--- title: Epstein Victims Make Emotional Plea for Release of Files description: Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna are spearheading a bipartisan effort to compel the release of all Justice Department files in the case. canonical: https://time.com/7314260/epstein-files-congress-victims-release/ author: Nik Popli article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-09-03T17:38:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T08:10:39.547Z article:section: Politics og:title: Epstein Victims Call on Congress to Release All Files og:description: Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna are spearheading a bipartisan effort to compel the release of all DOJ files. og:url: https://time.com/7314260/epstein-files-congress-victims-release/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc709f87dccae9b30/6998c97f07a30d81a677d4ad/GettyImages-2232898559.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: US-JUSTICE-POLITICS-EPSTEIN og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Epstein Victims Call on Congress to Release All Files twitter:description: Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna are spearheading a bipartisan effort to compel the release of all DOJ files. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc709f87dccae9b30/6998c97f07a30d81a677d4ad/GettyImages-2232898559.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Epstein Victims Call on Congress to Release Files as Trump Decries 'Democratic Hoax' > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=b486580a-6861-40e9-a3e1-f9ace237101a&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Epstein Victims Call on Congress to Release Files as Trump Decries ‘Democratic Hoax’ [Watch (HLS stream): Epstein Victims Call on Congress to Release Files as Trump Decries ‘Democratic Hoax’](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/LTNgr3kW.m3u8) (3:41)  _Published 2025-09-03. A group of women who say they were abused by the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell gathered on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to share their accounts of sexual exploitation and put pressure on Republicans to back an effort that would force the Justice Department to release all of its files in the Epstein investigation._  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Sep 3, 2025 5:38 PM UTC A group of women who say they were abused by the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell gathered on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to share their accounts of sexual exploitation and put pressure on Republicans to back an effort that would force the Justice Department to release all of its files in the Epstein investigation.  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Sep 3, 2025 5:38 PM UTC A group of women who say they were abused by the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell gathered on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to share their accounts of sexual exploitation and put pressure on Republicansto back an effort that would force the Justice Department to release all of its [files in the Epstein investigation](https://time.com/7302426/jeffrey-epstein-files-trump-takeaways/). The emotional appeal came as a bipartisan pair of lawmakers moved to collect enough signatures to sidestep House leadership and compel a floor vote on the matter, a maneuver that has exposed [deep divisions among Republicans](https://time.com/7305200/epstein-files-trump-house-subpoena/) and drawn sharp resistance from the White House. Speaking publicly for the first time about her abuse at the hands of Epstein, Marina Lacerda said she and other victims were “not going away” until the files were released. “I would like for them to give all the victims transparency to what happened and release the files,” she said. “It’s not okay for us to be silenced.” **Read more**: [_Family of Epstein Survivor Fears Trump Will Pardon Sex Trafficking Accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell_](https://time.com/7306685/trump-virginia-giuffre-epstein-pardon-ghislaine-maxwell/) Lacerda described being lured to Epstein’s Manhattan mansion when she was 14 with the promise of $300 for a massage. “It went from a dream job to the worst nightmare,” she said, her voice breaking. The news conference was organized by Reps. Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, and Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, who are spearheading a bipartisan discharge petition to compel the release of all Justice Department files in the case. If all Democrats sign on as expected, Massie will need just two more Republicans to reach the 218 signatures required to force a vote on the House floor. So far, only four Republicans—Massie, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, and Nancy Mace of South Carolina—have joined the effort. The imbalance underscores the political peril for most of the Republican conference, caught between growing demands for transparency and loyalty to President Donald Trump, whose administration has condemned the push. “This is a Democrat hoax that never ends,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday. “They’re trying to get people to talk about something that is totally irrelevant to the success that we’ve had as a nation since I’ve been President.” Asked what the Administration’s message is to Congressional Republicans supporting the discharge petition, a White House official told TIME that it would be viewed as “a very hostile act.” “Helping Thomas Massie and Liberal Democrats with their attention-seeking, while the DOJ is fully supporting a more comprehensive file release effort from the Oversight Committee, would be viewed as a very hostile act to the administration,” the official said. For many rank-and-file Republicans, that message has created an uncomfortable bind: siding with the White House effectively means defending the Justice Department’s decision to withhold documents without knowing why, and implicitly standing by the possibility of a future pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime accomplice who is currently [serving](https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/ghislaine-maxwell-sentenced-20-years-prison-conspiring-jeffrey-epstein-sexually-abuse) a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking related charges and was moved [to a minimum security prison](https://time.com/7306977/ghislaine-maxwell-epstein-prison-texas/) shortly after meeting with Trump’s [Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche](https://www.justice.gov/maxwell-interview). Survivors and their advocates warned that a pardon for Maxwell would be devastating. “If Ghislaine Maxwell were pardoned, it would undermine all the sacrifices I’ve made to testify and make a mockery of mine and all survivors’ suffering,” said Anouska de Georgiou, an actress who has spoken publicly about her abuse. “That is why the Epstein Files Transparency Act is so essential.” The Trump Administration has faced criticism from both Democrats and Republicans alike for its refusal to release the entirety of the so-called [Epstein files](https://time.com/7305358/trump-epstein-files-name/?itm%5Fsource=parsely-api)—documents held by the Department of Justice relating to various law enforcement investigations into Epstein’s crimes. The refusal to release the files has also prompted a backlash from the President’s own supporters, many of whom believed that explosive revelations were imminent after his [official and unofficial surrogates](https://time.com/7302995/donald-trump-jeffrey-epstein-jd-vance/) repeatedly [stoked such expectations](https://time.com/7302426/jeffrey-epstein-files-trump-takeaways/) on the campaign trail and now occupy top posts in his Administration. To some, it has raised questions about Trump’s decades-long documented friendship with Epstein, who was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges. Trump has said he had a falling out with Epstein prior to his arrest, though new evidence of their relationship has emerged in recent months, including a [Wall Street _Journal_](https://time.com/7303381/trump-epstein-documents-wsj-letter/) report that Trump contributed a “bawdy” letter to Epstein’s birthday album in 2003, which he has denied writing. No evidence of any wrongdoing by Trump relating to the Epstein case has ever been proven. [House Speaker Mike Johnson](https://time.com/7306839/speaker-mike-johnson-interview/) has opposed the discharge petition effort, calling it “inartfully drafted” and insisting that it risks exposing victims who have never gone public. After meeting privately with survivors on Tuesday, Johnson called them “the bravest women I’ve ever met” but dismissed Massie’s approach as “effectively a moot point.” The House Oversight Committee, he argued, is already pursuing the material. Massie countered that the 33,000 documents released Tuesday by the Oversight panel were “heavily redacted” and curated by the Justice Department to protect reputations, not survivors. “They’re asking you to believe that two individuals created hundreds of victims and acted alone,” he said. “The American people know that’s not true.” The survivors’ accounts lent urgency to his argument. Annie Farmer recalled being just 16 when she was flown to Epstein’s ranch in New Mexico, where she said she and her sister were assaulted. “Thirty years later, we still do not know why that report wasn’t properly investigated,” she said. “Not only did many others participate in the abuse, it is clear that many were aware of his interest in girls and chose to look the other way.” Khanna, the California Democrat leading the push with Massie, cast the issue as a moral test for Congress. “We’re here not as partisans; we’re here as patriots,” he said. “A nation that allows rich and powerful men to traffic and abuse young girls without consequence is a nation that has lost its moral and spiritual core.” ## Transcript [00:06] This is a crime that, [00:09] by our Justice Department's own admission, [00:12] has a thousand victims. [00:15] A thousand victims. [00:17] Do you know a thousand people? [00:19] Think of the enormity of that. [00:21] Could you be okay with a crime happening in [00:24] your community to a thousand girls and young women, [00:30] and not holding the perpetrators accountable? I think not. [00:34] Congress must choose. [00:36] Will you continue to protect predators, [00:38] or will you finally protect survivors? [00:41] We know the names. [00:46] Many of us were abused by them. [00:49] Now, together as survivors, [00:51] we will confidentially compile the names we all know were regularly in the Epstein world. [00:57] And it will be done by survivors and for survivors. [01:03] No one else is involved. [01:05] Our demands are clear. [01:07] Elaine Maxwell must remain in a maximum security prison for the rest of her life. [01:14] No leniency, no deals, no special treatment. [01:20] Send it back to Florida. [01:21] The Epstein documents must be unsealed. [01:24] Every name, every name, every detail. [01:28] No more secrets. [01:29] No more protection for those who preyed on the vulnerable. [01:32] Americans are asking a very simple question. [01:35] How is it possible that in the richest, [01:40] most powerful country in the world, [01:43] there are corrupt special interest forces, [01:47] both foreign or domestic, [01:50] that are preventing the release? [01:53] That have a stranglehold on our government and are [01:56] preventing the release of the full Epstein files. [01:59] There is something that is rotten in Washington. [02:04] Less than 1% of these files have been released. [02:07] We are demanding today on the discharge petition that all of the files be released. [02:13] This is my fifth year in Congress, [02:15] and this is the largest press conference that I've seen since I've been here. [02:19] And this is because this is an issue that matters so much to Americans. [02:24] This is an issue that doesn't have political boundaries. [02:28] It's an issue that Republicans and Democrats should never fight about. [02:32] As a matter of fact, it's such an important issue that it should bring us all together. [02:37] So this is a Democrat hoax that never ends. [02:42] You know, it reminds me a little of the Kennedy situation. [02:45] We gave him everything over and over again, [02:47] more and more and more. [02:49] And nobody's ever satisfied, [02:51] from what I understand. [02:52] I could check, but from what I understand, [02:55] thousands of pages of documents have been given. [02:58] But it's really a Democrat hoax because they're [03:01] trying to get people to talk about something [03:03] that's totally irrelevant to the success that [03:06] we've had as a nation since I've been president. [03:08] So what they're trying to do with the Epstein hoax is get [03:11] people to talk about that instead of speaking about the tremendous success, [03:14] like ending seven wars. [03:16] I ended seven wars. [03:18] Nobody's going to talk about because they're going to talk about the Epstein whatever. [03:21] I understand that we were subpoenaed to give files, [03:24] and I understand we've given thousands of pages of files. [03:28] And I know that no matter what you do, [03:30] it's going to keep going. [03:31] Uh, and I think it's I think really, [03:34] I think it's enough because I think we should talk about [03:37] the greatness of our country and the success that we're having. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7314260/epstein-files-congress-victims-release/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7314260/epstein-files-congress-victims-release/"},"headline":"Epstein Victims Call on Congress to Release Files as Trump Decries 'Democratic Hoax'","datePublished":"2025-09-03T17:38:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-19T08:10:39.547Z","description":"Reps. 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