Epstein Survivors Call on Trump, Congress to Forgo Politics, Release Files

One after one on Tuesday morning, survivors of the sexual crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein stood on the steps of the Capitol and pleaded with members of Congress and President Donald Trump to approve the Epstein Files Transparency Act, while decrying the political turn the case has taken.

"I beg you, President Trump, please stop making this political," said one of the women, Jen Alisa Jones, who noted that she had voted for Trump and referenced his call to investigate Democrats whose names appear in Epstein's files.

"It is not about you, President Trump," Jones said during the press conference, shown live on Newsmax. "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."

Trump said this week that he is endorsing the push to release all of the Epstein files. The House is expected to vote today.

But Jones, who said she was assaulted by Epstein when she was only 14 years old, further addressed Trump directly, saying that "your behavior on this issue has been a national embarrassment."

"It is time to take the honest moral ground and support the release of these files, not to weaponize pieces of the files against random political enemies that did nothing wrong, but to understand who Epstein's friends were, who covered for him, what financial institutions allowed his trafficking to continue, who knew what he was doing but was too much of a coward to do anything about it," Jones said.

"I want everybody to take a look," another of the survivors, Haley Robinson, told reporters. "I know everybody sees us today as grown adults, but we are fighting for the children that were abandoned and left behind in the reckoning."

"This is who you're fighting for," she added. "This is who Congress is fighting for. This is who the House of Representatives are fighting for. And hopefully, the Senate will fight for us, too."

She credited GOP Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Thomas Massie of Kentucky, as well as Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., for taking on the legislation.

"For you to go against your own party and to be ostracized, there is no place for political violence," she said. "It's time that we put the political agendas and party affiliations to the side."

Robinson also said she wanted to send a "clear message" to Trump.

"While I do understand that your position has changed on the Epstein files, and I'm grateful that you have pledged to sign this bill, I can't help to be skeptical of what the agenda is," she said.

"With that being said, I want to relay this message to you," Robinson added. "I am not stupid; I am traumatized."

The process to approve the legislation was supposed to have happened 50 days ago, but was delayed through the shutdown and more, she added.

"I do not feel free today," said Robinson. "I don't know if the women behind me feel free today."

Another survivor, Lisa Phillips, said that since the first days she spoke out, more survivors have reached out, but "most are still terrified to speak publicly because the men involved are powerful, they're connected, and as we know, they're protected."

She vowed that the survivors are focused on exposing all loopholes and power structures that protected Epstein and his associates.

"We will help rewrite laws that failed us and build protections for our nation's children together, targeted by sexual exploitation," she said. "Together today, survivors begin our own fight. The survivor revolution, and we intend to change this nation for the better."

Another survivor, who did not state her name, said that she was only 14 years old when she first encountered Epstein.

"My daughter is now almost at that age, at 14. The only thing she should be concerned with are going to school, practicing her cheerleading competitions, and enjoying her time with her friends and family," she said.

"She should not have to bear the burden of worrying about being manipulated or exploited at this age," she said.

She also called for support to pass the Transparency Act, and for Americans to reach out to members of Congress.

Another woman said that she was 16 years old when she was "pulled into Jeffrey Epstein's world, a world built on exploitation and manipulation of innocence and the protection of powerful men and women who believed that they were untouchable."

Civil cases, however, "were met with hostile judges and delay tactics, intimidation, and PR campaigns designed to smear us in the public eye."

"We were treated as problems to be managed instead of victims to be protected," she added. "Today, something has changed. Individually. Our voices were whispers. Together, they've become impossible to ignore."