Epstein Survivor Hearing in West Palm Beach. Our Coverage with Tara Palmeri and Katie Phang

Summary

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The Jim Acosta Show: Epstein Survivor Hearing in West Palm Beach

Date: May 12, 2026
Host: Jim Acosta
Guests: Tara Palmeri, Katie Phang, Congressional Democrats, Survivor Panel

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Episode Overview

Theme:
Jim Acosta brings listeners live, on-the-ground coverage from West Palm Beach City Hall, where a special “spotlight” field hearing convened by Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee focuses on the voices and testimony of Jeffrey Epstein survivors. The episode captures frank pre-hearing discussion, powerful survivor accounts, and sharp criticism of the systemic failures and cover-ups that enabled Epstein and his associates. The hearing is notable for its absence of Republican participation and the exclusion of major mainstream media, highlighting the ongoing struggle for truth, accountability, and justice.

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Setting the Scene & Pre-Hearing Discussion

Why Palm Beach? (01:47–03:19)

• Katie Phang: Underscores the importance of holding the hearing in Palm Beach, just steps from Epstein’s former home and Mar-a-Lago.
  • “We are literally down the street from Jeffrey Epstein’s home, which he had here, where he perpetrated so many of his horrific crimes... We’re also down the street from Mar a Lago, which we also know is inextricably intertwined with the Epstein orbit.” [01:47]
• The proximity to power and privilege—both literally and symbolically—reinforces the gravity of the hearing and the challenge of accountability.

Frustration with Justice & DOJ Stonewalling (02:48–03:55)

• Jim Acosta and Katie Phang discuss the DOJ’s — specifically Acting AG Todd Blanche’s — refusal to release all Epstein files despite Congressional mandates. Trump’s relationship to Blanche is called out.
  • “Todd Blanche has basically said, you’re not getting any more Epstein files…for all of us to get access to the remaining Epstein files that they’re holding onto.” [02:49]
• Trump is described as being referenced over 38,000 times in the files, more than Epstein himself.

On Political Will & Partisanship (04:32–05:06)

• Katie Phang emphasizes that no Republicans participated and points out the field hearing is only possible because Democratic members, including Robert Garcia, Summer Lee, and Ayanna Pressley, traveled specifically to attend.
  • “For Republicans to claim that they want transparency…they’re not even here.” [04:32]

Legacy of Cover-Ups & The “Shadow” of Epstein (06:09–07:34)

• The panel describes generations of cover-ups, intimidation, and power protecting the wealthy. The destruction of Epstein’s Palm Beach home is mentioned, yet his "shadow" remains.
• Survivor files: 3,437 volumes (over 17,000 lbs) exist, but only Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell have faced justice.

Legal Obstacles & DOJ Redactions (07:54–08:37)

• Katie Phang details her lawsuit for access to unredacted files and explains the role a Special Master could play in vetting DOJ redactions—which currently protect perpetrators over survivors.

Media Absence & Independent Journalism (17:05–18:38)

• Tara Palmeri laments mainstream media’s neglect of the story.
  • “The survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have not been paid their due and they’ve always never been a part of this story. And so, yeah, why?” [17:25]
• Both Acosta and Palmeri call out the contrast with heavy coverage of the Clintons, and lament the lack of corporate/national attention.

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The Hearing: Congressional & Survivor Testimonies

Opening Remarks by Rep. Robert Garcia (Chair) (35:21–42:20)

• Investigative findings: The DOJ still refuses to release half of the Epstein files.
• Recognition of systemic, bipartisan government failure:
  • “It doesn’t matter who you are, how powerful you are...if you hurt women and girls, you will be held accountable.” [36:38]
  • “Everyone has failed the public and certainly everyone has failed the survivors, especially those that sought justice.” [37:35]
• New Oversight Dems. report highlights financial crime, global reach, and ongoing stonewalling.

Rep. Lois Frankel: The Local Failure (42:20–47:19)

• Palm Beach prosecutors minimized survivor experiences in 2005, leading to Epstein’s “slap on the wrist.”
  • “He had work release privileges that allowed him to leave the jail each day to continue his systematic sexual exploitation of women and girls.” [45:13]
• Calls for subpoenas and under-oath questioning of local authorities who participated in the cover-up.

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Survivor & Advocate Testimony — Key Highlights

Maria Farmer (via video) – First Whistleblower (51:45–59:53)

• Reported Epstein and Maxwell to the FBI in 1996—was ignored, resulting in decades-long trauma for hundreds of girls.
  • “Had the FBI done their job, 30 years of child sex abuse and trauma could have been avoided.” [59:25]
• Outlines harassment, health deterioration, and demands full accountability and her withheld FBI file.

Family of Virginia Giuffre (Sky & Amanda Roberts) (60:39–67:58)

• Sky Roberts: Shares Virginia’s testamentary words, naming Prince Andrew, Glenn Dubin, Alan Dershowitz, and others.
• Amanda Roberts: Outlines four demands—DOJ contempt proceedings, expanding state investigations, further subpoenas for co-conspirators and enablers, and especially following the money for financial crimes.
  • “The question is…what will Congress and the Department of Justice do about it?” [63:11]
  • “The Epstein and Maxwell investigations must be reopened. Not partially… but fully. Survivors and the public deserve the truth.” [67:50]

Courtney Wild (68:22–75:29)

• Trafficked by Epstein from age 14–17; government’s secret non-prosecution deal devastated her, led to further victims.
  • “I have never heard the feds letting you help them decide which crimes they’re gonna charge you with or if you’re cool with how long you’re gonna spend in jail.” [69:11]
• Calls for reform of Crime Victim Rights Act: “If prosecutors choose to ignore victims, those victims’ voices must be put on the record, memorialized and preserved.” [71:57]

Jenna Lisa Jones (75:38–82:27)

• Abused at 14, now uses her voice for responsible advocacy; describes re-traumatization after DOJ mishandling of redactions exposed identities and sensitive information.
  • “Husbands learned about their wives’ abuse for the first time. Children learned about the abuse of their mothers from reporters, from strangers on the Internet…” [76:20]
• Calls for Congressional compensation for harms, improvements in victim education and support, and systemic change.

Danny Bensky (82:38–89:43)

• Dancer, abused at 17; outlines initial terror and ongoing re-exposure of her information in improperly redacted DOJ files.
  • “These files displayed my name, my phone number, my old address … my child, my students... my employers, my colleagues, my family.” [85:48]
• Urges passage of “Virginia’s Law” (no statute of limitations) and a culture shift in blame from victim to perpetrator.

Rosa (89:43–95:56)

• Trafficked via modeling, abused while Epstein was supposed to be under house arrest.
• Identity was revealed 500+ times in DOJ document dumps.
  • “Releasing my name while redacting the names of other powerful is not a mistake. It’s a choice.” [94:58]
• Bitterly points fingers at Congress: “I don’t know. That’s your job. You guys have to figure out how to make justice, not me.” [133:54] (later segment)

Spencer Kuvin (Attorney) (96:30–102:14)

• Represented initial Palm Beach survivors; details DOJ and local prosecutors’ collusion, unprecedented immunity for unnamed co-conspirators.
  • “This sent a message … accountability is negotiable if you are rich and powerful.” [97:40]
• Outlines concrete reforms: require victim notice, remedies for violations, ban secret agreements, and enforce prosecutor accountability.

Lauren Hirsch (World Without Exploitation) (102:22–109:23)

• Calls DOJ’s mishandling “a deeply horrific failure” and points to widespread, systemic complicity.
  • “Sex trafficking does not happen in a vacuum. It is driven by the demand for commercial sex and enabled by systems and people who are willing to look the other way.” [105:59]
• Highlights the need for legislative fixes, survivor compensation, and an end to institutional defensiveness.

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Notable Congressional Dialogue

Rep. Garcia: Ongoing Cover-Up and The Need for Continued Investigation (109:23–116:19)

• Asks survivors if investigation should continue: unanimous “yes.”
• Confirms all support for full, careful file release and denounces attempts by DOJ/two administrations to end the probe.

Rep. Stansberry: The System Wasn’t Failing—It Was Designed to Protect Privilege (123:33–135:31)

• “The system didn’t fail. The system was designed to protect the wealthy ... The system was built on inequality.” [123:55]
• Survivors and advocates asked what justice looks like:
  • Courtney Wild: “Honestly, I don’t think justice will ever be served in this case…There needs to be something dedicated in Palm Beach county to all of our childhoods that were lost and taken.”
  • Rosa: “I don’t know. That’s your job. You guys have to figure out how to make justice, not me. And you can’t give me justice like this.” [134:00]

Rep. Maxwell Frost: Immigration and Trafficking (135:38–142:01)

• Rosa details how immigration status, language, and economic barriers were weaponized by the ring.

Rep. Summer Lee: Systemic Two-Tier Justice (142:01–147:31)

• Calls DOJ’s actions “a glaring proof of a two-tier justice system."
  • “The DOJ seems perfectly capable of concealing the names of these rich and these powerful folks in the files that have been released. But they did not give that same level of care to the actual survivors.” [143:21]

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Memorable Quotes & Emotional Highlights

• Maria Farmer: “Had the FBI done their job, 30 years of child sex abuse and trauma could have been avoided.” [59:25]
• Amanda Roberts: “Survivors and the public deserve the truth. And enablers must no longer hide behind wealth, power or silence.” [67:57]
• Rosa: “Releasing my name while redacting the names of other powerful is not a mistake. It’s a choice. ... I am no longer a Jane Doe hiding in the files. I’m a woman, I’m a fighter and I’m a witness. And I’m begging you, please wash your hands.” [94:59]
• Danny Bensky: “Our entrenched systemic failures have allowed powerful people like Jeffrey to thrive. When institutions prioritize protecting the powerful and their enablers over protecting victims, abuse becomes normalized.” [88:57]
• Lauren Hirsch: “Survivors have already carried far too much of the burden and they should not have to carry the failures of our institutions as well.” [107:47]

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Takeaways & Calls to Action

• Congress and DOJ Urged to:
  • Fully release remaining Epstein files with proper redactions and warn against further exposure of victim identities.
  • Expand, not contract, investigations—both federally and at the state level.
  • Subpoena and investigate powerful enablers and financial conduits.
  • Reform the Crime Victims Rights Act for meaningful penalties and automatic victim standing.
  • Ban secret non-prosecution deals like Epstein’s.
  • Never pardon or grant clemency to Ghislaine Maxwell.
  • Follow the money—demand the release of Suspicious Activity Reports showing Epstein’s billion-dollar financial flows.
• Survivor Demands:
  • Justice, truth, and systemic change—especially education, survivor support, and an end to privileging the powerful.
• Media Critique:
  • Mainstream/corporate media's absence is castigated; independent journalists’ role praised as essential for transparency and accountability.

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Episode End & Reflections

(162:09–165:18)

• Jim Acosta closes with gratitude for survivors, witnesses, and independent journalists. He laments again the absence of mainstream U.S. media and Republican participation, urging listeners to continue supporting independent efforts and to push for real justice and transparency.

“Why is it that the British press is more interested in this than the national American press? That itself is a travesty. So important to support independent media in the United States while we still have it.” [164:00]

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Segment Timestamps

• Pre-hearing context: [00:21]–[33:35]
• Hearing opens (Rep. Garcia): [35:21]
• Rep. Frankel/local context: [42:20]
• Maria Farmer (video): [51:45]
• Virginia Giuffre’s family: [60:39]
• Survivor and attorney panel: [68:22]–[109:23]
• Congressional questioning: [109:23]–[157:53]
• Hearing wrap-up / Reflection: [162:09]–[165:18]

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Summary

This episode is a searing, indispensable record of survivor voices and grassroots Congressional oversight amid ongoing government and institutional failure. Survivors testify unflinchingly about abuse, betrayal by the judicial system, and the ceaseless burden of seeking justice when the powerful are protected. The field hearing stands as both indictment and call to action, demanding—through the words and lived experience of the abused—that America finally reckon with its “system, not just a failure,” and act on truth instead of perpetuating fear or lies.

“Don’t give in to the lies. Don’t give in to fear. Hold on to the truth. And hope.”—Jim Acosta

Transcript

[A]

Here.

[B]

He's on the road. He's on the record.

[C]

Jim Acosta live,

[B]

guys.

[C]

All right. Hey, everybody. Welcome to the Jim Acosta Show. This is a special live edition. We are live in the West Palm Beach City hall here in West Palm Beach, Florida. And in just a few moments, there is going to be a spotlight hearing, as they call it up on Capitol Hill, a remote hearing held by the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee. They're going to be talking to and hearing from survivors of Jeffrey Epstein. This is going to be going on for a couple of hours, and so you're going to hear some very powerful testimony from some of these survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Helene Maxwell. And sitting next to me in the press area of this hearing room is Katie Fang.

[D]

Hi, everybody.

[C]

The wonderful Katie Fang. She's here with me. And Katie, tell us a little bit about what you think we're going to see this morning. I think this is a really important moment for the survivors. You know, they're calling this Survivors Fight for Justice. And, you know, I thought it was important to come down here because, you know, and I know you, you as well, you're in this area. But, you know, people have really been clamoring for not just the truth to come out, but for justice, and they're not getting it right now. And you've gone as far as to sue the Department of Justice to get access to, for all of us to get access to the remaining Epstein files that they're holding onto. Set the scene for us, set the stage for us, what we're going to see and why this is so important.

[D]

I think we should mention that it's incredibly important that we're doing this in Palm Beach. Yeah, we are literally down the street from Jeffrey Epstein's home, which he had here, where he perpetrated so many of his horrific crimes. We're also down the street from Mar a Lago, which we also know is inextricably intertwined with the Epstein orbit, the Epstein elite convicted felon Donald Trump himself mentioned a minimum of 38,000 times so far. And I have to say, so far, Jim, because we haven't had access to everything. But what's really big about today is we're going to hear publicly from the victims and the survivors. And I expect it to be emotional and I expect it to be incredibly powerful testimony about what they've gone through. But I also think when it comes to justice, I also expect to hear some damning recrimination against this administration and this Department of Justice that refuses, refuses to release the entirety of the Epstein files with proper redactions.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And Katie, I mean, Todd Blanch is now the acting Attorney General. He's obviously auditioning for the role permanently, every single damn day. That's right. And he has basically said, you're not getting any more Epstein files. And I mean, I mean, just to put a, an exclamation mark on this, I think it was yesterday Donald Trump was praising Todd Blanche and saying that Todd Blanche kept his ass out of jail, I think were the words he used. I, I suppose it has to do with the January 6th case and the classified documents case, but it sure as hell might be this case, too.

[D]

I want to remind people though, the reason why we get to call him convicted felon Donald Trump is he has been convicted in New York with 34 felonies and that was actually with Todd Blanche and Emil Bovey as his criminal defense lawyers. So he's really not the one that's competent. But I really think the thing he's hitting it out of the ballpark, Jim, is loyalty. He is battle tested in the eyes of Donald Trump. And that's the reason why he knows that Tom Blanche will protect him. He's a true body man, if you think about it. Right. He's really protecting him and keeping him from getting more exposure in the Epstein files.

[C]

And there are tons of questions. I mean, Donald Trump has mentioned 38,000 times in the Epstein files and counting. And I think it's like more times than God is mentioned in the Bible. I think it's as much or more than Jeffrey Epstein has mentioned in the Epstein files. And, but we need to put the focus on the survivors here because they have been through so much. They testify. I mean, they didn't testify up on Capitol Hill. They did that really dramatic press conference up on Capitol Hill when they were trying to get that passed through Congress. That legislation that would force the administration to transparency. Yeah. And. But they haven't really done as much of this.

[D]

This is incredibly public and I think it's why it's significant. And think about it, we're not going to have any Republicans. For Republicans to claim that they want transparency and that they are hell bent in protecting people. You know, they're not even here. I mean, this is the reason why it took House oversight Democrats led by people like Congressman Robert Garcia. I just saw my good friend Jasmine Crockett. She's here already too.

[C]

Wow. She's here as well.

[D]

She's here. She flew in. Guys, this is the thing that I think people need to realize when we have to go and vote, we vote for accountability. And who's the ones that are doing the work? It's the Democrats are doing the work.

[E]

People.

[D]

They are flying here to Palm Beach. They are putting this hearing out so that people can hear and witness in real time what has happened. And this is incredibly important.

[C]

Yeah. And let's set the scene here. Let's show you guys what we're looking at right now. I'm going to see, forgive me if I am operating my own camera here, but you know, it's, this is the modern times. This is how we're doing things now. But you can see the panel up there. It says oversight Dem Survivors fight for Justice, Exposing Epstein's crimes in Palm beach and across the world. And this is what it looks like in this hearing room. It's a big hearing room. The survivors are going to be testifying at that table there.

[D]

We just saw Robert Garcia.

[C]

Oh, he's here.

[F]

Okay.

[D]

Dave Min. We saw Summer Lee, we saw Melanie Stansberry. We, I mean, we have a really,

[C]

It's a who's who.

[D]

It's a who's who of people who care.

[C]

Yeah. And I just saw some pretty tight security come through here. Some heavily armed police officers are here.

[D]

That's right.

[C]

And so, you know, one of the things that the survivors have had to deal with, they've had to deal with death threats, they've had to deal with harassment.

[D]

Well, it's because Trump has called it a hoax.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Called it a democratic hoax.

[C]

Yeah, it's, it's unreal. And you were saying earlier, Katie, just how close we are to the Epstein, the old Epstein house. My producer and I, we drove past that property and it was bulldozed. They, they, they bulldozed it like four or five years ago and somebody else bought the property, they rebuilt a house there and so on. And so, you know, there aren't that many remnants of Jeffrey Epstein physically here, but it's almost as though he, his shadow is hanging over it, has this

[D]

community large for decades. And that's what I want to remind people about. This is stuff that we in South Florida, Florida have been grappling with since before 2000. Okay. Because this was going on, it was one of the worst kept secrets. And again, the protection that is afforded to people with money, means and influence. This is the stellar example as we see Trump evade accountability, as we now see the fact that last week I was invited to preview the Epstein Trump reading room.

[C]

Oh, yeah, that's right. Yeah, we did that.

[D]

I went with Danny Bensky, who will be testifying today at this point, hearing.

[C]

Oh, she's great.

[D]

And, and let me tell you something. To be in that room and to be amongst 3,437 volumes of just what we have so far, and it took away more than £17,000 of evidence right there, Jim. And to only have two people so far, only Jeffrey Epstein and only Gillen Maxwell, that is a massive problem for justice.

[C]

It's a huge problem. And I mean, it seems to me, you know, if there's no problem lurking and those other 3 million or whatever, you know, the number is files, what are you hiding? What's, what's going on here? What's the big deal? And so it seems to me that there's. There is a cover up that is still going on right now, and they're violating the law.

[D]

That's why I assumed.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

So as of December 19, 2025, we were supposed to receive from the Department of Justice, pursuant to a federal law, the Epstein files with only certain redactions. And listen, I can't do my job as a journalist if I can't actually see what is beneath those improper redactions, which is part of the reason why the Special Master is so important in this lawsuit that I have. Because a Special Master could actually call the balls and strikes.

[C]

I was gonna say, how does that work?

[D]

So the DOJ would say, here's, here's one of the documents. This is what's been redacted. The Special Master can compare it to the law and say, nope, that's not a proper redaction, and then order it to be released to the public because we know they're protecting people that they're not supposed to protect. And then they're violating the confidentiality of victims and survivors.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And there have been lies after lies. I mean, you had Howard Lutnick, the Commerce Secretary, say that he hadn't really. He hadn't been to the Epstein Island.

[D]

Comer didn't let it be videoed.

[B]

Right.

[D]

Didn't put him under oath. That was Homer's decision.

[C]

That was the chairman of the committee.

[D]

I want to make sure that's clear.

[C]

And we need to make very clear that there are no Republicans who are expected to be here. Correct. It's just the Democrats on the committee. And Chairman Comer has refused to have this kind of hearing up on Capitol Hill. That's because Donald Trump is the de facto speaker of the House. He controls what's happening in the House of Representatives right now.

[D]

Yeah. Comer issued that memo to House Oversight that we saw that said none of the formal. None of the formal committee hearings where they can do motions, because remember, they did that in summer. Lee got that subpoena to the doj. That's how they got subpoenas out. And comer now wants to play fast and loose with the rules and says, let's have these informal get togethers where it's not under oath and we don't actually have the rules and we'll just let people sit around and what, braid each other's hair? I mean, come on, people need to. To do work in Congress. And this is why I'm proud that the House Oversight Dems are doing something about this.

[C]

No, it's. It's so important. And it's been a game. They've been playing games on the Republican side for months now. They have Bill and Hillary Clinton come in and testify, but not Donald and Melania Trump, who are photographed over and over again with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

[D]

How about Steve Bannon? That man's name's Steve Bannon. He's not in there. And you know what's crazy is what it took to get Pam Bonney to roll up. In a couple of weeks, she's supposed to show up for her depot.

[C]

Supposed to?

[G]

Yeah.

[D]

Let's see what she actually does when she shows up.

[C]

Right. And she was fired just a few weeks ago, and we still don't know really the circumstances behind that. Is it. Does it have something to do with the Epstein files? You know, she was the one who said, they're on my desk.

[D]

You know, which is why when I was at the reading room last week.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

And it took two floors and it took 3,437 volumes. How can you possibly say you have the Epson files on your desk?

[C]

She didn't know what she was talking about.

[D]

She was lying.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

She was lying to the American people.

[C]

Yeah, well, and there's been a lot of lying about this. I mean, as you said, Trump said, it's a hoax. I mean, it's obviously not a hoax. We would not be seeing a hearing like this of this nature if it were a hoax.

[D]

Why would Melania do that? Presser?

[H]

If it was a hoax, why would

[C]

Melania be like first lady of the United States?

[I]

Hoax.

[D]

You don't acknowledge it.

[C]

Right, exactly right. And she comes out, she. She rolls out there, gives this big speech, and people are looking at themselves saying, what the hell is going on? Why is the first lady doing this?

[D]

But you notice she didn't exonerate her husband.

[C]

Right.

[D]

She didn't exonerate Donald Trump during that press conference.

[C]

No, she did not.

[D]

She took care of herself.

[C]

She did.

[D]

She was not having anything to do with him.

[C]

And Trump keeps saying, I've been exonerated. I've been exonerated. Nobody. So we haven't seen everything. You haven't been exonerated. We haven't seen anything. The other thing that pisses me off is there's been no accountability in the United States. You know, the Brits, they go out and they arrest former Prince Andrew.

[D]

You know, he's brought in Thomas Mandelson as well. And then they've opened two new criminal investigations in France relating to Norway. Norway. I mean, there's accountability that's happening.

[C]

And.

[D]

And it is in large part because a lot of these victims and survivors are so brave.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

They are going across the world and they are speaking out and they're telling their stories, and that's the reason why we actually see movement in other countries right now.

[C]

Incredible. Well, Katie, I know you're going to be watching this. Your expertise is invaluable in all of this. We're seeing some of the members show up right now. Yeah, two more.

[D]

Two more members of Congress just rolled

[H]

in right now, too.

[C]

Oh. Oh, that's Congressman Christian Mory. Congresswoman Presley. Is that Ayanna Pressley Presley?

[D]

We just saw Congresswoman Iona Presley come in. She's joining the members of the Congress behind the dies. They will be coming out and they will be sitting here and they will be facing the witnesses that are testifying today. You know, I do want to know, and I'm hopeful because it hasn't been confirmed. I was hoping that maybe we could hear from some retired law enforcement.

[C]

Oh, yes, that is local.

[D]

That could explain how they tried so damn hard to bring accountability from a law enforcement perspective, and they kept on getting stifled by the dog or by other powers. I think that's important. I think people need to understand this has been going on since 2000, early 2000 investigation that resulted in that bullshit sweetheart plea deal in 2008.

[C]

Right. Yeah. I mean, Alex Acosta, he's not going to be anywhere near here, as I like to say. No relation. I know, but he was. But he's the one who. Yeah, we checked the family tree and I think we're in the clear. But he's the one who gave that sweetheart deal and he was brought in to testify, but it was behind closed doors. They've done a lot of this behind closed doors, and that's why this hearing is so important and such a big deal. Well, Katie, I'm going to, what I'm going to do right now, I'm going to switch out. We're going to have Tara Palmeri sit in here in just a second. That was the wonderful Katie Fang. I think what I'm going to do here is I'm going to give her my show the room here and just give everybody a sense as to the landscape of what's going on. So this is a, this is the West Palm Beach City hall in downtown West Palm Beach, Florida. And as you can see, it's a pretty big room here. A lot of people here are already starting to gather a lot of press. I'm wondering if the major news networks are going to be here. Don't see them yet, but a lot of these members of Congress are going to be filing and shortly to hold this hearing. It's going to start in about 17 minutes. We'll be bringing it to you live. So hang in there.

[J]

How are you?

[C]

Stay tuned. We're going to bring it to you live. And now joining me here on the scene is the wonderful Tara Paul. Mary, she is obviously very well known to our viewers because she comes on all the time. And how's it going hosting the Red Letter? Good to see you. And you know, we're just, this is sort of, we're just improvising. We're ad libbing through this pre game to the hearing. But it's so important, Tara, what we're about to see. And it's while it's great to see you in person and we're smiling because it's a nice, it's a nice thing to see our colleagues in person and so on. This is going to be a really powerful and I think a tough, a tough to watch hearing. This is going to be hard. I mean it's going to be important. It's important viewing and necessary viewing. But these folks have been through a lot. These ladies have been through a lot.

[K]

You know, I've been thinking about a Jim and it's like all of the hearings on Jeffrey Epstein have been behind closed doors.

[C]

Yeah.

[K]

And we haven't seen the faces of these people, people, a lot of them men, talking about their relationship with Jeffrey Epstein like they are ashamed and afraid and the, and, and Congress has given them a pass by making this all behind closed doors.

[L]

That's really.

[C]

Yeah, that's right.

[K]

And the people who should have been the first ones to be called are in fact these survivors of Jeffrey Epstein because they are willing to show their faces. They have been victims of crimes, like really painful crimes. Sex crimes are very, very, very difficult to process and most people don't want to bear testimony to it. But these women have been so incredibly brave. They've been so incredibly willing to speak about their stories. They are the witnesses to these crimes. They are the evidence. They are all of it. And yet they have been second class. They've been second class citizens in all of this. They are. This is a shadow hearing because it's not an actual, like, it's because it won't be registered in the Library of Congress, unfortunately. But Republicans did not, are not involved. This is completely partisan. It thankfully feels very choreographed. It doesn't feel like a press, like some sort of stunty press conference, which I was a little worried about. But it does feel like legitimate, like we even have a timer for testimony. But like, I just hope that when Democrats, if they win back the House, that they will do this again.

[C]

Yes.

[K]

And in the halls of Congress and they will actually, you know, real hearings. Real hearings. They will take their words as sworn under oath, which is what these survivors have already done. They have given their sworn testimony to the FBI over and over and over again. When in the first, you know, and they've never been treated, they've never been treated as if their testimony is valuable. It is always treated as hearsay and gossip.

[C]

Right. And didn't Trump make some comment about that, that they should have to be sworn in or something like that and testify? I mean, they've already done that. He's made all these cockamamie excuses and he has not met with these survivors. It's sad.

[K]

I mean really, it like the way they've been treated. And I mean, I'm really happy to see a lot of members of like independent media. We've got like Katie here, Katie Fang, Love Parness. Not a lot of like the big players in, you know, mainstream media, which is actually really disappointing to me.

[C]

It's disappointing.

[K]

This is a really big deal. And the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have not been paid their due and they've always never been a part of this story. And so, yeah, why?

[C]

I mean, that. That is disturbing. I think we should talk about that. The fact that the mainstream corporate legacy media, you know, they, they just don't give this the kind of coverage it should get. And they should be here. I mean, where, where are those guys? They should be in this room right now. They should be covering this live.

[M]

Right.

[C]

And you know, if it were, I think if it were a Democratic president they'd be all over this.

[N]

Right.

[C]

And because it's Donald Trump and they're afraid of Donald Trump and the FCC and all that, that they just don't give this the coverage that it warrants.

[K]

They were all crowded outside of a snowy courthouse in upstate, or I guess, what town did the Clintons live in that they.

[C]

Chappaqua.

[K]

Chappaqua. There. They're all crowded outside in the snow outside of Chappaqua. When the Clintons gave their two bit. I don't recall. I don't remember, like, answers, you know, or denials. And it was all behind closed doors.

[C]

Ridiculous. Yeah.

[K]

Why are they not all crowded outside right now? Like, again, these women hold all of the keys to the story of Jeffrey Epstein and have never been given their proper respect or observance.

[C]

And many of them are afraid. Right, Tara? I mean, it's really hard for them to do this and speak out. And they've been threatened, they've been harassed. There's somebody handing us.

[K]

I actually want to talk about this, because.

[C]

What is this about?

[F]

Yeah.

[C]

What does this say? Somebody just.

[K]

Barry Krish is. Okay, so if you guys have any time. I did a really long investigative podcast on Jeffrey Epstein in 2019 called Broken. Jeffrey Epstein and I worked with Virginia Giuffre to, like, find witnesses to corroborate the crimes. But this man that is mentioned in this document, Barry Krisher, he was the Palm beach state attorney at the time, and he literally treated the victims as if they were prostitutes under the influence of Alan Dershowitz, Jeffrey Epstein's lawyer, who he was a fanboy to, and literally his deputy, who was running the sham grand jury investigation, said, there are no victims here. Those were her words. Like that. They looked up their MySpace pages to show that these girls were like a lot of teenagers drinking, had boyfriends, right? And made them seem like they were teen sluts. Like, that was their M.O. and it was so. It was so egregious what they did. After parents were coming and complaining to the Palm beach police about what was going on in this house, and there was so much overwhelming evidence that Michael Writer, who I think is a true hero, and I hope he's here, but he was the Palm beach police chief at the time. He and Joseph Carey. Sadly, he's a detective, and he is dead right now, unfortunately. But what they did is, like, they deserve canonization. But he went over Barry Kushner's head and went to this U.S. attorney's office. I almost said Jim Acosta. You know what I'm talking about? No, Relation, Right.

[C]

Where are you, Alex Acosta? We are not related. I was mentioning this earlier. No relation been checked out.

[F]

Yeah.

[K]

So he goes.

[C]

Matter of fact, when Trump nominated Alex Acosta to be Labor Secretary, he said at a press conference that they made sure that we weren't related. So that's. Not that he's always told the truth, but that's.

[K]

If he was related, he would have better. He would have better judgment. Yeah, no, he would have that acoustic clarity. No, he. He went to the U.S. attorney saying, like, this is an insane miscarriage of justice. We cannot let this happen. And. And because of that, you know, they picked up the case. And this really wonderful attorney, Maria Villafana, who. I did have a really strong. Like, I struggled with her because there was a part of me that, like, kind of hated her a little bit. Like, I was knocking on doors and, like, trying to figure out, like, why would this story. Like, why would they drop the ball on this story? Why would she go from 80. Like, 80 counts, you know, like, almost 100 pages of indictment documents, and go down to, like, kicking it back to the state level, just, you know, one count of soliciting a minor, prostitution. Like, how does that happen? And, I mean, is it her fault? No.

[C]

Yeah. They just gotten royally hosed through all of this.

[D]

Yeah.

[K]

But I always wondered if she could have done more. But, I mean, at the end of the day, it's like. It's very. You know, I. I know she tried, and I know she was frustrated, but I think the survivors felt really, really disappointed by her because she was essentially, after Acosta told her, like, that they had to do a sweetheart deal. Like, she engineered that and kept the survivors out of the loop about this. And that is why they were able to, you know, to fight it in the Crime Victims Rights act case, which actually ultimately led to the rearrest of Jeffrey Epstein. I would love if you, like, like, learned about Courtney Wilde, who is, like, also a national hero. There are so many freaking heroes in this story, and yet they don't get any recognition.

[C]

Well, I'm just showing the room one more time terror here, because in about six or seven minutes, this hearing is supposed to get started. It's a spotlight hearing, a shadow hearing held by the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee. You can see members of Congress, they're already coming into the room. And some of the survivors, I believe, believe have already gathered here. I recognize some of them from their brave testimony and their brave appearances up on Capitol Hill fighting for that legislation that forced the release of the Epstein Files, a law that was signed by Donald Trump and by the way, a law that his administration is violating right now because they have not released all of the Epstein files. But in just, in just a few minutes, you're going to see this dais at the front of the City Council chamber here in West Palm Beach. These members on the House Oversight Committee, on the Democratic side will sit down. Chaired by. Robert Garcia is not the chair, but he's the. He's the ranking Democrat, ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, but he'll be chairing this hearing because he is the most senior member of the committee here. The Republicans are not having this hearing. It's the Democrats. But this is really important, guys, because I don't. Tara, correct me if I'm mistaken. I don't think that we've ever seen something like this before. Before where the survivors are speaking out at a hearing like this. Is that right?

[K]

No, they haven't had the opportunity to do this.

[E]

I mean, they have.

[K]

It's mostly just been either in a courtroom or it's been in press conferences. I mean, they, I, I even thought about the, like, imagery of the. The press conference outside of the Capitol. They're literally, like, on the lawn.

[C]

That was where Marjorie Taylor Greene was there.

[E]

Exactly.

[K]

The flyover that drowned out their voice. Boys.

[C]

Right, right, right, right.

[K]

All these. What kind of jets were they? Those, like, they were like fighter jets,

[C]

stealth bombers or something crazy like that.

[K]

Over drowning them out.

[C]

Right.

[K]

They're so far away from, like, the halls of power. They haven't been invited in. They haven't been given the time that they deserve, you know, and so that is like that, that, that to me

[H]

is, like, very symptomatic of all of it.

[C]

Hey, how are you? Nice to see you.

[D]

I'm more important.

[C]

Lauren. Jim Acosta. Nice to see you. We're live on our substack and YouTube right now. This is Lauren Hirsch and doing great. Maybe I can ask you for a few seconds here while I've got you. This is all kind of fly by the seat of our pants here, but that's okay.

[K]

So happy to see you.

[G]

You know, we're really looking forward to hearing from survivors. We want them to share their truths so that we can make sure that the American public gets to truth, transparency, and ultimate.

[C]

And we haven't had that up until.

[G]

We haven't, but we're ready for it,

[K]

and they're ready for it.

[C]

They're ready for this. And they haven't really, as a group, done something like this before. Is that Correct.

[J]

Yeah.

[K]

That was a lot of work at

[C]

a congressional hearing like this.

[G]

They have not, they have spoken together a number of times, but this is really the first opportunity that they've had

[C]

to speak and tell us your organization just so all the folks at home can know about it.

[G]

World Without Exploitation. We are the largest national anti trafficking coalition in the country. And we too are ready to get to the truth.

[J]

Thank you.

[C]

Everybody's ready to get to the truth. It's been way too long. Well, thank you, Lauren. So, guys. Yeah, so we are getting very close to the start of this hearing and it's been a little, you know, we're doing this as best we can, sort of in the moment and so on, on. But Lev Parnas is here, too. Lev, how you doing, man? Good to see you, Jim, good to see you out here. Hold that for a second. Why are you here? Why is it so important that you're here?

[B]

Well, it's important to stand up for

[O]

the survivors for women's rights.

[C]

I mean, especially the way Trump has

[O]

been abusing women constantly throughout his years, but now even continuously with the woman reporters, the way he attacks them. I think it's the most important thing that we stand united behind these surviving survivors, that there has to be accountability. There has to be justice once and for all.

[C]

Yeah. All right, well, love, thank you very much. We're all going to watch here in just a few moments, but yeah, and Katie Fang is still here. Katie, hold on to this little mic here. And we're about to get going here. But, and forgive my camera work, everybody, but we're.

[D]

Forgive my, my vertically challenged horse. Jim's gonna have to work on his quads right now.

[C]

I'll scooch down a little bit. I could use the, I could use all the help I can get, but I mean, we're seeing some of the survivors start to get. Gather in this room. This is really important.

[D]

I think it's also important to note that Virginia Giuffre's brother and sister in law are here.

[C]

Oh, wow.

[D]

And they're seated in the front. And listen, they, they know that. Yes, yes. And, and, and for, for it to be in Palm beach. This was the real kind of beginning, the epicenter of, of really the abuse for, of Virginia. So for them to be here is incredibly powerful, I believe.

[E]

Yep.

[D]

Yeah, the room's filling up.

[C]

And we still don't know about. I mean, this is where we're not very far, Katie, from where Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein used to party together.

[D]

That's right.

[C]

All that Infamous footage of them at these parties and at Mar?

[D]

A Lago and at Mar?

[N]

A currently living right now.

[C]

And Trump claimed he kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of Mar A Lago because he was a creep. And then he. He claimed that he kicked him out because he, Jeffrey Epstein, was stealing his employees.

[G]

And yet there is, and yet there's

[D]

emails buying between Epstein, Epstein, and I believe it was Michael Wolf, where he disputed that claim that he had been kicked out of Mar A Lago from membership. So, come on, you know.

[L]

Right.

[C]

And there's also, I mean, there's also the, the fact that he's mentioned in the Epstein files 38, 000 times. There's also that letter, that creepy letter that Trump claims he did not write, which I don't understand how that's even possible if it was in the Epstein estate.

[G]

The birthday, the birthday letter.

[D]

That's right.

[C]

Like somebody traveled back in time and

[D]

forged it or something like that.

[C]

Never added up.

[D]

Time machine.

[C]

This is why all of this is so important, is to keep it in the forefront, to keep it on the front burner.

[F]

Yeah.

[D]

And I overheard Tara saying, and it's true, we don't have mainstream legacy media covering this the way it should. If there is an Achilles heel, ladies and gentlemen, of Trump and this Republican Party, it is the Epstein files. And I don't understand why for all of the victims that are brave to come and those that are not here, why we're not fighting for them. And I don't know why mainstream media does not want to elevate this and make. Is the center of the discourse, you know?

[C]

Well, I think it's. Katie, you and I have talked about this. It's why independent media is so important, because the corporate media, the legacy media, they're running scared. They're afraid of their broadcast licenses getting taken away. They're afraid of their access to 100% away. And so they don't want to. They don't want to, you know, disturb the, the delicate feathers of Donald Trump.

[D]

Yeah, they want the access. It's the access journalism that they want. And we understand that for mainstream media, that has immense value, but for those of us that are here, that are coming here on our own dime, like spending the time to be here, you know, when they're not doing it. This is important for people to understand that. We think that this is one of the priorities. We also cover the war and we cover the reconciliation bill, and we cover the atrocities of immigration enforcement. But we also think that this is one of the ones that we need to Keep in the spotlight console.

[C]

Absolutely. Well, Katie, thanks for letting me throw you on.

[D]

Oh, it's all good for the moment.

[C]

Appreciate it. But this looks like this hearing is about to get started. Guys, stay right here. We're going to continue this live coverage of this spotlight hearing held by the House Oversight Democrats to focus a spotlight on the Jeffrey Epstein survivors at a congressional hearing. This is technically a congressional hearing. It is not a formal congressional hearing and that is not being chaired by the Republicans who control the House of Representatives. But this is a sneak preview of coming attractions, folks. If the Democrats win the House, these kinds of hearings will be held up on Capitol Hill right now because the Democrats don't control the House. They have to come all the way here to Florida and hold this in West Palm beach to do this the way that they are doing it right now, which is in the field, to hear from these survivors. But this is about, you see some of the members of Congress have taken their seats. You can see Congressman Supermanyam of Virginia, Maxwell Frost of Florida, Congressman Christian Worthy of Illinois. My eyesight might be failing me, but I believe that's Congresswoman Summer Lee of Pennsylvania and others are starting. There's the chairman, Robert Garcia, the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee. And so when this gets started, folks, make no mistake, we are going to to bring this to you live on the Jim Acosta show on all of our platforms. So if you're watching on Substack, thank you so much for being here. If you're on YouTube, thank you so much for being here. And we're going to continue to do this until the end of this hearing. And like we were saying, this is going to be some powerful testimony you are going to hear from survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Glenn Maxwell. Some of those survivors are sitting at the witness table right now. And I'm just going to show you Lauren Hirsch, who I spoke with just a few moments ago, one of the victims advocates, an attorney. I see one of the attorneys for the survivors. He is there as well. And so this is, this is a really important moment, folks. There's a Congressman Walkinshaw of Virginia. He's a brand new congressman who's on the Oversight Committee. All right, sounds like Congressman Garcia is getting started. So let's take. Sounds like we're going to get started here in just a few moments. Let me just take my seat. So that's Congressman Garcia announcing that in about a minute this Oversight Committee hearing of the Oversight Democrats is going to get underway. And we're going to keep the camera live. Right now. Okay. The feed from the Oversight Democrats is not up yet, so we're going to keep this up, but we're going to show you the room and show you what this looks like. Forgive me if I'm speaking in kind of a hush tone here, but just to give you a sense of the room one more time before we get started. It started to fill in. We've got members of the press. Looks like more of the local press from the Miami, West Palm Beach, South Florida area. There are some folks from Ms. Now we see some of our friends from Ms. Now are here to cover this very important hearing. But this is obviously an extremely important moment in the saga of the Epstein files. And we're now going to hear from survivors who are going to speak publicly about what they've been through and why all of this is so important, why the files must be released. Going to stop talking now. We're going to bring this to you live now. Thanks for watching. Okay. And my understanding is that the feed is not up yet, so we're going to keep this up as long as we can.

[B]

Well, good morning, everyone. And I want to begin by opening up this hearing. Of course, we're here in Palm beach county and Oversight Democrats are here because we're launching speaker. But this investigation, our committee, of course, has been waiting on this over the last year. Now we're here, of course, in Palm beach, of course, just miles away from Mar A Lago, from key locations where this Epstein investigation has taken us. Because from the very beginning, we know that Florida has been a key place where so much of the horrors and crimes of Jeffrey Epstein and William Maxwell Athens, the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein, deserve to be heard. And as a committee, we should always upload their stories. And I want to thank him, of course, for being here today. We know that many of our witnesses today that you'll hear from were actually failed by their own government. We will HEAR how the FBI ignored Maria Farmer's courageous report in 19. We will hear how Alison Costa, the future secretary,

[F]

Like.

[B]

Well, good morning, everyone. And I want to begin by opening up this hearing. Of course, we're here in Palm beach county and Oversight Democrats are here because we're launching a new phase of our Epson investigation. Our committee, of course, has been leading on this over the last year. Now we're here, of course, in Palm beach, of course, just miles away from Mar A Lago, from key locations where this Epstein investigation has taken us. Because from the very beginning, we know that Florida has been a key place where. Where so Much of the horrors and crimes of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell have happened. The survivors of Jeffrey Epstein deserve to be heard. And as a committee, we should always uplift their stories. And I want to thank them, of course, for being here today. We know that many of our witnesses today that you'll hear from were actually failed by their own government. We will hear how the FBI ignored Maria Farmer's courageous report in 1996. We will hear how Alex Acosta, the future Secretary of Labor at the time, overruled some of his own prosecutors and work with Epstein's attorneys to grant a sweetheart deal which allowed Epstein to continue assaulting women. We will learn how Epstein continued to game the system and the law to prey on women, expanding his trafficking network overseas. And we will hear from people who have fought hard to bring him to justice. We're also going to hear about a continued cover up which has harmed survivors. How some have been doxed or put into danger, ignored, revictimized and betrayed by this government. These stories are both horrific and outrageous. But they should also inspire us to keep fighting for the full truth. We're here because every American deserves equal justice. It doesn't matter who you are, how powerful you are, whether you're a Democrat or Republican, how much wealth you may have, if you hurt women and girls, you will be held accountable. We should also be very clear that Epstein was not alone. Others enabled him. We know he was surrounded by lawyers, accountants, private investigators and assistants. Many of those people who have been forced to testify for the first time because of our investigation have given us key information, whether it's been through depositions or interviews. But some, even some that we've recently spoken with, were never contacted by law enforcement in the 30 years since Maria farmers first report why is it only now that we have begun these interviews, these depositions, that folks are being contacted for the first time in decades and that should outrage every single American? Some of these men enabled financial crimes. Others fought to hide facts about this case and to deny justice and closure for survivors. All of these people need to be called out and held accountable. And these are failures of multiple governments and administrations, regardless of party. Everyone has failed the public and certainly everyone has failed the survivors, especially those that sought justice. And it had the ability and and courage to file reports because we also know that so many others didn't have that opportunity or the support to do so. This is why we're here today. Now, before I introduce our witnesses, I want to briefly just mention a few things about the investigation. Now Oversight Democrats launched our investigation when we forced a subpoena for the full unredacted files from the Department of Justice last year. And I especially want to thank Representative Summer Lee for her leadership to get that actual done. So thank you, Congresswoman. To this day, the Department of Justice continues to break the law and defy that subpoena. It's not just about the Transparency act, which is so critical to moving this debate and the truth forward, but that subpoena and the defiance pushed us then, of course, including with leadership from Congressman Ro Khanna, to get the Epstein files Transparency act through the Congress. But let's be very clear. The DOJ continues to withhold. Half. Half of the Epstein files have not been released to the public. Now, we've heard testimony from Alice Acosta, former Attorneys General Bill Barr, Les Wexner, Darren Endyke, Richard Kahn, folks that are key to the Epstein investigation. We've heard from former President Clinton, Secretary Clinton, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick just last week. And we have talked, of course, to survivors, witnesses, and whistleblowers. And we have brought critical documents to light from Jeffrey Epstein's estates, emails, photographs, videos. We secured bank records, documents. And we've done all this without formal committee subpoena power to properly conduct this investigation. But we're undeterred, and we're to continue to fight until we get the truth. Today, we're also Oversight Democrats are also publishing a new report. Now, this report uses evidence obtained by our investigation, including, and most importantly, bank records that show how Alex Acosta's sweetheart deal let Epstein build a global network using enablers to bring in women who he could then exploit and abuse. And this report is just the beginning of numerous reports and information that we intend to put out over the course of the months ahead. This hearing is about making one thing clear, and that is that no one is above the law. Survivors matter. And this committee, committee will continue to demand transparency. Before I turn this over to our colleagues, I want to thank Congresswoman Lois Frankel, who has been critical in this fight for many years. Congresswoman Frank, Congressman Frankel, of course, represents the community that we're in now. I want to thank her for hosting us. I also want to thank particularly West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James, their staff, the county, West Palm beach pd, all for their assistance today. And I want to recognize Congressman Frankel for a few brief remarks.

[P]

Thanks. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And welcome, everybody, to West Palm Beach. And we're gathered here in a chamber that very near and dear to me, because I was mayor here for Eight years. And I've had the honor of serving as. And I'm very proud to be with my Democratic colleagues of the House Oversight Committee, of course, the various witnesses, and most importantly, the survivors whose courage and perseverance made this hearing possible. And to the survivors, I want to say, and I know I say this to everyone here, thank you. Thank you for your strength, thank you for your resilience and thank you for your determination to tell the truth even when the system failed you. This hearing is long overdue. Myself and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, we have been asking for a hearing for many years here for many reasons I won't go into. But we're here today because it is right here, folks, right here in Palm beach county, more than 20 years ago that the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's horrific crimes were first denied justice with devastating results. In 2005, the Palm Beach Police Department led by then chief Michael Ryder. I'm giving him a shout out, a good guy. He uncovered a deeply disturbing pattern of predatory sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein and his associates. Targeting women of course, and young girls, many recruited from our local high schools right here in Palm Beach County. The police did their job. They listened to the survivors. They built a serious case. Then they brought it to then state attorney Barry Krisher. I call his name because his succeeding prosecutors are not involved. But instead of filing charges was it overwhelmed by the power, by the wealth, he sent the case to a grand jury where prosecutors shockingly minimized the abuse, limited the witnesses and treated vulnerable young girls as if they were criminals. And you can read that grand jury testimony yourself. At the urging of Krish's prosecutors, the grand jury returned just one count against Epstein and it is jaw dropping. Solicitation of prostitution punishable by up to 60 days in jail. How crazy and wrong an abomination if you ask me. Disappointed in alarm, Chief Rider took the case to federal authorities. And what followed was more shock and awe to the justice system. In 2008, as we've heard, Acosta approved a secret shameful non prosecution deal without notifying the survivors and then sent the case back to Palm Beach County. Epstein was allowed to plead guilty to solicitation of prostitution. Solicitation of. Of. For a minor for prostitution.

[D]

Really?

[P]

That was that. And then he got an 18 month sentence which he served about 13 months federal immunity from prosecution here in South Florida. Immunity for unnamed co conspirators and work relief privileges. Listen to this. He had work relief privileges that allowed him to leave the jail each day to continue his systematic sexual exploitation of Women and girls. And the most troubling also deal was hidden from the public. And the full extent didn't come to light until reporting from the Miami Herald and the Palm Beach Post, who brought the fight to bring the grand jury records into the open. Justice was denied without explanation. And listen, I'm hoping as we move forward that these local prosecutors must be subpoenaed and they must be questioned under oath because they. I think they know the secret. So these survivors were abused first by a predator and then failed by a justice system that too often protected wealth and power over vulnerable women and children. And let's be clear, folks, had prosecutors in Florida done their jobs, most likely hundreds of young women might have been spared unimaginable harm. So we're here again. We're going to continue to ask the questions, questions that should have been answered years ago. Why was Jeffrey Epstein, a serial predator who uses wealth and influence to exploit underage girls, given little more than a slap of the wrist? Who else should be held accountable? And what must we continue to do to make sure this never happens again? We owe the survivors and the public the answers and more. And with that, I thank you and I yield back.

[B]

Thank you. Thank you, Congresswoman. We're going to, of course, hear some opening testimony from survivors and advocates who will speak about the failure of our justice system to protect them, others, and certainly to hold Epstein and so many others accountable. I want to. They're going to each provide some opening remarks. I do want to introduce them. Briefly. We're going to hear from Danny Bensky, who is an advocate, dance teaching artist, choreographer, and Epstein survivor. As an educator of the arts, Dani's advocacy derives from creating a safer world for her students and future generations. She is a public speaker and hopes that by sharing her story, we can get an inside perspective into grooming and how abuse can happen and how systems fail people. Danny was abused by Jeffrey Epstein in 2004 and 2005 when she was just 17 years old and working as a dancer in New York City. She has since spoken out about the government's handling of the case and has pursued legal action. And of course, the amount of courage is incredible. And I want to thank, of course, Danny for being here. We'll also hear from Rosa. Rosa is testifying under her first name and under that name only, just for her own safety. She was recruited in Uzbekistan by a modeling agent, co conspirator, and brought to the US with promises of a career. She met Jeffrey Epstein in 2009 and was abused over several years with her immigration status used to keep her from leaving. Rosa is a fighter, a coach, a wife and a stepmother. And her courage, of course, is immense. And we want to thank Rosa for being here. We're going to hear from Courtney Wild, who was abused by Jeffrey Epstein in Palm beach beginning at the age of 14. Courtney is a mom, advocate and survivor. She later brought a lawsuit against the federal government over the non prosecution agreement that allowed Epstein to avoid federal charges. And she will speak about its lasting impact on survivors. We're also going to hear from Jenna Lisa Jones was abused by Jeffrey Epstein in Florida when she was 14 years old. She has spoken publicly about her experience and about her disappointment with a failure to fully release information related to this case. She is a mom, a wife, and a founding survivor of Survivors Inc. We're going to also hear from Spencer Kuvan, who is an attorney who represented some of the earliest survivors to come forward against Epstein. And he spent years advocating on behalf of victims. He will speak about the failures in the original prosecution and the impact those failures have had on, on survivors. We'll also hear from Lauren Hirsch, who's a former prosecutor and an advocate working to combat trafficking and exploitation. She will discuss the ongoing efforts by survivors and advocates to seek accountability and justice. We will also hear from Maria Farmer by, by video, who's the first person to report Jeffrey Epstein's abuse to authorities in 1996. She'll be providing video testimony. Finally, sky and Amanda Roberts are here. We all, of course, know their incredible courage and they'll be reading a brief statement as well. We will continue, of course, to honor Virginia's memory, her legacy and her tireless fight for justice. I want to especially thank the witnesses for being here and for your enormous courage. You are doing, obviously, a service not just to all of the women and girls that have suffered, but to every single American woman and American girl in this country who need to be believed, who need to know that when they report a horror against them, that their government is going to believe them and is going to stand up for them. And so thank you for your courage today. I now we're going to hear a. A video that Maria Farmer wanted to. She wanted folks to hear about. And so we're going to go ahead and, and play that.

[J]

My name is Maria Farmer. I am the whistleblower who reported Jeffrey Epstein, Helen Maxwell, Les Wexner and others to the FBI 30 years ago in 1996. Today, I apologize for my appearance. I was not well enough to attend this hearing in person and have recently been released from the hospital. That's the result of 30 years of fighting. For three decades, I've carried a weight that no survivor should ever have to bear. I reported what I believed were heinous crimes against children, and these individuals responsible were involved in an international pedophile ring. I reported their crimes in real time, and the government continues to ignore me. And to this day. In 1996, I reported Epstein and his co conspirators to my local New York City 6 precinct. The commanding officer told me local police could only address the local arson crimes, and he instructed me to immediately report the whole story, spanning several states, to the FBI. He told me that it was vitally important that I tell the whole story to the FBI, which I did. The FBI asked me questions, said they were familiar with some of the perpetrators I identified, and gave me every reason to believe they would respond. That failure, that single moment when law enforcement refused to take action, set off a cascade of injustice and grave repercussions to my sisters, my family, and so many others, and to me personally, including my health and well being. The FBI's decades of failure in inaction led to countless more girls and young women suffering abuse and trauma that could have been prevented. Individuals like Virginia Giuffre, Anushka de Giorgio, Shantae Davies, Marika Chartoni, Danny Bensky, Jennalisa Jones, Ashley Rubright, and Jennifer Rose, among others. Each survivor represents a life change, forever suffering that could have been spared if the FBI had done their job in 1996. The failures did not stop there. In 2006, the FBI tracked me down, stating the that they searched for me because they knew I had reported Epstein 10 years earlier and no one else had. They urged me to testify in a federal criminal trial against Epstein and his co conspirators, and they promised that they would get him this time. I trusted them again, relied upon them again, and they betrayed me again. Rather than following through with their promises, the government offered Epstein a sweetheart deal and shielded powerful individuals from accountability. And they persist in granting special treatment to certain people. To this day, I have received death threats from Maxwell and her associates, including one instance where they threatened to burn my apartment down. And those threats have not stopped. I have been subjected to more than three decades of ongoing harassment, vicious challenges to my truthfulness, and real danger from Internet instigators, trolls, and more. Meanwhile, my numerous efforts to obtain my 1996 report from the FBI have been rejected time and again. In 2023, I wrote a letter to the government asking for an investigation of the government's actions or inactions. In response to my 1996 report, the inspector general replied, saying they were busy with other things would get back to me, and they never did. I sent multiple FOIA requests for my FBI report records. In January 2025, in response to my most recent request, the government said that they would get back to me. In November of 2027, a delay of three years, I finally received a letter saying they looked at my complaint, took some kind of action, and the matter was addressed. But what they did was a secret. With no other choice, I filed an administrative claim against the government and then a lawsuit. Since then, virtually nothing has happened, and I'm left waiting and wondering what is next? With the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency act, after years of efforts to get my records, an FD71 form was released for the first time, confirming just a small part of my 1996 whistleblower report and vindicating some of what I had said for years. However, the full extent of what I told the FBI was not in that document. So the release of the Epstein files provides only partial relief for me. Where is the evidence I provided of my sexual assault and that of my sister Annie? Why won't the FBI release my full report? The failures of those sworn to protect protect us, have overwhelmed me. Doing my civic duty has cost me dearly. The stress of this trauma, the government hiding and refusing to turn over written confirmation of my 96 report, along with the ongoing harassment and death threats, have contributed to me developing serious health issues, including Hodgkin's lymphoma, a brain tumor, and recently Addison's disease. In the last month, I have spent 23 nights in hospitals, including multiple nights in the ICU. Along with my health, it has robbed me of my career. In 1996, I was fresh out of graduate school and living a life that I had always dreamed, creating and selling art in New York City. When I was assaulted, threatened, held captive. My career was halted and the trajectory of my life was thrown off course. So many others had their dreams shattered by these crimes, and they could have been prevented. Individuals like Virginia Giuffre, who is the backbone of this case and remains the inspiration behind this fight. She's the reason my sister and I came forward publicly, so we could stand together. She faced also relentless attacks to her credibility online. Yet she fought. While Virginia may no longer be physically beside us, she's been our shining star and guiding light and remains so today. The rest of humanity owes it to her legacy to continue this quest. We are still walking down the trail that Virginia blazed for us. So let me be direct about what we need. The federal government owes us explanations, accountability for injuries caused and a promise of systemic change when crimes against children are reported. Accountability should start with the government's acknowledgment and responsibility for their repeated failures to act. In response to my 1996 report. The government needs to take responsibility for endangering and injuring girls and young women. The government needs to start telling the truth, face my lawsuit and be held to account to me and to all others who have been harmed. Had the FBI done their job, 30 years of child sex abuse and trauma could have been avoided. I want my full FBI file, including the 96 and 2006 reports, including my art. We also need the FBI and the Department of Justice to fully investigate every lead in this case. We need investigation and prosecution of everyone responsible, both men and women. This includes the officials who enabled the 2008 Sweetheart Deal, the other perpetrators, and the many co conspirators and anyone who is currently shielding powerful individuals from justice. No more protection for the guilty. There must be no pardoning or commuting the sentence of Maxwell, who sexually abused me. My minor sister hurt so many girls and other young women and personally threatened to kill me, has shown no remorse and has not, has demonstrated no basis on which to believe she would ever be truthful. As the Epstein case whistleblower. I have waited three decades for justice. It's a miracle I'm still fighting, especially considering what the stress of three decades of this case has done to my health and well being. I will keep fighting for justice and transparency for a better, safer future for the next generation. Thank you.

[B]

Well, thank you. And obviously, I know we don't often get to hear from Ms. Farmer and we're just very grateful that she chose to address, obviously us and the country. I also want to thank her sister, Annie Farmer, who has been an incredible advocate or survivor, of course, herself and has really worked to share her sister's story and her own story whenever possible. We're going to hear some opening remarks also from sky and Amanda Roberts. And so I would ask them to join us here at the podium. And I want to thank them also for their courage and for being here.

[L]

Thank you, Representative Garcia and all members here today. We deeply appreciate the opportunity to be here. Obviously wish Virginia was here to do this herself, but I will do my best to keep it together and to get through this. My name is Sky Roberts and I am the younger brother of Virginia Roberts Giuffre. I'm here today because Without Virginia's courage and her story, we would not be having this conversation about accountability. In the summer of 2000, just steps away from this courtroom at Mar A Lago, Virginia was recruited by convicted trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. She was only 16 years old, a child who had just finished 10th grade, when she began being trafficked. Before her passing, Virginia gave sworn testimony exposing this for what it truly was, a global sex trafficking operation, enabled, protected, and funded by powerful people. For years, survivors have been asked the same question. Who were the names? The truth is, many survivors stay silent because many of these individuals still hold power, wealth, and influence in our society. Point blank period. That is dangerous. No survivor should have to risk their own safety just to be believed. But Virginia, she did it anyway. She stood up when others were afraid, told the truth under oath, and faced people she knew were powerful. Today, we lean on her courage once again because she believed accountability should reach everyone involved, no matter their status or influence. If Virginia were here today, she would say these words herself. Since she cannot,

[B]

I will say them

[L]

for her as a little brother. And with that, I'd like to share Virginia's own words from her sworn deposition, dated May 3, 2016. They trafficked me to many people. Okay, please name a person that Ghislaine Maxwell directed you to have sex with. Prince Andrew. Okay. Who else? As a whole, they both trafficked me to many people. Okay, so can you please tell me when Ghislaine Maxwell asked you to have sex with another person? Glenn Dubin. Who else? Well, redacted is another one. Ghislaine Maxwell asked you to have sex with. Redacted. And Glenn Dubin and Steve Kaufman were, like I said, the first people I was sent to after my training. And where does Alan Dershowitz fit into this group of people? Same. I can't tell you piece by piece by piece. Who? I know Glenn Dubin was first. Okay. And I know Stephen Kaufman was the. One of the first that I was sent to. Alan Dershowitz could have been between there. Between. Sorry, between Glenn and Stephen. This is only a small sample of the thousands of stories that still remain untold. But the question today is no longer whether names exist. The question is, what will Congress and the Department of Justice do about it? Even if only a handful of names are publicly known, will there finally be investigations and accountability? With that, I'd like to turn it over to my wife, Amanda Roberts.

[Q]

First, I want to thank this committee and Representative Garcia and everyone here who continues to fight with us for accountability, but most importantly, standing with Survivors, Virginia's story was harrowing. And as you heard my husband speak, she wasn't afraid to say the names. We are talking about millions of files, sworn testimony, depositions, emails, flight records, bank records, photographs, videos and evidence collected over decades. Evidence that points to a network, not just to people who trafficked and abused over 1200 victims. Girls, children, women and boys. Epstein and Maxwell did not act alone. And Palm beach was the blueprint. It was the center for expansion. So when this Department of Justice says there is nothing to see here, survivors know exactly what that sounds like. A cover up. Virginia wrote in Nobody's Girl. Don't be fooled by those in Epstein's circle who said they didn't know what Epstein was doing. That sentence should guide this committee's work because I don't recall is not enough. When people like Les Wexner are asked about Epstein's finances and alleged connections to his network, the public deserves real answers and investigations. When Howard Lutnick has given changing accounts about his association with Epstein, that deserves scrutiny, resignations and and investigations. When former Prince Andrew denied knowing Virginia despite evidence and testimony surrounding that encounter, that deserves scrutiny and investigation. And when Acting Attorney General Todd Blanch met with Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted sex trafficker accused of perjury and shortly after was moved to a minimum security prison. That demands answers and investigations. So today we ask for four things. First, Congress must hold this Department of Justice accountable, including contempt proceedings as the record has shown that this DOJ has violated the law. Second, state investigations must continue and expand in New Mexico, New York, Florida, the Virgin Islands and everywhere this network operated. Third, this committee must issue issue further subpoenas and required alleged co conspirators, enablers, financers and witnesses to testify under oath. Fourth, follow the money. Financial records are not secondary. They may be the key to exposing the full network. Suspicious payments, shell entities, possible tax violations, money laundering and transactions connected to trafficking and abuse must be investigated aggressively because financial crimes can open the door and lead to real prosecutions. And finally, the Epstein and Maxwell investigations must be reopened. Not partially, not quietly, but fully. Survivors and the public deserve the truth. And enablers must no longer hide behind wealth, power or silence.

[H]

Thank you.

[B]

Thank you both very much for, for those words. We are going to to begin and hear some opening statements from our, from our witnesses. So I want to just start by thanking Ms. Wild who's going to be recognized now for her opening five minute statement. Ms. Wild,

[H]

hello, my name is Courtney Wild. When I was 14 years old, I was abused by Jeffrey Epstein. He Abused me until I was 17 years old. What happened to me was terrible. But what happened after that by our own government, changed my life just as much. I came here today to ask for one simple thing to make sure this never happens again. I filed a case under the Crime Victims Rights act because government secretly made a deal with Jeffrey Epstein. They signed a non prosecution agreement. They made the deal behind closed doors. They never told me and they never told any of us. Instead, they sent letters telling me to be patient even though they knew the case was already over. For years I believed there was an investigation happening. There wasn't. When I found out the truth, I went to my lawyer, Brad Edwards. He took my case in 2008 and he fought for me against the government for over a decade. We wanted to do the right thing for all victims together. We wanted answers to a simple question. How could this happen? We had to fight all the way to the 11th Circuit, which took years to get the emails between the government and Jeffrey's lawyers to help us understand what happened. When we finally got them, they showed something I will never forget. The government wasn't trying to negotiate with Epstein's lawyers. It looked like the government was trying to make him happy. They were trying to make sure that the punishment they were going to give him was okay with him. It seemed like they had forgotten that there were 40 of us kids who had been abused by him. I was so confused because where I come from, if you commit a crime, you go to jail. I have never heard the feds of letting you help them decide which crimes they're gonna charge you with or if you're cool with how long you're gonna spend in jail. But I thought, what do I know? Maybe that's how it works for rich guys. That's how it did work for Jeffrey Epstein. Finally, after 10 years of fighting in 2019, a federal judge finally ruled that my rights and that the rights of other victims were violated by the non prosecution agreement. But there was nothing that could be done about it. There was no remedy. I just want to say it again. I'm sorry, I have to. The court found that the government violated the law and nothing happened. That means the law, the Crime Victims Rights Act, 18 U.S.C. 3771 does not matter. And if the law has no consequences, it doesn't protect anybody. I was lucky to have a lawyer willing to fight for me for almost a decade. A lot of victims won't find that, especially in this case where everybody made us feel like we were crazy. So I'm asking you to fix that. Please fix the Crime Victims Rights act so it could actually help victims in the future. I have my own ideas and my lawyers have more ideas, but I really hope that if nothing comes of this, we can finally get the legislation right. There needs to be a clear definition of what it means to meaningly confer with victims. I'm still not sure what that actually means, but I know it never happened for me. There must be real consequences and penalties in the statute that apply automatically when a court determines that a victim's rights have been violated. The answer after, after years and years of litigation cannot be Nothing happens when you finally win and prove that your rights have been violated. If prosecutors choose to ignore victims, those victims voices must be put on the record, memorialized and preserved. Especially when a deal is made behind closed doors. There needs to be attorneys fees provision so victims can find lawyers who will stand up for them. If those changes had existed back then, maybe what had happened to me and so many others would have not happened. My case against the government for violating the rights of at least 40 of us Palm beach kids was happening from 2008 to 2019. Do you know how many other girls Jeffrey abused in that time period? I bet the FBI knows. But the point is that Epstein continued to abuse other girls in New York, New Mexico, around the world, and even still here in Florida well after he was released in 2019, or, I'm sorry, in 2009, and everybody knew it. There were lawsuits, there were so many new articles. He was a registered sex offender. And still nothing was done by the government. Not until 2019 when he was finally arrested. None of the girls, none of those girls should have ever been abused. Jeffrey Epstein should have been in jail. If he had been in jail like any other man who did the same thing as him, he would have been. And there wouldn't have been a single victim after 2009. But he wasn't. And he did. He abused so many girls after 2009 at the same exact time that I was asking the government why he got the deal and why they violated my rights. That is the real injustice here. That is the real thing we need to prevent from ever happening again in this country. I was there for his bail hearing in 2019, and I spoke to the judge right in front of him about how dangerous he was. The bail was denied, and for the first time, I thought we might finally get justice. A month later, he was dead. Once again, the system failed us. Someone let him die in a secure prison, ensuring that he would never Be held accountable for what he did to me as a kid. Since then, there have been prosecutions, there have been civil cases, there have been settlements. But none of that changes what was lost. And none of that fixes what was allowed to happen in the first place. We fought for years to get Jeffrey Epstein arrested. We fought to hold people accountable. We did not fight so that this could turn into something political or so that our rights would be violated once again. I lost years of my life fighting this and so did many others. We did that so the next victim wouldn't have to. So don't let this work be in vain. Make the Crime Victims Rights act matter. Thank you so much.

[B]

Thank you very much, miss Wild. Miss Jones, you are now recognized for your opening statement.

[F]

Ranking member and members of Congress. My name is Jenna Lisa Jones. I was 14 years old when I was abused by Jeffrey Epstein in Palm Beach. It has taken me many years to find my voice. For a long time I stayed silent because I was afraid and because I did not understand why this happened to me. When I finally came forward, I made a commitment to use my voice for responsibly. I'm here today to do exactly that. Last September, I went to Washington D.C. along the other survivors with a simple request. Transparency and accountability. We asked you to help us understand how Jeffrey Epstein was given a non prosecution agreement even though the government had evidence that he had sexually abused dozens of children, including me. We asked how he was allowed to leave jail in 2009 and continue harming young girls. We asked for answers. Answers that would hold our government accountable for its actions. We still do not have those answers. Instead, what we received caused harm all over again, including too many of our survivor sisters who had never come forward before and who never wanted their names or abuse to be caught public. The Department of Justice released documents that exposed our names, our Social Security numbers and deeply personal information. Survivors and identities were made public. Husbands learned about their wives abuse for the first time. Children learned about the abuse of their mothers from reporters, from strangers on the Internet, and in some cases, from other kids at school. Some survivors learned that friends had also been abused only because they saw their names in those documents. Others saw the most intimate details of their own trauma publicly exposed. Our privacy was violated. The government promised us over and over again that our information would be protected and properly redacted. Those promises were broken. Again. We came to you seeking answers for why our rights were violated in 2007. And in the process of asking for those answers, our rights were violated again. I want to believe that each of you in this room is listening because you truly care not just about us, but about every child in this country who survived sexual abuse. If Congress and the Department of Justice truly want to do right by the survivors, the path forward is not complicated. Acknowledge the failures when Jeffrey Epstein was set free in 2009 and again when our privacy was shattered earlier this year. Take responsibility and provide meaningful remedies to the women who have been harmed over and over again. Please do not force us to relive this through more litigation. Pass a law requiring the Department of Justice to compensate victims for the harm that they had caused by releasing the names and information that would show that this is truly about helping victims. Second, with respect to our ongoing investigations, please remember this. Jeffrey Epstein is dead. Ghislaine Maxwell is in prison. Do not pardon Maxwell. If there are other men who hurt women, hold them accountable. But please leave the survivors alone. If you subpoenaed someone to testify before your committees and she tells you she is a victim, listen to her. Believe her. Respect her trauma. Jeffrey tried to plant, paint his victims as bad guys to avoid responsibility for himself. Please learn and understand that sharing our stories should be a choice. The choice I was able to make today. It should never be something survivors are forced to do. The girls who were groomed by Ghislaine Maxwell and abused by Jeffrey Epstein should. Should not be treated like criminals. Please learn the stories of the women who have been harmed before you force them to testify in a room full of strangers about the worst moments of their lives. Jeffrey Epstein destroyed so many of our lives, and Ghislaine Maxwell helped him do it. Do not blame their survivors for the crimes of the abusers. That is not how the story should end. Find a way to bring closure to the story of Jeffrey Epstein to allow survivors and this country to finally begin to move forward so that one day, and I pray soon, Jeffrey Epstein's name is no longer something we are forced to hear every single day. And my last point. I'm not here today only to talk about the past. I'm here for the children who are sitting in the classroom today. Children who may be vulnerable, confused and unsure of what is happening to them. When I was a teenager, I did not have the language to understand what was happening to me. I did not know who to tell. I did not know where to go. Many of us didn't. We were young and we were manipulated. We were left without the tools or the support we needed. That is something Congress can change. Every middle school and high school student in this country should receive education on the signs of sexual abuse and exploitation, what it looks like, how to recognize it, and how to safely report it. Schools should have trained adults, accessible resources so that no child feels as lost or as alone as we did. I have worked with other survivors to start a nonprofit called the Survivors, Inc. Because not everyone who has been abused has access to strong legal representation, therapy or support systems, I became a certified life coach. I believe in giving others the support I wish I had. Though the survivors, we are able to provide these services to people who have been abused so they can begin their healing journey too. I'm proud of that work, but individual efforts are not enough. Real change requires leadership at a national level. You have the power to make sure that happens to us does not happen again on this scale. I believe one of the most important places to begin is in our schools. Train teachers, educate students, give children a place to turn when they feel they have nowhere else to go. Together, we can do better for the next generation.

[B]

Thank you so much, Jones. Ms. Bensky, you are now recognized for your opening statement. Thank you.

[M]

Thank you.

[J]

Hello.

[M]

My name is Danny Bensky. I was abused by Jeffrey Epstein in 2004 and 2005. That was eight years after Maria Farmer first reported Jeffrey to the FBI. Although discussing my abuse is far from easy, I live with diagnosed ptsd. From that experience, my story is actually one of the safest stories to tell. The key abuser who caused me physical harm is dead. It's imperative to understand that the stories you are hearing today are a tiny fraction of the whole. I am one of more than 1200 girls and women. I don't face the same level of threats of defamation, lawsuits and serious risks to my safety as some of my survivor sisters do. While there are co conspirators who do need to be held accountable for the parts that they played in the operation of my own abuse. I was trafficked only to Jeffrey, which really unfortunately is not the case for so many others. I was groomed prior to meeting Jeffrey. I grew up in the dance world where perfectionism, body image issues ran rampant. In a world that was built on hierarchy and secrecy, I would have my body criticized, critiqued and manipulated. Not so different from what I initially experienced with Jeffrey. I was trafficked to Jeffrey. I had two recruiters. One was a late teen and the other was only 15 years old. Just trying to escape her own abuse. Jeffrey weaponized my aspirations and dreams by speaking the language of dance and making false promises. My mom had been diagnosed with a brain tumor. I had seen the Name Epstein listed on a donor wall and believed that his wealth and power had come from the medical profession. I brought him her scans, hoping to understand her diagnosis. Instead of helping her, he used my mother's brain scans over me, giving me an ultimatum. Either recruit more girls or do more for him. I didn't end up recruiting anyone and instead just endured the abuse. In May of 2005, my mother had a successful operation at Mount Sinai to remove the tumor, and I finally extricated myself from Jeffrey's web. The Epstein case demonstrates that institutional systems have failed survivors time and time again. I was first subpoenaed in 2008 for an interview. I was just 20 years old and without a victims rights advocate or a lawyer. I didn't know that I was entitled to those protections. No one told me I was safe. And for many parts of my interview, it felt like an interrogation. Jeffrey had already threatened my friend, and he had told me that I would be charged with prostitution if I ever interacted with law enforcement. He made it clear that he held the cards. The passage of the Epstein Files Transparency act was a moment in which survivors hoped and believed that we might see some some reckoning. But the system yet again failed. Survivors. Before the first document dump by the doj, my lawyer teamed up with another law firm representing survivors. Together, they submitted 350 victims names to the DOJ as names that needed to be redacted prior to the deadline on December 19th. In the first round of documents, I saw my name in two places. Then in the January dump, there were more, and the reductions were far, far worse. These files displayed my name, my phone number, my old address, where I worked at the time where I was studying, and other identifying information. What's important to understand is that these documents weren't just sign somehow overlooked and not redacted at all. On one document, my nickname, Danny redacted. While Danielle Hanabensky is left completely unredacted, I am just one of the hundreds of survivors exposed like this. A few weeks ago, a legal analyst reached out to share that yet again, my name appeared in a third batch of only 20 documents. After my lawyer continued to contact the DOJ on multiple occasions for protection, my name and information remained attached. These documents hold disturbing and yet incomplete accounts of my abuse. And they were viewable not only by the entire world, but my child, my students, my students, parents, my friends, my my employers, my colleagues, my family. I'm public. However, in my FBI 302, a Jane Doe who has never ever wanted to

[J]

be revealed was exposed.

[M]

This Outing of survivor names does real irrevocable damage. The passage of the Epstein Files Transparency act was meant to be a moment when survivors could regain their power and finally obtain the truth. It was a time for our institutions created to protect the American people to for once stand on the side of survivors as survivors. We have said time and time again, this is not political. This requires coming together and prioritizing. Prioritizing coming together. Not political showmanship. I'm always asked, what does accountability look like? Accountability means removing perpetrators from power, seeing arrests be made and legislators pass laws like protecting victims rights like Virginia's law which would remove the statute of limitations for victims civil claims against their abusers. Our entrenched systemic failures have allowed powerful people like Jeffrey to thrive. When institutions prioritize protecting the powerful and their enablers over protecting victims, abuse becomes normalized. If we continue down this path, the question isn't whether abuse will happen again, but who will be the next Jeffrey Epstein. This moment is critical. It is time to reform our system to protect our survivors, not the perpetrators and to ensure the truth can come to light. Thank you.

[B]

Thank you so much. Thank you, Ms. Rosa. You are now recognized for your opening statement.

[I]

In 2008, I just turned 18 when I met MC Squared Model Management owner named Jean Luc Brunel. Coming from a financial and stable background, I was a perfect target for coercion.

[R]

I was promised modeling career beyond my dreams. In less than six months, MC2 obtained

[I]

an O1 visa for me.

[R]

A feat nearly impossible for a teenager with almost no experience.

[I]

I did not have the documentation to earn that visa.

[R]

By May of 2009, I was in New York City. I was isolated, controlled in a manner

[I]

I've never experienced before.

[R]

Within three months, the agency claimed I

[I]

owed them over $10,000.

[R]

I had no family, no friends or no money. MC Square controlled every aspect of my life.

[I]

Where I went, how I dressed and how I looked.

[R]

They provided me enough of allowance to

[I]

keep me afloat, but never enough to be independent.

[R]

Less than a month after I arrived to United States, my agency sent me

[I]

to a home of a registered sex offender.

[R]

I was introduced to his girlfriend under the skies. That she was a photographer who helped me build my portfolio. Now I know that Jeffrey Epson was supposed to be in jail cell. In June of 2008, I met him at his house right here in West Palm Beach. He was not in the jail. Jean Luc Brunel brought me to West Palm beach to have dinner with Epstein in July. Epstein used the names of powerful politicians to demonstrate his influence he told me he's an investor of the very agency that promised me a career. He also spoke of his arrest, that it was a game. Bragging about girls visiting his cell and his and his friendships with authorities. Jeffrey offered me a position at the Florida Science foundation to handle phone calls to help me with my financial troubles. One day, his masseuse called me into his room where I was molested for

[I]

the first time by Jeffrey.

[R]

For the following three years, I was subject to ongoing rape. Jeffrey Epson was under house arrest for the molestation of underage girls at the exact time I was. He was abusing me. Seeing that. The fact that he could commit those acts made justice feel impossible to me. And it took my ability to seek for help. I was summoned to his residence right here in West Palm Beach. My agency relocated me to Miami to keep me closer. And only after he was released from the house arrest, I was allowed to go back to New York City, where my nightmares continued. Those years of abuse turned into decades of fear that I still carry today. I eventually found the courage to reach out for help. I stepped forward along other survivors, hoping those who allow this to happen will be held accountable. I kept my identity protected as Jindo. I woke up one day with my name mentioned over 500 times. While the rich and powerful remain protected by reduction, my name was exposed to the world. Now reporters from across the globe contact me. I cannot live without looking over my shoulder. I can only imagine the long term impact this mistake will have on my life. I wanted to be a doctor when I was a kid. I want to end this statement with a story. In 1800, the doctor named Ignaz Semmelweis discovered something life saving. He realized that the doctors who were performing autopsies and then immediately delivering babies without washing their hand were carrying cadaverous particles causing women die in agony. He had evidence. He had solution. He begged the medical establishment to wash their hands to save lives. But the doctors were offended. They found it easier to protect their own reputation and maintain the status quo than to admit they were the ones causing harms. They chose their pride over the life of women. And Dr. Semmelweis was ignored, ridiculed and eventually cast out. I see the same patterns happening today with handling of these files.

[I]

Releasing.

[R]

Releasing my name while redacting the name of other powerful is not a mistake. It's a choice. It's a choice to prioritize the comfort of institution over the safety of the survivors. The evidence is right here. Yet those empowered rather us die socially, emotionally and physically, then admit their own complicity. I am no longer a Jane Doe hiding in the files. I'm a woman, I'm a fighter and I'm a witness. And I'm begging you, please wash your hands.

[B]

Thank you, Ms. Rose. I obviously, I think one of the true horrors of this investigation has been the way so many survivors continue to be traumatized. And I think this is one just really horrific example of how even through the Transparency act, so much, so much horror and retraumatization continues to happen. So thank you for the testimony, Mr. Mr. Kuvin, I'm going to recognize you for your opening statement.

[O]

Thank you. Truly moved by her strength. Ranking member, members of Congress. My name is Spencer Kuven. I've represented numerous survivors of sexual exploitation and trafficking over the years, including the first victim to come forward in the Epstein investigation here in Palm Beach. I'm here today because what happened during the prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein was not simply a failure of judgment. It was a systemic failure of justice. In Palm beach county, credible evidence of widespread sexual abuse involving minors was presented to state prosecutors, including my client. Law enforcement initially identified dozens of victims. The conduct was organized, repeated and devastating. Yet instead of a prosecution that matched the scale of the harm, what followed was a secret agreement, as we know, that minimized the abuse and insulted the children that had been abused. Despite the efforts of some of the federal agents at the time, the U.S. attorney's office in the Southern District decided to have these secret meetings with Epstein's attorneys. The U.S. department of justice in conjunction with the Palm Beach County State Attorney's office at the time colluded in secret to quietly shelve this case with minimal state charges that branded a a 15 and 16 year old child victim as prostitutes. They gave a sweetheart deal to Jeffrey Epstein and four named as well as unnamed co conspirators. The Southern District U.S. attorney at the time, Alex Acosta, spearheaded what every attorney advocate saw as the worst non prosecution agreement ever executed by a U.S. attorney. This sent a message. It told victims that even when the evidence is strong, accountability is negotiable if you are rich and powerful. This awful non prosecution agreement completely shut down further federal charges for the events they were investigating here in Florida. As I mentioned, that tragic deal was negotiated and signed in secret. Not only was it kept secret from the world, it was kept secret from from me. Calls were made repeatedly to the US Attorneys investigating this at the time, by myself, an advocate for multiple victims at the time and of course it was kept secret from those victims. I was forced to file motions with the Court to compel its ultimate disclosure even after it had been executed. And finally, after obtaining court orders, they turned it over to us a full year after it had been signed. The victims were not consulted. Their advocates, like me, were not consulted. Victims were never given an opportunity to be heard. This was not just a moral failure. We believed it was a violation of law. Under the Crime Victims Rights act, Originally passed in 2004, subsequently amended by Congress in 06, 08 and 15, victims have had the right to confer with prosecutors and the right to be treated with fairness and respect. Yet those rights were ignored at the very moment that it mattered most, when decisions were being made that would determine whether justice would ever be pursued. The result was predictable. Survivors, as you've heard, were re traumatized not only by the abuse they endured, but by a system that excluded them from the process designed specifically to protect them. And the public was left questioning whether justice can be trusted when powerful interests are involved. This failure by the Department of Justice at the time was a subject of litigation brought, as you heard, by Ms. Wild. That case ultimately exposed a gap in the law, one that must be closed by you today. I want to offer that clear path forward. First, Congress should amend the Crime Victims Rights act to make it explicit that victims must be notified and given a meaningful opportunity to confer before any non prosecution agreement or deferred prosecution agreement is finalized. Second, as you've heard, there must be enforceable remedies, not just suggestions. Victims should have standing to challenge agreements reached in violation of the act. And courts must have the authority to review and where appropriate, void those agreements. Third, transparency must be the rule, not the exception. Secret agreements that extinguish criminal liability, particularly in cases involving multiple victims, should not exist in our system of justice. And finally, there must be accountability. When prosecutors fail to uphold victims rights, there must be consequences sufficient to to ensure that those failures are not repeated. This is not about relitigating the past. It's about ensuring what happened here never happens again. The survivors in this case have showed extraordinary courage coming here today. They told the truth and they trusted the system. And the system failed them. Congress now has the opportunity and I would suggest the responsibility to fix it. Thank you. We look forward to your questions.

[B]

Thank you very much. I'd like to go to Ms. Hirsch, please, who's now recognized for her opening statement.

[G]

Thank you so much. Ranking Member, Members of Congress. I'm Lauren Hirsch, the CEO of World Without Exploitation, the largest anti trafficking coalition in the country. We have nearly 200 member organizations across the country. Many of those organizations are survivor led. It is an absolute honor to sit beside each one of you. You are the reason this moment of reckoning is happening. What we have witnessed in the handling of the Epstein case is not simply a bureaucratic misstep. It is a deeply horrific failure to protect the very people the system is meant to serve. Survivors have repeatedly been promised dignity, confidentiality and care. And instead, we have seen a systemic breakdown in their protection. At nearly every step of the way, we have watched those with power and privilege manipulate the system, shielding themselves from accountability, while survivors have suffered in silence. Every one of these failures sends a devastating message, not only to Epstein survivors, but to survivors everywhere. That accountability is optional for the powerful. Survivors have had enough. And frankly, the American public has had enough of this, too. We are now in a moment of reckoning that requires a thorough examination of all of the things that have gone horribly wrong. But it also requires a serious course correction. Survivors have been repeatedly harmed, first by Epstein and his associates, and then by law enforcement who refused to bring adequate cases, who didn't notify victims when secret sweetheart deals were made, who allowed abuse to continue even after pleas were entered in. And then they were again abused by the doj. When the federal government fails to provide protection under the Crime Victims Rights act, survivors cannot be left without remedy. We need a legislative fix immediately to provide compensation and recourse for violations of the Crime Victims Rights Act. And this is urgent. I think everyone in the room has heard the survivors and understands the profound harm caused by the DOJ in releasing hundreds of names of survivors and their personal information in the aftermath of the Epstein files. Transparency Act. So I'll keep this part brief. As a former prosecutor, I understand that mistakes happen. We're human. But when hundreds of names are released repeatedly, including nude photos of a survivor, this can no longer be dismissed as human error. Something has gone horribly wrong inside the doj. And the American public deserves clear answers about how this failure has occurred. This requires a recorded deposition of Pam Bondi on May 29, not a transcribed interview. Survivors also deserve meaningful legislative recourse, including a private right of action so that they can be compensated for the exposure of their private information to the public. Accountability cannot end with an examination of process failures or even legislative fixes. These files demand further examination. Assertions that there are no credible investigative leads are deeply concerning from my perspective, both as the CEO of World WE and a former prosecutor. And that conclusion is not only premature, it is inconsistent with the available record there. There is an abundance of potential investigative leads that warrant serious independent review. For three decades, countless men operated with complete impunity. Sex trafficking does not happen in a vacuum. It is driven by the demand for commercial sex and it is enabled by sex systems and people who are willing to look the other way. That is exactly what we're looking at here. Likely the largest sex trafficking operation the United States has ever seen. The files are clear and the files name names. When individuals and institutions surface repeatedly in the files, it's a pretty strong indicator that there's some there there. When there are millions and millions of dollars flowing between an individual and Epstein and there doesn't seem to be a business relationship, but instead allegations of sexual abuse, that's not noise to ignore. That is an investigative lead. And this is just one of many examples. And the examples are not just limited to individuals. Major hospitals took money from Epstein and provided questionable care. And that's putting it nicely. Hospital systems, academic institutions, modeling agencies, and the list goes on. They all require careful independent examination of investigative leads. The burden should not fall on the survivors to name names or drive investigations. Survivors should be given safe, voluntary spaces to speak, but they should not be compelled. The responsibility lies with investigative bodies, prosecutors, the doj, on relevant authorities to do their jobs thoroughly, transparently and with integrity. Survivors have already carried far too much of the burden and they should not have to carry the failures of our institutions as well. What is needed now is not defensiveness, but accountability. And finally, for survivors and for world without exploitation, this is not and has never been political. I'm sure that it will be twisted into us entering the political fray by being here today. But we have been absolutely clear we will and have worked with anyone who is serious about getting to the truth. The era of silence and inaction must end here. Thank you.

[B]

Thank you. Obviously, just thank you to all of our witnesses for those opening statements. We're going to be moving on to questions and some comments from the members of this committee. I do want to uplift and recognize particularly the survivors and your courage again and how we got to this moment. I want to start just by again just commenting that we're here because of the horrific crimes of Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and numerous others and the failure caused by our own government. And I want to, in, in my line of questioning, I just want to hone down on one thing which I think is really important. Last July, the administration's FBI and DOJ released a two page document saying, and I, and I quote, we did not uncover evidence that could predicate investigation against uncharged Third parties. In other words, the current administration, through its doj, believe that this investigation was over, that no one else could be investigated for perhaps the worst sex trafficking ring in American history, that no other person could be held accountable for, or there could be further convictions of the horrors made and against 1200 women and girls. Now, we here and some of our colleagues on the Republican side of the aisle have worked together to file motions, to file laws and to push this investigation forward. And I want to be very clear, the doj, this administration, the President and the Attorney General, made it clear that this investigation, in their opinion, was a hoax, was a lie, and there was nothing else to do to move forward. The DOJ tried to close this case. Through our investigation, we have learned that many of the witnesses that we have been going through to deposition, through transcribed interviews were never questioned by law enforcement. And this is something that we learned only by forcing these interviews and by sitting, asking these questions. How could Les Wexner have never been interviewed by our own government, who was the source of most of Jeffrey Epstein's wealth and was never questioned? How can some of the folks on this document the FBI had in their possession not ever have been questioned by our own government or law enforcement? How could Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn, who you can see in this chart and were essentially the brain trust of Jeffrey Epstein's organization, how could they never have been questioned? That is not a mistake. That is a cover up. And what I think we want to make very clear is this is not just about the mistakes and the ongoing harm of the Trump administration. This has been harm posed by numerous administrations led by both Republicans and Democrats. And when folks come and ask, well, why wasn't the former administration, Attorney General Garlic, more engaged on this issue? I asked the same question. Why wasn't Merrick Garland more engaged and focused on prosecutions and more focused on getting out the truth? This is not just about partisan politics. This is a continued pattern of abuse and not seeking justice. But we're here now at this moment in this Congress with this administration. And this cover up must end. I want to briefly ask the survivors if you believe that this investigation should continue, if your government should continue this investigation. Ms. Penske?

[H]

Yes, Rosa, absolutely, yes.

[B]

Ms. Wild.

[H]

Yes.

[B]

Ms. Jones.

[C]

Yes, thank you.

[B]

And we agree it's unacceptable that folks have been not questioned, that there haven't been criminal prosecutions, and that our own former attorney general continues to be engaged in this cover up. They want to end this investigation. But what we are saying today is we need to come together with Our bipartisan allies on the other side, and especially some Republican women who have stood and continue to push for truth and justice. We welcome their support in this investigation. At a hearing back in March, former Attorney General Bondi told one of my colleagues, quote, I'm stunned that you want to continue talking about Epstein. That was her quote. Ms. Bensky, you were there. So was Sky Roberts. On behalf of Virginia Attorney General Bondi didn't spend one minute talking to you, but instead wanted to end the Epstein investigation. Today, we're here to tell the former Attorney General that we are demanding that she come in for her date with the subpoena, that she testified under oath, and that it's videotaped and released to the American public, and the survivors deserve nothing less. And I want to again ask the survivors, we know that approximately 2.5 million documents are still hidden, and we also understand that anything that's released in the future needs to be redacted with care and properly. Do you all support this Congress than the continued release of the files if redactions are done properly and with care? Ms. Penske, of course.

[J]

Yeah.

[B]

Rosa?

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Ms. Wild.

[H]

Yes.

[B]

Ms. Jones.

[F]

Yes.

[B]

Thank you. I think it's important for the attorney general, for Mr. Blanche, and for others to hear directly that the survivors don't think this is a hoax or that the investigation is over. Everyone in this room is committed to making the truth and justice a part of our legislative work. We have to pass laws and do the right thing. What we're facing right now is a systemic. A systemic government agencies and administration that's trying to end this work, and we have to push back on it. We have sworn testimony. We've seen emails from the Epstein estate, from many others, even about the relationship and the friendship between the current president and Jeffrey Epstein. We continue to demand that the President forces DOJ to do the right thing by their survivors and to ensure that we get truth and justice. We're just a few miles away from Mar a Lago, where we know Ghislaine recruited and harmed and abused women, where Virginia herself was recruited. And we also know that the President or his residence is just a few miles from here and is the one man in America that has the power to do the right thing and force the DOJ to release the files, protect the survivors, and demand and ensure that the American public get the truth. And that's why we're here today. And with that, I yield, and I want to turn it over to Representative Christian Murphy. Thank you.

[S]

Thank you, Mr. Ranking Member. Thank you to all the witnesses thank you for your bravery, your conviction and your determination.

[C]

Today.

[S]

I want to ask you first about Ghislaine Maxwell. Ms. Wilde, in a written victim impact statement that was filed in court, you said that the abuse you suffered was, quote, deliberate and systematic, designed by Epstein and facilitated by his staff and associates, including Ghislaine Maxwell. Correct.

[G]

I don't.

[H]

I don't. I never. I don't think that's my. I never had any relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell.

[S]

Can you repeat that in a victim impact statement in Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 versus the United States?

[D]

Oh, yes.

[C]

Yes.

[S]

Okay.

[H]

Against the. I'm sorry, I've never met Ghislaine Maxwell, but yes, that's what the other Jane Doe.

[S]

Ms. Bensky. Maxwell's trial, survivors testified that Maxwell participated in the sexual abuse of girls. Maxwell recruited victims for Epstein, including at schools. And that Maxwell once told a 14 year old girl that she, quote, had a great body for Epstein and his friends. Isn't that what was testified to?

[M]

Yeah. I also. My experience was not with Maxwell, but I am sure that that is true.

[S]

Ms. Jones, after Maxwell was found guilty of unconscionable acts, Politico reported that Maxwell's lawyer, this guy right here, said that there's a good chance and for good reason that Maxwell would get a pardon. You have publicly stated that, quote, clemency would be a slap in the face to all survivors. Right? I agree with that wholeheartedly. I think everyone on this panel agrees probably Maxwell hasn't shown any guilt, hasn't shown any remorse, hasn't shown any ounce of accountability for what she did. I've introduced the House resolution condemning clemency for Maxwell. I hope everyone here will join me because we have to do everything in our power to block a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell. Miss Hirsch, I want to turn to another topic following the money. You're aware of Epstein related financial records called Suspicious Activity Reports, SARS reports that have not been produced, Correct?

[M]

Yep.

[S]

And just to level set, a Suspicious Activity Report is a report produced by a bank anytime a customer performs a questionable transaction. It turns out there were numerous such reports filed by banks with the Treasury Department for Jeffrey Epstein, including large cash withdrawals and even requests that Epstein made for the creation of bank accounts and credit cards for teenagers and people who had nothing to do with his family. Isn't that right?

[G]

It is.

[S]

The Senate Finance Committee has found Epstein made wire transfers that are detailed in these suspicious activity reports, SARS reports to the tune of $1.5 million billion dollars with a B. And include the names of women and girls he may have trafficked, as well as the names of his potential clients. I believe that this is paramount to the investigation of the sex trafficking ring. Would you agree with that?

[G]

I do agree with that.

[S]

If we're serious. If we're serious about following the money, I believe that these stars reports must be disclosed by the U.S. treasury Department. Now, immediately.

[C]

Today.

[S]

Last topic. Last topic. Ms. Hirsch, can.

[C]

Can you give me this.

[S]

These 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 people. They must be disclosed today. What do you think about that?

[G]

I. I absolutely agree with you.

[S]

They may be among us today.

[P]

Wow.

[S]

Perpetrating a continuation of a sex trafficking ring. Now, Mr. Coven, DOJ has not released all of the raw interviews and transcripts from the more. More than 40 victims of the DOJ's that were investigated in the DOJ's 2008 investigation, right? Correct. And DOJ has not released all of the video footage collected at Epstein's properties, correct?

[E]

Absolutely.

[O]

Not only that, I've actually walked through the home of Jeffrey Epstein after the incidents occurred and saw where the video cameras were located and no longer existed.

[B]

Wow.

[S]

Epstein tried to maintain his power over those he abused by taking away their chance at justice. We cannot let that happen. Donald Trump, I'm calling on you to listen to survivors. Release all of the documents, unredact all these people, prosecute the rest of these people and investigate the remaining. In addition, Ghislaine Maxwell should never, ever, ever receive clemency. That monster should not be given pardon. And ensure every enabler of Epstein faces consequences, no matter who they are or their political affiliation. Thank you. And I yield.

[B]

Thank you. Now we'll have Representative Stansberry.

[N]

All right, well, good morning, everyone. And I just want to start out by acknowledging our survivors who are here with us. And to those of you who spoke, people tell you all the time that you're brave and you are. But I know that it comes at great cost to yourself, great cost to your families. But I want you to know, and part of why I asked the staff to hold up this page picture is because you are literally changing the face of the planet by standing up and telling your stories. And even though the system is failing you again right now in Congress, you are changing the world by helping people who are survivors, who are victims, who have never had their stories told publicly to know that they're not alone. So I want to say thank you for everything that you are doing. And I know that it's hard, but what you're doing is Changing the planet right now. So thank you for holding that up. I came, I got in early yesterday and I went for a walk. I walked to downtown here in West Palm beach, and then I walked across the bridge. I think, like millions of people across the country. I've seen, of course, the documentary that documents what happened here in West Palm beach. And I wanted to walk across the bridge that survivors had told the story themselves of literally having been driven across. But I don't think that I truly understood the power, the wealth, the abuse that has happened in this community until I saw the mansions and, and the estates, the private clubs, and how inequality is literally written into the landscape here. And the reason why I wanted to start there is because there has been a lot said about the system of abuse that Epstein and Maxwell perpetrated. There has been a lot said about how grooming occurred, how recruitment happened, and how he psychologically threatened, abused, and used all these different tactics to abuse girls and women. But I want to make one thing clear here today, and I want to ask some questions about this is we talk about the system failing. The system didn't fail. The system was designed to protect the wealthy. The system was rigged from the beginning when those mansions were built. The system was built on inequality. The system was built on exploiting people. It's written into the landscape here in West Palm Beach. It's written into the landscape in New Mexico where Jeffrey Epstein went to Santa Fe with his rich friends and recruited girls that he exploited and then trafficked to other rich friends that he flew to New Mexico. This wasn't failure. This was a system. It was a system of exploitation. It was a system of abuse, and it was a system of power. And that's one of the things that I want to really dive into here with my short time today. Because the officials, the federal, the state, the local, the attorney generals didn't just fail to investigate these cases. They chose not to investigate them. They chose to take bribes and kickbacks and campaign donations. The police department here in West Palm beach chose to take a donation from Jeffrey Epstein. The police and sheriffs and others in other cities and states chose to take donations. And right now, while this is not a partisan issue, this administration is choosing to not investigate the crimes that are in these files. This administration is choosing to release the names of survivors and not perpetrators. This administration is choosing to not investigate or indict a single man who committed rape of a child or woman that is in the files. And this administration is choosing to gaslight the American people while all over the World foreign officials are arresting, investigating. A prince has been taken down. And here in the United States, our Department of justice, which is sitting on millions of files, is refusing to act. That is not a failure. That is a choice. That is a system built on wealth inequality and exploitation of women, of girls, of children, and a system built to protect the powerful. That is a system. And it is a system that Jeffrey Epstein developed here in West Palm Beach. And then it is a system that he, he exported to places like the Virgin Islands, to New Mexico, and to all of the places that he operated. And so I want us to think about, as we're moving forward with this investigation, we can investigate all the hundreds or even thousands of micro decisions that were made by local police, by sheriffs, by state police, by the Department of justice, by AGs who chose to turn a blind eye and not prosecute these crimes. But. But the only way we are actually going to get justice in this case is by changing the system itself. And that's exactly what you guys are doing. And it's powerful. You're literally taking on the entire world right now and a system of wealth and inequality. So I want to ask the survivors, because I feel like you get asked all the time to retell your stories, and I've read your stories. Anyone can go in the files and read your stories, but I want to hear from you what justice would look like in this case. So maybe starting here in the end,

[H]

it's always a sore, sore subject because I'm just like, at this point, honestly, I don't think justice will ever be served in this case.

[P]

And

[H]

that's just my experience of the past 20 years that I've dealt with it. If I were really optimistic and it did, I think it would be for one, the Crime Victims Rights Act. We have to fix that law. Also, education in the school systems,

[K]

maybe

[H]

like with the sex ed, or just there has to be more education on what grooming is, on what sex trafficking is. It's not. You know, I think a lot of people have a picture in their head that is just not reality. And for me, being that this happened in Palm Beach County, I think there needs to be like a building. And I think that the, the first 72 hours that a survivor tells their story and comes forward and says, okay, I'm ready, I'm ready to tell this. And there, it's such a crucial time. I think there needs to be something dedicated in Palm beach county to all of our childhoods that were lost and taken. When we came forward and we told Our stories, man, I was treated like a criminal by the federal government. And I just think, I guess justice would be changed.

[F]

I don't know what justice looks like anymore. It's. I'm just blown away that this is our government that is handling this. But justice would be, like Courtney said, accountability. These people that did wrong should be held accountable for what they did to us. Of course we know that. But do we think. Do I think that is going to truly happen? Probably not. Look at how this has gone on. But education is so very important. Our kids are listening, they're watching this, they're hearing. And for the first time, for a lot of children, this is the first time they are even hearing about something like this. And so education is important. If we can't take these bad guys off the streets, let's teach our kids how to protect themselves in this. But I hope the government gets it together, maybe get some justice.

[M]

I think justice starts with passing Virginia's law. I think that's a really great place to start because justice shouldn't have a time limit. I know at almost 40, I'm about to turn 40 this year, and I'm just able to look at my abuse. I'm just able to sit and write it and read it. And so I think there are a lot of survivors who have never come forward. So that would be a start. Passing Virginia's law, changing the statute of limitations. There's a culture shift that really needs to happen where the blame needs to be placed on the perpetrator and not on the victim, similar to Courtney's experience, my experience with law enforcement. I was so terrified, and I did feel like I was being interrogated the entire time that I was there. I thought that I was going to go to jail that day. I was like, my life is over. It didn't really make me want to talk to anybody. But the FBI came back to my home in 2019 anyway. I'll just say it was very threatening feeling. So having an advocate in those spaces would also be really important. But, yeah, just elevating survivor rights and making sure that we start with that baseline of Virginia's law.

[I]

So I come from a different country and I have a job. And if you come to me and you ask me what should I do and ask question about my job, I'll give you an answer. I appreciate you asking that question, but I don't know. That's your job. You guys have to figure out how to make justice, not me. And you can't give me justice like this. I. When I came to this country, I thought something is going to be different. And I am shocked that this is happening here in United States. You keep on saying this is the worst case you in United States, but it's not. It's the worst case in the world. This never happened to me in other places and I traveled as a model all over the world. This didn't happen to me there. It happened to me here. You need to figure it out, and I hope you do. And I hope this never happens again to any anybody. Keep it in the history books. Don't stop fighting. Don't let it go away. I don't. I wish one day we all can sit there and never hear the name. But I also hope that we will forever, so this never happens again. Good luck.

[E]

Thank you,

[N]

Mr. Chairman. I think that says it all. It's our job.

[M]

So thank you.

[B]

Thank you so much. Representative Frost, thank you so much.

[A]

I want to talk about something very specific. As we know, Jeffrey Epstein trafficked and abused women and girls not just in Florida and New York, but internationally across the globe. This case shines a light on the truth of sex trafficking. And it informs us as members of Congress of the changes and the reforms we need to pursue in many different areas that sometimes seem different but are all connected. I want to first thank you all for coming here today, especially the survivors, and sharing your stories. In many instances, we have seen that traffickers and sexual predators control employment opportunities for the people that they abuse. This happens everywhere, from working communities to the wealthiest, in the most powerful pockets of society. Right here. This is from documents produced to the committee. It appears to show copies of passports in Epstein's possession belonging to young women. We believe many of these are survivors. Epstein's network is bigger than what many people understand. It stretched across the entire globe. And we know that Epstein did not act alone. Him and his associates exploited financial and immigration systems, broken immigration systems to traffic women and girls. Epstein helped women enroll in English language schools, facilitated their admission into American universities to help them get visas and help them secure jobs, all as a premise to get for getting the women into the United States. We questioned Epstein's lawyer about this and his accountant about the sham marriages which they helped arrange for immigration purposes. And many of these women sadly became survivors of Epstein's abuse. Rosa, thank you so much for your very powerful testimony. Why did you come to the United States? You spoke a little bit about this.

[I]

I was a model. I came here thinking that my modeling career is going to be continued here. I traveled before United States and I was very successful when I was able to escape the ring of Jeffrey Epstein. I was a successful model afterwards, but only after. During it. I couldn't.

[A]

So you came for opportunity.

[I]

Yes.

[A]

And we told you, right? We told the entire world. We've told the entire world. Come to the United States for opportunity. This is a land of opportunity where you can be anyone, where you can do anything, right?

[I]

Yes. New York City was a top of a list for any model traveling and getting a contract.

[A]

Rosa, can you help us understand how Epstein, Brunel and their associates use the promises of modeling jobs to recruit you and other women?

[I]

When you enter a modeling, you have a dream of ending up and walking Victoria's Secret show or on a cover of Vogue magazines. So when you are a teenager and somebody approaches you saying that they can be there to help you and be your word ally. I hate that word. Really? Because that was used many, many times in trying to make me believe that they are my ally in order to get those jobs. So naturally it comes across like these people care and you believe them.

[R]

Why?

[I]

Because you were just a teenager. It doesn't look really scary to begin with. So they gain your trust and then they put you in a situation where financially you can't leave. The ticket back home cost $1,300 round trip. I was giving $100 a week in New York City to survive. And if any of you go to New York City today and try to live of $100, good luck.

[A]

Rosa, we also know that you're an immigrant, and we know that Epstein and his network also manipulated and threatened women using their visas or immigration status. Can you talk about your experience with this?

[I]

Every time I came to my agency or Epstein, which I didn't know why I came to him, I begged them to let me go back to other places I used to model before, on which they said, why? You are not going to do well there, so stay here. What do you need? I would say job. And then they offered me job. They didn't give me money to purchase a ticket and I didn't have a credit card. I didn't have my parents sending me money. I couldn't afford a ticket back. So they used my dreams against me, saying that it's just the time and everything's going to be okay. And if I trust them, all my dreams going to come true.

[A]

We know that he weaponized people's immigration status, right? And the fact that they were immigrants against them, to manipulate them, to force them into his horrible crimes and the horrible things he did to them. There are so many changes that need to come from this investigation. And I think it's important that we also remember immigrant women are disproportionately impacted by sex trafficking in the United States. Epstein exploited this broken immigration system to do these crimes. And I think your story and your testimony shows that and many of the other stories and testimonies that we've heard. This investigation shows us that we have to fix this system, not just demonize immigrants. And in a moment where the same people that are obstructing this investigation, the same people who are engaged in the COVID up of this investigation, are also the one demonizing immigrants across this country, shows us the real truth that if we spent a modicum of the money and energy that this government is using to go terrorize our communities and round up innocent people to go after the billionaire pedophiles and sex traffickers and people who have exploited this broken immigration system, maybe we'd had some justice here. And so just thank you so much for being here and sharing your testimony. I yield back.

[E]

And Now I'll recognize Ms. Lee from Pennsylvania.

[Q]

Thank you.

[T]

Ranking member. I want to start, like many, by just grounding us and the people who have too often been ignored. Survivors like Danny Binsky, who was just 17 when she was lured to work for Jeffrey Epstein with false promises and then threatened with her mother's illness. Rosa, who was trafficked across borders and abused for years. Courtney Wild, who not only survived abuse but then had to lead a legal fight for recognition by a Department of justice that was supposed to protect her. And Genalisa Jones, who has sounded the alarm that a paltry release of DOJ fouls hints at a possible probable cover up. I just want to thank you all for being here, for continuing to show up, for your continued courage and your commitment to justice. We recognize that you are unfortunately four of very, very many, many more survivors. And I hope you know that your presence today means to survivors across this country how important it is to them for. For decades, survivors have worked in good faith with law enforcement to try to expose Epstein and his co conspirators, only to have their interests and their needs ignored. From a bogus non prosecution agreement way back in 2008 to the inexcusable release of personal identifying information from Pam Bondi and Todd Blanch's doj. The DOJ seems perfectly capable of concealing the names of these rich and these powerful folks in the files that have been released. But they did not give that same level of care to the actual survivors. And Here in Florida, Alex Acosta spent more time cutting deal with Kenneth Starr, Alan Darshowitz and other well connected lawyers working for Epstein and with Epstein than he did actually listening to survivors. The sweetheart deal enabled Epstein to continue abusing survivors while he was out on work release. As we've heard, the DOJ has failed to indict any other perpetrator of sex trafficking beyond Epstein and Maxwell. Despite all the complaints and the reports that other individuals were implicated in boss, including from survivors themselves who have named these people, they seem to have no plans to do so. So top blanche stating that the Epstein files, quote, should not be a part of anything going forward, unquote, is where we need to spend a little time. This is a glaring proof of a two tier justice system of justice in this country. Mr. Cuban, this saga began with a failure at the state level when prosecutors declined to fully pursue justice against Jeffrey Epstein, Right?

[O]

Correct.

[T]

You represented one of the first survivors in Florida. We saw a non prosecution agreement that showed at Epstein and protected his associates. Can you explain why that agreement was so unusual and how harmful it was?

[O]

So first of all, as I said before, it was unusual because ordinarily the U.S. attorney's office would consult with counsel for the victims and talk about the potential charges that they're going to bring and they never did that. They kept it secret. They would not answer phone calls. When I was able to get through to the U.S. attorney at the time, who was Maria Vilafagna, she said I can't talk to you. Second, it was so unusual because it not only gave immunity to Jeffrey Epstein, who is the target of their investigation, but it gave immunity to co conspirators without prosecution of those co conspirators or even a hint of prosecution of four specifically named co conspirators. Lastly, the most unusual part of that deal was that they added the phrase unnamed co conspirators. I have never in 30 years doing this ever seen a non prosecution agreement so broad as to say that they're giving immunity to unnamed individuals. It was a gift.

[T]

Ms. Wow, really quickly, can you tell us more about those emails between Epstein lawyers and the prosecutors and what made them seem different from what you would think a typical plea negotiation will look like?

[H]

Yes, ma'.

[N]

Am.

[H]

When we, when me and Brad Edwards were able to we got the emails, it was literally friends there. Hey, they were meeting at Starbucks, they were meeting off the record wherever they wanted. These were friends literally negotiating how much time, what it would look like, what the charges were going to look like, what they were going to Say, during the grand jury, it was, it was all scripted. It was all set up, cover up.

[T]

I just want to say really quickly, does any survivor feel, have you felt protected or seen or heard by the government?

[H]

No, ma'.

[J]

Am.

[H]

Just now, my. None of my. The redactions, none of my information had been redacted.

[T]

This is about a system that asked survivors to carry the burden of proof, the burden of patience, the burden of pain while people with wealth and power are given time and protection and silence. While we're here today because of Jeffrey Epstein, sexual abuse survivors across this country know all too well that he is not an anomaly, but he's a high profile example of a system that too often works exactly as designed to shield abusers and silence those that they harm. So to all the survivors, the fierce attorney advocates who are with us here today, I just want to thank you for coming forward. Despite the many frustrations, the threats, the dangers and the setbacks that you've experienced, we have a responsibility to all survivors who are still waiting, to the ones who have never gotten justice, and to the ones watching right now to say that this ends here. And we take that very seriously. I thank you all so much and I yield back.

[E]

Thank you so much, Ms. Lee. And now I am going to recognize myself. For five minutes, I've been smiling, probably more than I am supposed to as I've sat here because y' all bring me so much joy. And let me tell you why. The reason is this, it's because in spite or despite this incompetent government, y' all have not backed down. For some people, it is the very first time that they're seeing your faces. But, but you have been there when no cameras are rolling. You have been there for decades and you are still showing up. The reality is that you are not a child in this moment, but you know that other children are potentially being subjected to something similar in this exact moment. And it is your courage that is contagious. We don't have that, unfortunately, in Congress. We got a bunch of cowards, but your courage is contagious. Think about it this way. One of the things that I really want to clarify because I have had an opportunity to hear some of your stories and meet with some of you in person and behind closed doors. A lot of people who potentially are not on the right side of history right now. One of the common questions that they ask is how is it that this could have happened to so many people, yet when you were going through your experience, you failed to see anybody else or know Anything else. And you thought that you were all alone. And I know that that is something you have told me directly. So for the people that are watching, and they're hearing numbers like, man, thousands of girls, but at the same time, they're hearing, you know what? I never saw anything else. Whoever feels most comfortable, if you will. Because for me, I don't think that I have that much confidence in the government overall doing what's right for the right reason. But it is the pressure from outside, it is you going out there and being courageous that has made the people rise up. And that is why we were able to get some kind of movement. And so I want to build more allies for this movement right now. So if any of you would like to answer that question,

[M]

thank you for that, first of all. But I think it starts with our young people knowing that they need to speak up. Because for me, I think I was pit against a friend of mine that went to together to Jeffrey the first time, and he was very good at using the manipulation to hold us there. And so I felt like I couldn't tell anybody, and I didn't tell anybody. So I think it starts with the youngest. If an experience feels off to have a young person speak out and talk to even just a friend about that and then say to that friend, hey, is this happening to you? Then the two of them can talk to an adult. And then we're already making change because we're already taking it out of the dark. I think the secrecy was the hardest part in my own abuse. And meeting all of the survivor sisters in September absolutely changed my whole life. And so I do think if you can find community and if you can find the people who boost you, it's really important. But it starts with our youngest survivors.

[E]

Thank you so much for that. And, in fact, you brought up young survivors. A quick question that I have for each of you is, do you believe that a child has the ability to. To consent to sex?

[M]

No. No.

[E]

Okay. Interestingly enough, most of the time, our laws, whether they're state or federal, acknowledge that as well. But I have a transcript, and I won't go through it, but it relates to the case that stemmed out of here where they were trying to make it seem as if a child's victim was a criminal. That was the focus of their questioning. So it is so frustrating because literally, when I was in the state house in Texas, this is one of the things that I actually worked on was making sure we changed the actual language in the code. Specifically, as we talked about child Victims. So that brings me to kind of where we are on the federal level. And I'm a wrap up because the time. I want to make sure we stay on time. My colleagues have been so. My colleagues are nicer than I am. I'm going to be real. They've used words like cover up choice. For me it's obstruction of justice is real clear. And that's just the lawyer in me. This is pure obstruction. Anyone else that would engage in this type of behavior would be charged with obstruction of justice. Yet somehow, because it's the Department of Justice, the ones that are supposed to enforce justice and law in this country, we're not calling it a thing a thing, but that's what it is. And so it is my hope that we understand that while these survivors have taken the time to come out and some of them were outed unlawfully and absolutely need to have some semblance of justice because of that illegal outing. Because our law was very clear to be clear about that. I need people to understand that we all have a role to play. People in this moment keep asking what is it that I can do? Well, I'm going to be partisan as well because they not being partisan, the Republicans could have shown up today too. They didn't. So let me be clear. I am going to be full on partisan. You have to vote if you care about this. You have to vote and you have to understand who is fighting for you. There are certain things that were always a basic kind of standard in this country for what was right. We protected the most vulnerable amongst us. We're not doing that nowadays. We made sure that we believed in law and order, but we're not doing that nowadays. It is time to wake up. It is time for us all to do our part because again, I'm going to be partisan because only the Democrats decided to show up today. So with that I will yield. And my next. Okay, they're making me skip down. Okay, well we gonna head to Virginia. It's your turn.

[U]

Thank you. I want to thank you all for being here today and thank all the people in the audience here today. And I will just say that it's because of you that we had the Epstein files Transparency act passed and the president himself had to sign it into law begrudgingly while in the background trying to figure out how to break it later on. And it's because of you that we were able to issue an august subpoena led by Representative Lee. And they still haven't complied with that subpoena. But it's because of you. We got that far. It's because of you that they won't even hold hearings, real hearings in the Oversight Committee on anything anymore because they're afraid we'll subpoena more people about Epstein files and Epstein Transparency Act. So just think about where you've gotten us. I know it's not enough. It may never be enough. Someone mentioned before, but I just want to thank you for getting us this far. And I know there are a lot of girls and women around the country, around the world, who thank you as well. One of the things that has driven me crazy is that there's millions of files that have still not been released. And so this question really is for anyone. But now, one of the things that I remember hearing from many of the survivors last year was you'd at least like your own files. Files. Your own witness statements. Has anyone received your own files? So no one has received their own files. And has the Trump administration talked to you about potentially giving you those files? I'm seeing everyone say no. And did they ever talk to you about which files they were withholding and why they would withhold them or consult with you about that? I'm seeing everyone shake their heads as well in the audience and all the witnesses we have today. And so I guess I would ask then, you know, we're going to be talking to someone next week, Pam Bondi. And so do you have any suggestions on what we should ask her tomorrow? We can start on this Wild. Or anyone who'd like to answer that.

[F]

I think there's a lot to ask her. Right. But do we believe anything that's going to come out of her mouth?

[U]

Let's pretend. Yes.

[R]

Yeah.

[F]

Okay. I definitely. Why? Who are you? Who are we covering for? Like you were willing to lose your

[R]

job

[F]

to cover up for these people. What do they have on you? Because I'd like to know. You're a woman, you're a mother, and you look at us. Couldn't even look at the survivors. So what's your part in this?

[M]

Can I add to that process? What was the process? And we would ask the same of Todd Blanche. What was the process for moving Ghislaine Maxwell?

[O]

I can actually speak to three very specific things that you should ask her. Number one, there was hours of video surveillance taken by the lead investigator at the time outside of the home, watching people go in and out of the house. That has yet to be released. And we know it exists from the probable cause affidavit. Secondly, back In October of 2003, there's record evidence that there were surveillance inside the home because cash was stolen from Mr. Epstein by one of his workers. And Sarah Kellen showed police that video from inside the home. That means surveillance cameras, in fact, existed in the home. Where is that video? And then lastly, Maxwell photographed everything. She loved taking photographs of people. That was her passion. They have not released even a fraction of the photographs that Maxwell took.

[G]

So I'm just going to add on to Danny's point about process and be a little more specific. So what transpired in advance of the files being released were a number of the lawyers who are in this room provided DOJ with lists of names. I think one lawyer provided about 300 names, and those names got released in the first batch. Many of those names got released in the first batch of files when they were dumped. The lawyer went back and said, these names need to be redacted. I'm just going to use Danny's as an example. I hope that's okay, Danny. So her lawyer went back and said, redact Danny Bensky's name. So her lawyer went back and said, redact Danny Bensky's name. So her lawyer went back and said, redact Danny Bensky's name.

[C]

It. Well, this is one way to. Ask, man, are we live now? Looks like we're live now. Are we live now, guys? Maybe not.

[B]

Yeah, you're live.

[L]

You're live.

[C]

You're live now. Okay. Hey, guys, just wanted to pop on here at the very end of this hearing. It looks like it's continuing, but their feed may have cut short if that is the case and we can't show you any more of the hearing. Wanted to wrap this up and just say thanks to everybody for tuning in on all of our platforms. Really important that we were able to. To hear these. These stories from these survivors. Just incredible stories of survival from these very brave women, very courageous women who as girls were abused by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Some of them in this community that we're standing in right now in West Palm beach and Palm Beach, Florida, as you heard from the family of Virginia Giuffre Skye Roberts. This is where the abuse began for Virginia Giuffre. And I will tell you, I cannot get out of my mind some of the comments that were made by some of the survivors today. One of the survivors who went by the name Rosa, she talked about during the hearing how her identity had been revealed in the Epstein files when they were released some 500 times. She was asked later, you know, what would you do to bring about justice. And she pointed right back at the members of Congress on this committee and said, that's not my job. That's your job. And it's very important. Important to underline one last time. The Democrats had to hold this hearing in West Palm Beach, Florida because James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, would not hold a hearing in Washington in a full hearing of the Oversight Committee with the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. That is a shameful, shameful abuse of authority by Chairman Comer. If he really cared about giving, getting to the, to the truth and the justice that is needed in this case, he would have a full blown hearing in front of the cameras with everybody watching in front of the American people so people can hear these stories, hear this testimony firsthand. Unfortunately, the Democrats on the committee had to travel all the way down to Palm Beach, Florida and hold this hearing here as a field hearing in order for the public to hear from these survivors. We're really grateful that everybody was able to tune in to our coverage here. I'm really grateful for that. My friend Katie Fang was able to join our coverage. My friend Tara Paul Mary was able to join this coverage. And we'll have much more later today on the Jim Acosta Show. But wanted to make sure that we brought this to you live. We made a special trip down here to Palm Beach, Florida, just so we can make sure this gets out there to the American people. Didn't see a lot of the corporate media covering this. Didn't see a lot of the legacy media covering this. That's why it's so important to support independent media. The BBC is here. They're covering it. Where are all the other networks covering this? I saw the BBC is doing this. Why is it that the British press is more interested in this than the national American press? That itself is a travesty. So important to support independent media in the United States while we still have it. But in the meantime, I'm reporting live from West Palm Beach, Florida. See you later today. Thanks for tuning in. Thanks for watching.

[B]

He's on the road. He's on the record. Jim Acosta live.