Victims of Jeffrey Epstein are taking matters into their own hands, announcing plans to release a survivor-sourced list of the men they say were involved in Epstein’s decades-long child sex trafficking operation — a move that comes after the Department of Justice claimed it found no such list.
At a powerful rally on Capitol Hill Wednesday, Lisa Phillips — one of Epstein’s many accusers — delivered a scathing rebuke of the official investigation and made a bombshell announcement, according to the Daily Wire.
“Epstein was not just a serial predator; he was an international human trafficker,” Phillips said. “And many around him knew this, many participated, and many profited, and yet, he was protected. I know what it’s like to be trafficked to others, and I know the files contain the names of powerful men who have been shielded because of their fame or fortune.”
Then she dropped the mic: “And let me announce now, several of us Epstein survivors have been discussing creating our own list of names,” Phillips told the crowd, who erupted in cheers. “We know the names. Many of us were abused by them. Now together as survivors, we will confidentially compile the names we all know were regularly in the Epstein world, and it will be done by survivors and for survivors.”
The announcement comes in the wake of public outrage over the DOJ’s July report stating it found no evidence that Epstein had a “client list” or powerful co-conspirators. Officials also reiterated their claim that Epstein died by suicide in August 2019 — a narrative millions of Americans still question.
Following the rally, survivors and their allies joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers for a press conference outside the Capitol. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) didn’t hold back.
“[The] Washington establishment is asking the American public to believe something that is not believable,” he said. “They’re asking you to believe that two individuals created hundreds of victims and they acted alone and that the DOJ has no idea of who else might have been involved… The American people know that’s not true.”
Joining Massie were Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who echoed the call for transparency. Khanna emphasized the staggering lack of disclosure: “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.”
Epstein accuser Jena-Lisa Jones delivered emotional testimony of her own.
“I remembered crying the entire way home, thinking about how I couldn’t ever tell anyone about what actually happened in that house,” she said. “This guy was so rich and had so many pictures with so many famous people and no one would have ever believed me if I told them.”
Jones said she was just 14 when she met Epstein, and that he was her first sexual experience.
Meanwhile, survivors and lawmakers blasted the recent release of over 33,000 pages of Epstein-related documents — most of which were heavily redacted.
“What people are waking up and discovering right now is — the folks who stayed up all night to go through the 34,000 individual pages have found that they’re so redacted as to be useless,” Massie said.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), who supports a limited document release, revealed that victims requested personal details not be made public. “When we met with victims yesterday, they said that they don’t want their personal information to be out there, and they actually asked us to not put it out there,” she said.
Massie is now spearheading a discharge petition to force a House vote on the full release of the Epstein files. The petition needs 218 signatures to succeed. According to Khanna, every Democrat is expected to sign. Massie said he’s just two Republicans short, with only four GOP members — himself, Greene, Rep. Nancy Mace (SC), and Rep. Lauren Boebert (CO) — currently on board.
Wednesday’s event marked the largest public gathering of Epstein victims since the disgraced financier’s death in 2019. But if the survivors’ promise is kept, it won’t be the last. The silence around Epstein’s co-conspirators may finally be broken — not by the DOJ, but by those he victimized.
