(Photo courtesy of J. Scott Applewhite) “Epstein survivors gather outside Capitol”
Makayla Mahoney
Connector Staff
On Wednesday, Nov. 19, President Donald Trump signed the Epstein Transparency Act after it passed unanimously in the Senate the night before.
This comes after weeks of continuous pressure to release the Epstein files, a promise that President Trump ran his 2024 campaign on.
On Nov. 12, Representative of Arizona, Adelita Grijalva, was sworn in to office and took immediate action to provide the final signature on the petition to force the U.S. House of Representatives to vote on releasing the administration’s files on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
On that same day, around 20,000 documents were released by the House Oversight Committee, filled with correspondence between Epstein and other known names.
President Trump was referenced several times in these emails, with Epstein calling him the “dog that hasn’t barked” to co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.
In the aftermath of their release, President Trump fought against intensive questioning and deemed the release a “Democratic hoax” according to The Hill.
On Nov. 17, however, Trump reversed his position and claimed he would sign off on the release of the Epstein files if the bill passed through Congress.
On Tuesday, Nov. 18, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Epstein Transparency Act 427 to 1.
The sole “no” vote came from Representative Clay Higgins of Louisiana, who stated “If enacted in its current form, this type of broad reveal of criminal investigative files, released to a rabid media, will absolutely result in innocent people being hurt,” on X.
The senate then passed the bill unanimously later that evening.
The Epstein Transparency Act requires that the files related to the investigation of Epstein’s criminal acts be released by Attorney General Pam Bondi, within 30 days of its signing.
Within 15 days of release, Bondi is to submit to congress a report listing all categories of records released and withheld, a summary of redactions made, including legal basis, and a list of all government officials and politically exposed persons named or referenced in the released materials, with no redactions permitted.
Several victims of Jeffrey Epstein, the New York Financier, spoke outside of Capitol Hill on Tuesday prior to the vote, urging lawmakers to pass the act.
Haley Robson, Jena-Lisa Jones, Marina Lacerda, and Danielle Bensky were amongst more than a dozen women who came baring pictures of their child-selves, some as young as 14 when the sexual abuse began.
Jena-Lisa Jones, a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein who was recruited at 14 years old in 2003, stated, “I beg you, President Trump, please stop making this political. It is not about you, President Trump. You are our president. Please start acting like it. Show some class. Show some real leadership. Show that you actually care about the people other than yourself.”
Jeffrey Epstein was a well-connected financial manager in New York, who was indited on charges of child sexual abuse in 2006.
He was later arrested in 2008 after pleading guilty, where he only served 13 months for his crimes.
He was later arrested on one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors in 2019 after more victims came out and the case gained national attention.
Within a year of being arrested, Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his jail cell, which was later deemed suicide.
His fellow co-conspirator and main recruiter of minors for sexual exploitation, Ghislaine Maxwell, was arrested in 2020 and is currently serving 20 years at Bryan Federal Prison Camp.
Over 1,000 women and children were sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein, according to the Department of Justice.
Virginia Giuffre, a prominent name in the case, was recruited by Ghislaine Maxwell at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, where she worked as a spa attendant at 16 years old.
She suffered the sexual abuse of Epstein and other large names for many years, allegedly including Prince Andrew.
She died by suicide at 41 earlier this year.
Prince Andrew is not the only elite name believed to have had connections with Epstein and potentially his crimes.
Others include former U.S. President Bill Clinton, current U.S. President Donald Trump, as well as his former campaign chief and white house strategist, Steve Bannon.
Epstein had many connections with fellow billionaires as well as politicians: Thomas Pritzker of Hyatt Hotels, Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn, Bill Gates of Microsoft, and Peter Thiel of PayPal and Palantir.
