epstein Survivors (D, F) – Soundbites
• Donald Trump (G) – President (soundbite)

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Episode Overview

This episode covers the unfolding political and public reaction surrounding the release of Jeffrey Epstein-related files, a Capitol Hill press conference with survivors, bipartisan congressional wrangling, and President Trump’s characterization of the Epstein investigation as a “hoax.” The Bulwark’s team dissects how Congress, the White House, victims, and the media are responding to demands for transparency, as well as the unique political dynamics and tensions in play.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Congressional Maneuvering over Epstein Files (00:09–04:49)

• Discharge Petition:

  • Reps. Thomas Massie (R) and Ro Khanna (D) introduced a discharge petition to force a House vote on the release of Epstein files, minus victim identities.
    • “This morning was when Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna unveiled their discharge petition ... they can use it to get 218 signatures, regardless of party, to force a vote.” (00:27 – B)
  • Status: 212 Democrats and 4 Republicans have signed; 2 more Republican signatures are needed.
    • “...they need just two more signatures to force the release of these documents.” (04:55 – C)

• Victim Support:

  • Survivors attended and spoke at the press conference, passionate in their appeals for document release.

• Oversight Committee’s Response:

  • Chaired by James Comer (R), released 30,000 mostly duplicate documents, promising more to come in a slow drip, which allows Republicans to claim the process is ongoing and avoid signing the discharge petition.
    • “...most of which were duplicates. So what it does, though, is it gives these Republicans an out to not sign the discharge petition…” (01:48 – B)

• Republican Hesitation:

  • Only 4 Republican signers: Massie, Nancy Mace, Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene. The rest, including prior co-sponsors, appear to be waiting or claim to be satisfied with the document dump.
    • “So Tim Burchett was like, oh, I'm satisfied with this document release. I'm satisfied with what oversight's doing.” (03:49 – B)

• White House Involvement:

  • Allegedly pressuring Republicans not to sign, labeling the petition as a “hostile act.”
    • “...an official gave a statement that, you know, this is considered a hostile act towards the administration.” (03:49 – B)
    • “Yeah, why would it be hostile? Unless they thought that the release would be damaging to the administration.” (04:21 – A)

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2. Details from the Press Conference (04:45–08:49)

• Bipartisan Optics:

  • Ro Khanna expressed surprise at sharing a presser with Marjorie Taylor Greene, highlighting rare bipartisan cooperation.
    • “I've never done a press conference with Marjorie Taylor Greene before.” (07:46 – C)

• Victim Testimony:

  • Survivors spoke personally, directly appealing to Trump, emphasizing the reality of their trauma and rejecting claims this is a “hoax.”
    • “Mr. President, Donald J. Trump. I am a registered Republican … this is not a hoax. We are real human beings. This is real trauma.” (07:56 – F)

• Trump Connections Raised:

  • One survivor claimed Epstein bragged about a close relationship with Trump.
    • “He bragged about his powerful friends, including our current president, Donald Trump. It was his biggest brag.” (06:36 – D)
  • Marjorie Taylor Greene notably stone-faced to these statements, later flipping the “hostile act” rhetoric back on the administration.
    • “The hostile act has been against these women for so many years now … covering up for Jeffrey Epstein.” (07:10 – E)

• Protest & Atmosphere:

  • Press conference was emotionally charged. Greene faced protestor jeers when exiting, with Ro Khanna remarking on the rare coalition.

• Disruption:

  • A military flyover honoring a Polish pilot briefly deafened attendees, creating surreal confusion during the event.
    • “They're so loud and so it like deafened the entire scene for like a good 20 seconds.” (05:33 – B)

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3. Trump’s Response and Broader Political Reflections (08:49–10:37)

• Trump’s Public Comments:

  • While meeting a Polish leader, Trump called the inquiry a “hoax,” suggesting it's a “Democrat hoax” meant to distract from his administration’s successes.
    • “It’s really a Democrat hoax because they’re trying to get people to talk about something that’s total, relevant to the success that we’ve had as a nation since I’ve been president. And I know that no matter what you do, it’s going to keep going.” (09:08 – G)

• Host Reactions:

  • Sam Stein criticizes Trump’s defensive posture, arguing he could simply defer to agencies but instead invites suspicion:
    • “He could just say, look, this is a matter for the Oversight Committee or this is a matter for DOJ … Instead he acts weird and guilty about it … that's like just going to be a self inflicted wound…” (09:21 – A)
  • Joe Perdicone adds, “He behaves like someone who is extremely guilty.” (10:05)

• Process and Momentum:

  • The hosts lament how, despite weeks to prepare, Congress and leadership appear disorganized, undermining momentum for any real action.

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4. Where Does It Go Next? (10:37–End)

• Political Risks and Next Steps:
  • Pressure remains on House GOP to flip two final signatures for the petition; much depends on fear of Trump and right-wing backlash.
    • “...it depends on how frightened these guys are of retribution again from Trump. They're being given these outs. But it also matters … how the online right responds.” (10:39 – B)
  • Closely watched to see if the “online right” will move on or escalate attention.
    • “...if you're two votes short of the discharge petition, it's going to be a lot of attention to see if any lawmakers flip.” (11:11 – A)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Ro Khanna on Republican support:
  “We need just two more signatures to force the release.” (04:55 – C)
• Victim directly to Trump:
  “To say that it's a hoax is just not. Please humanize us. I would like Donald J. Trump ... to humanize us.” (08:23 – F)
• Marjorie Taylor Greene on ‘hostile act’: “The hostile act has been against these women for so many years now … The hostile act is covering up for Jeffrey Epstein.” (07:10 – E)
• Sam Stein on Trump’s PR fail:
  “He behaves like someone who is extremely guilty.” (10:05 – B)
• Trump brushing off the investigation:
  “It’s really a Democrat hoax because they’re trying to get people to talk about something ... it’s going to keep going.” (09:08 – G)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:27 – Discharge petition details and numbers
• 01:48 – Oversight Committee’s 30,000 duplicate/placeholder documents
• 03:49 – GOP hesitancy, pressure, and White House involvement
• 04:55 – Ro Khanna’s plea for final signatures
• 06:36 & 07:56 – Survivors’ testimony, appeals to Trump, and mention of his relationship with Epstein
• 07:10 – Marjorie Taylor Greene aligns “hostile act” with victims, not White House
• 09:08 – Trump dismisses the Epstein push as a “hoax”
• 10:39 – The next phase: GOP straddling fear of Trump and right-wing base

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Tone & Atmosphere

The episode blends hard-hitting analysis with frustration and incredulity at both congressional inertia and Trump’s combative posture. The survivors’ testimonies provide an emotional anchor, humanizing what could otherwise be a pure “inside baseball” story. The hosts maintain a brisk, skeptical tone, and textures of skepticism and weariness with political gamesmanship are ever-present.

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Transcript

[A]

All right. Hey, guys. Me. Sam Stein, managing editor at the Bulwark, joined by Joe Perdico and author of Press Pass and denizen of Capitol Hill. You see him there in the rotunda. That's Russell, right?

[B]

No, Cannon. House side.

[A]

That's what I meant. Cannon. Definitely. We're talking because Joe's been on the Hill today, taking in the fracas over the Jeffrey Epstein files. There has been a lot of back and forth at the White House, too, frankly. But, Joe, can you walk us through the state of play?

[B]

So this morning was when Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna unveiled their discharge petition based on their resolution from earlier in July, which basically, the discharge petition is a mechanism that when a bill sits for a certain amount of time, which passed over August, they can use it to get 218 signatures, regardless of party, to force a vote. And as you know, we've seen, Mike Johnson doesn't want this to be voted on, but they. They say right now they got 212 Democrats and four Republicans, so they need two more Republicans.

[A]

So this would be to force a vote yes onto a bill that would require the release of all the Epstein files, with a few exceptions for victim identity. Identity and stuff like that. Yeah.

[B]

And they unveiled it with victims present at the presidency.

[A]

So the victims are supportive of it. That's important to say. The other thing that's happening sort of as a dual track is the Oversight Committee, run by James Comer, is subpoenaing the Justice Department for files. They're claiming they're going to have these interviews with law enforcement officials from the past, Republican, Democrat alike, about the case. And then last night kind of came a twist where they revealed about 30,000 or so documents. But those documents were largely rehashes. What's your sense of what's going on with the Oversight Committee's process?

[B]

So it's being helmed by James Comer, who, if you remember the various Biden investigations, manages this committee in a very freewheeling, haphazard way, doesn't really plan things out. And it appears that over the August recess, they knew this was coming. Massie and Khanna announced this press conference weeks ago, and everyone knew the discharge petition was coming. And it looks like they didn't prepare for it. And so Comer is now releasing, you know, these 30,000 documents, most of which were duplicates. So what it does, though, is it gives these Republicans an out to not sign the discharge petition because they can say, oh, well, you know, we're doing our. We're doing our due diligence.

[A]

And is that going to be the only release? 30,000 or are they promising more?

[B]

They're promising more and more because they're saying this is an investigation that takes time. Not that they haven't had time until this month.

[A]

Not only that, but it's also this investigation. When you talk about documents released, it's not like they're doing document production. The documents are there. Is this strategy working? I guess I should ask, as in are enough Republicans at this point satiated, placated with the idea that you'd have sort of a continuous stream of releases from the Oversight Committee and that therefore they don't need to do the Rokhan a Tom Massey thing a little bit.

[B]

So there's the Republicans who just kind of like do what leadership says. And then in this case they're saying, like, say you have faith in the Oversight Committee. They have a resolution to express continued support for what oversight is doing. That's meant to misdirect, to give them an out to not sign the discharge petition. There are four Republicans. It's Massie, Nancy Mace, Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene are on this discharge petition. They need two more. And we haven't seen the kind of swift support that like if they had, if this wasn't possible to do this because of procedural maneuvers, but if they had done this in July, there have been a lot more Republicans. There are originally 11 Republican co sponsors of the original Massey bill.

[A]

Right. What happened to the seven?

[B]

So they are waiting and seeing. So Tim Burchett was like, oh, I'm satisfied with this document release. I'm satisfied with what oversight's doing. Thomas Massie claimed that the White House has been whipping to basically prevent Republicans from signing on. When I reached out to the White House last night, they, an official gave a statement that, you know, this is considered a hostile act towards the administration. Which is like, that's the term they use. That's code for, you know, why would it be hostile?

[A]

Yeah, why would it be hostile? Unless they thought that the release would be damaging to the administration.

[B]

Yeah, it's. So there's, there's really. No, it's really incredible, all this stuff. But it's, it's, it's an, it's an attempt to like they're, they're doing this and it's because it's comer led. It just reminds me of the Biden years. They're doing it in a very haphazard way where they're just like, ah, no, no, do this or go do that.

[A]

So let Me just say Ro Khan at this press conference. I'm going to ask you about the press conference in a second. But Ro Khan, in the press conferences, it's like pleading said, we just need two more signatures to force the release of these documents.

[C]

And we have four Republicans, courageous Republicans like Thomas Massie, Nick, Nancy Mace, who was so emotional yesterday after talking to the survivors, Congresswoman Boebert and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. We need just two more signatures to force the release.

[A]

Tom Massey is out there saying it's shameful that they're calling this a hoax.

[B]

I think it's shameful that this has.

[C]

Been called a hoax.

[B]

Hopefully today we can clear that up. This is not a hoax.

[A]

They had this weird flyover. Were you there for the flyover? Like, it looks like an F35 was. What? What was that? Like, what was going on?

[B]

So apparently the White House was doing a flyover of jets to honor a Polish pilot that crashed recently. You have to understand that, like, they're so loud and so it like deafened the entire scene for like a good 20 seconds. And then the way these fighter pilots work is like, there's four up front and then there's one. I learned this while watching the Blue Angels a couple of years ago. There's always one hiding in the back and he's the one who's in charge. So once it was all over, another guy rips across Canada.

[A]

Was this deliberate?

[B]

I mean, it was to honor a downed.

[A]

I know, I know it was to honor. I know that was deliberate. But do you think.

[B]

But the point is that, like this Massey Khanna press conference, like we announced this weeks ago. So they knew it was going to happen at this time.

[A]

Yeah. Okay.

[B]

But it was a long press conference. It was more than an hour. So, you know.

[A]

And who was there? Tons of media. Were there. Were some of the victims there, too?

[B]

Yeah, there were several of the victims. Each of them spoke for a little bit. One of them mentioned that Epstein had bragged to her that Donald Trump about his close relationship with Donald Trump.

[D]

He bragged about his powerful friends, including our current president, Donald Trump. It was his biggest brag.

[B]

Actually, when that happened, I looked over at Marjorie Taylor Greene and she was just stone faced. I think we have an image of that being put on the screen and it was just like they were very clear about this. Marjorie Taylor Greene, though, she did say something at the end where she was like, she responded to the hostile act comment and she said, you know, or. And the hoax comments and she said the hostile act is what has happened to these victims.

[E]

And this isn't a hostile act towards the administration. The hostile act has been against these women for so many years now for. And the hostile act is covering up for Jeffrey Epstein.

[B]

And so that was very strange. I've never really seen her use Trump's own word, or not Trump's words, but the White House's own words against them.

[A]

Right.

[B]

So she seems very animated about this. When she walked out, some of the protesters were flipping her off and shouting boo and stuff. But Ro Khanna was like, look, this. This is a big deal like that she's here. You know, this is an exam. It's an example of bipartisanship, even. It happens once in a blue moon.

[C]

I've never done a press conference with Marjorie Taylor Greene before.

[A]

We're gonna listen quickly to some of the survivors speaking out at the press conference.

[F]

Mr. President, Donald J. Trump. I am a registered Republican. Not that that matters, because this is not political. However, I cordially invite you to the Capitol to meet me in person so you can understand, this is not a hoax. We are real human beings. This is real trauma. These women are real. We're here in person. To say that it's a hoax is just not. Please humanize us. I would like Donald J. Trump and every person in America and around the world to humanize us.

[E]

I don't want to send a direct message to him. I'm already scared enough. We're not going to be silenced anymore. We will be speaking moving forward. Wherever we need to be, we will be, and we need to pass this.

[D]

President Trump, you have so much influence and power in this situation. Please use that influence and power to help us, because we need it now and this country needs it now.

[A]

They're pleading directly to Trump. Trump, meanwhile, he's in the White House. He's meeting with this Polish leader and he's talking about the whole issue. And he's. I mean, in basically saying it's a hoax, that it's time to move on. He was calling it a distraction. Said people will never be satisfied with whatever is released.

[G]

It's really a Democrat hoax because they're trying to get people to talk about something that's total, relevant to the success that we've had as a nation since I've been president. And I know that no matter what you do, it's going to keep going.

[A]

Let me push a proposition by you. They're not handling this particularly well. Like you could just someone. I forget it was. Maybe George Conway was saying this, but, like, I still am Confused by it. Trump could just say, look, this is a matter for the Oversight Committee or this is a matter for doj. We can't talk about it. They're in the process of producing documents. Let's move on. He could say that. I mean, that'd be like the normal way to get around this. But. But instead he acts weird and guilty about it and he's like, ah, it's a hoax. You're just trying to hurt me. This is a hostile act. And I contend that that's like just going to be a self inflicted wound, that this invites more scrutiny and that it's going to keep festering a little bit for him.

[B]

He behaves like someone who is extremely guilty.

[A]

I know. And he might not be guilty. I don't know, maybe he's not guilty, but he behaves like someone who's trying to hide something.

[B]

Yeah. And it's just really fascinating the way that this has done. Like last night was technically the first day back in Congress, which was, you know, a couple hours, but today has really had like first day of school vibes. And it was like, like we talked about earlier, like they had weeks to prepare for this and they were just like, they've just totally messed it up in terms of momentum.

[A]

Where does it go from here?

[B]

I like, it depends on how frightened. And we saw a little bit, a little bit of that from Tim Burchard, but it depends on how frightened these guys are of retribution again from Trump. They're being given these outs. But it also matters, and maybe this question for Will Sommer is how like the online right response. Right. If they're really, really bothered by this and they don't buy it, which why would they? Because they haven't up until this point, like, that continues to put the screws on a lot of these Republicans who rely heavily on the bids.

[A]

Right. Well, I mean, I guess the, the best case scenario is that the online right basically is maybe over it, frankly. Like, they cared for a couple weeks and now they're ready to move on. But either way, if you're two votes short of the discharge petition, it's going to be a lot of attention to see if any lawmakers flip. And all those lawmakers are going to be asked about it. So we shall see. Joe Perdicone, thank you. Thank you so much for tackling this with us. Looking forward to your newsletter tomorrow where you cover this as well. Talk to you soon.