Victims of Jeffrey Epstein have shared emotional accounts of sexual abuse as they spoke on the steps of the US Capitol and called for lawmakers to release more files about the convicted sex offender.
One of the women, Lisa Phillips, said the group had begun compiling a confidential list of Epstein associates who they say were involved in abuse.
“We will confidentially compile the names we all know were regularly in the Epstein world,” she said. “It will be done by survivors, and for survivors.”
The event was organised by US lawmakers who are calling for more files from the Epstein investigation to be released publicly.
During the two-hour news conference on Wednesday, nine female Epstein accusers detailed their experiences and abuse at the hands of the disgraced financier.
Ms Phillips urged the Department of Justice to release all the documents and information it has from the investigation, adding that many victims were afraid of repercussions if they went public with names themselves.
A lawyer for the accusers added that they were scared of being sued or attacked because “nobody protected them the first time”.
Marina Lacerda, speaking publicly for the first time, said she worked for Epstein from the age of 14 until she was 17, when the disgraced financier determined she was “too old”.
“I was one of dozens of girls that I personally know who were forced into Jeffrey’s mansion… in New York City when we were just kids,” she said.
“A friend of mine in the neighbourhood told me that I could make $300 to give another guy a massage,” Lacerda said, while becoming visibly emotional. “It went from a dream job to the worst nightmare.”
Liz Stein, who sued Epstein and Maxwell and who now works as a survivor mentor and policy adviser, told the BBC that she spoke at the Capitol rally to “humanise survivors” because she was tired of them being ignored.
“It’s really important for us all to remember that this is a crime. It’s a crime of sex trafficking. This isn’t a political issue, but it’s being politicised because of the people involved,” Ms Stein said.
Annie Farmer, 46, said at the rally that she was taken to New Mexico aged 16 to spend a weekend with Epstein. Her sister was also flown there and reported the abuse, she said, but nothing was done.
“We still do not know why that report wasn’t properly investigated, or why Epstein and his associates were allowed to harm hundreds, if not thousands, of other girls and young women,” she said.
Chauntae Davies addressed a question about the relationship between Trump and Epstein, saying the sex offender’s “biggest brag forever was that he was very good friends with Donald Trump”.
“He had a framed picture of him on his desk, with the two of them,” she said.
But during an NBC panel discussion with a group of survivors on Tuesday, none of the women said they ever saw or heard of Trump doing anything inappropriate relating to Epstein.
Trump was friendly with Epstein, but has said they fell out in the early 2000s because the financier poached employees from the spa at Trump’s Florida golf club.
“This is a Democrat hoax that never ends,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday when asked about the nearby news conference.
He said “nobody is ever satisfied” with the files that have been released, adding that the issue is a distraction from his record in office.
“Really, I think it’s enough,” Trump said.
On Tuesday evening, 33,000 pages and several videos were made public by the House of Representatives Oversight Committee, which had subpoenaed the justice department. Most of the files, however, were already in the public domain.
The top Democrat on the committee, Robert Garcia, said: “Don’t let this fool you.
“After careful review, Oversight Democrats have found that 97% of the documents received from the Department of Justice were already public.
“There is no mention of any client list or anything that improves transparency or justice for victims.”
Tuesday’s disclosure followed last month’s publication of the Department of Justice interview with Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted sex-trafficker and accomplice of Epstein.
In the transcripts – which run to 300 pages, some heavily redacted – Maxwell said that while she believed Trump and Epstein were friendly in social settings, she did not think they were close friends.
Two members of the House, Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Democrat Ro Khanna of California, are trying to force a vote on compelling the justice department to release all documents in the case.
They were gathering signatures on Wednesday and will need the support of 218 lawmakers to prevail. That means six Republicans must vote for the plan.
“It’s shameful this has been called a hoax. This is not a hoax,” Massie said. “There are real victims to this criminal enterprise and the perpetrators are being protected because they are rich and powerful.”
The White House and Republican congressional leaders oppose the release of all of the files, saying it could expose the identities of innocent people.
By BBC News
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