The passage of the Epstein Information Transparency Act is a giant step—however its champions are holding the strain on.
“The survivors gained!” announced consultant Ro Khanna (D-CA) after he and Thomas Massie (R-KY)—with a late help from Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA)—secured a exceptional 427–1 vote within the Home of Representatives for his or her Epstein Files Transparency Act. The November 18 vote was instantly adopted by unanimous approval within the Senate, in a uncommon assertion of authority by an in any other case dismal 119th Congress. But as an alternative of taking a victory lap, Khanna and Massie stored speaking about what had been achieved by the brave survivors of the child-sex-trafficking abuses perpetrated by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, his confederate Ghislaine Maxwell, and their elite associates.
It’s not typically that members of Congress steer consideration to others. However Khanna and Massie did simply that. Lengthy earlier than the unlikely legislative companions made their daring choice to tackle each Donald Trump—who had lengthy sought to downplay his ties to Epstein—and the disinclination of each main events to launch a political battle that was prone to reveal bipartisan wrongdoing, survivors had been demanding the discharge of Justice Division and FBI paperwork and investigative supplies relating to Epstein and people with alleged ties to the deceased intercourse offender.
These congressional votes had been appropriately understood as rebukes to Trump and Home Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who for months had used each instrument in his legislative toolkit to forestall the Home from contemplating the transparency act. Trump lastly buckled, as did a grumbling Johnson, after it grew to become clear that Khanna and Massie weren’t letting up—and after Democrats launched a tranche of e-mails that steered Trump had nearer ties to Epstein than was beforehand recognized. The votes confirmed that, in Khanna’s phrases, “We would not have to be supplicants to Donald Trump…. [Congress] is a coequal department of presidency.” By “taking over the Epstein class who’ve been shielded for too lengthy,” the California Democrat argued, Congress had taken “a step towards altering our rotten system.” However that step was solely attainable, Khanna reminds us, as a result of the survivors had the braveness to disclose the extent of the rot and the very important significance of addressing it.
Present Situation
The Epstein Information Transparency Act mandated the total launch of the information by December 19. However survivors are nonetheless talking up, understanding the battle is much from over, as a bunch of them defined in a robust letter, titled “What We’re Bracing For,” that we produce beneath.
Because of the bravery of survivors, advocates, and champions in Congress, we now have gained an necessary victory: the passage of laws to launch the Epstein information. However our battle is much from over. As the discharge of those information approaches, we wish the general public to know what survivors are bracing for—and why your assist is required now greater than ever.
1. Makes an attempt to Blame Victims As a substitute of Perpetrators
For many years, Epstein escaped accountability by portraying his victims as “dangerous ladies” or unreliable witnesses. We all know this tactic shall be used once more to guard his enablers. A few of us had been uncared for or weak youngsters. Some had been manipulated into recruiting others our personal age. These had been deliberate methods utilized by Epstein, Maxwell, and all intercourse traffickers. These techniques replicate on the predators—not on us. We refuse to be blamed for the abuse dedicated in opposition to us.
2. Incomplete or Selective Disclosures
Except for redacting victims’ names, we’re demanding full transparency. Survivors and the general public deserve entry to all Epstein-related information—not selective releases designed to protect the highly effective. We name on our allies in Congress and past to maintain combating for full disclosure.
3. Escalating Threats to Our Security
Many survivors have already acquired demise threats and different types of intimidation. We anticipate these threats to accentuate as soon as the information are launched. We’re asking each federal and state law-enforcement company with jurisdiction to research these threats and defend the survivors who’ve come ahead.
4. Efforts to Divide and Discredit Us
We’re already listening to makes an attempt to pit survivors in opposition to one another—particularly by means of the false declare that anybody who was over 18 “wasn’t actually a sufferer.” We reject this outright. A few of us had been 18, 20, or 22 once we had been exploited. Some had been weak on account of childhood trauma or poverty. Some had been assaulted utilizing intimidation, manipulation, or drive. Age doesn’t undo vulnerability, nor does turning 18 make somebody “honest recreation” for a pair of rich, calculated predators.
Epstein and Maxwell focused ladies and younger ladies utilizing a spread of techniques, however the end result was the identical: devastation that many people nonetheless carry as we speak. As grownup ladies now, we stand united—and we refuse to let anybody divide or diminish us.
Common
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Signed by: Maria Farmer, Annie Farmer, Courtney Wild, Anouska de Georgiou, Rachel Benavidez, Jess Michaels, Marijke Chartouni, Danielle Bensky, Liz Stein, Marina Lacerda, Ashley Rubright, Sharlene Rochard, Teresa J. Helm, Lara Blume Mcgee, Sky and Amanda Roberts, Haley Robson, Jena-Lisa Jones, Wendy Pesante, and 10 Jane Does
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