The Epstein Survivors Are Demanding Accountability Now

“The survivors won!” announced representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) after he and Thomas Massie (R-KY)—with a late assist from Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA)—secured a remarkable 427–1 vote in the House of Representatives for their Epstein Files Transparency Act. The November 18 vote was immediately followed by unanimous approval in the Senate, in a rare assertion of authority by an otherwise dismal 119th Congress. Yet instead of taking a victory lap, Khanna and Massie kept talking about what had been accomplished by the courageous survivors of the child-sex-trafficking abuses perpetrated by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, and their elite associates.

It is not often that members of Congress steer attention to others. But Khanna and Massie did just that. Long before the unlikely legislative partners made their bold decision to take on both Donald Trump—who had long sought to downplay his ties to Epstein—and the disinclination of both major parties to launch a political fight that was likely to reveal bipartisan wrongdoing, survivors were demanding the release of Justice Department and FBI documents and investigative materials regarding Epstein and those with alleged ties to the deceased sex offender.

These congressional votes were correctly understood as rebukes to Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who for months had used every tool in his legislative toolkit to prevent the House from considering the transparency act. Trump finally buckled, as did a grumbling Johnson, after it became clear that Khanna and Massie were not letting up—and after Democrats released a tranche of e-mails that suggested Trump had closer ties to Epstein than was previously known. The votes showed that, in Khanna’s words, “We do not have to be supplicants to Donald Trump…. [Congress] is a coequal branch of government.” By “taking on the Epstein class who have been shielded for too long,” the California Democrat argued, Congress had taken “a step toward changing our rotten system.” But that step was only possible, Khanna reminds us, because the survivors had the courage to reveal the extent of the rot and the vital importance of addressing it.

The Epstein Files Transparency Act mandated the full release of the files by December 19. But survivors are still speaking up, knowing the fight is far from over, as a group of them explained in a powerful letter, titled “What We’re Bracing For,” that we produce below.
 

Thanks to the bravery of survivors, advocates, and champions in Congress, we have won an important victory: the passage of legislation to release the Epstein files. But our fight is far from over. As the release of these files approaches, we want the public to understand what survivors are bracing for—and why your support is needed now more than ever.

1. Attempts to Blame Victims Instead of Perpetrators

For decades, Epstein escaped accountability by portraying his victims as “bad girls” or unreliable witnesses. We know this tactic will be used again to protect his enablers. Some of us were neglected or vulnerable children. Some were manipulated into recruiting others our own age. These were deliberate strategies used by Epstein, Maxwell, and all sex traffickers. These tactics reflect on the predators—not on us. We refuse to be blamed for the abuse committed against us.

2. Incomplete or Selective Disclosures