In a political firestorm that refuses to die down, President Trump’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal has become a focal point of bipartisan outrage, survivor activism, and persistent questions about power, transparency, and justice. Despite Trump’s repeated insistence that the Justice Department has "done its job" and that the case should be put to rest, lawmakers from both parties—and Epstein’s survivors themselves—are demanding more answers, more disclosures, and more accountability from the highest levels of government.
On Friday, September 5, 2025, President Trump took to Truth Social to declare the Justice Department’s work on the Epstein case complete, calling for an end to what he described as a politically motivated campaign for further disclosures. "The confused and badly failing Democrat Party did nothing about Jeffrey Epstein while he was alive except befriend him, socialize with him, travel to his Island, and take his money!" Trump wrote, as reported by Nexstar Media. He accused Democrats of feigning concern for Epstein’s victims only now, years after the financier’s 2019 jailhouse suicide, and dismissed the renewed scrutiny as a "Democrat Epstein Hoax."
Yet, the facts on the ground tell a more complicated story. While Trump blames Democrats, it is Republicans in the House who have been at the forefront of the push for more transparency. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have hosted press conferences with Epstein’s victims, calling for the release of all government files related to the convicted sex offender. Representative Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) has sponsored a discharge petition aiming to force the Trump administration to release the full cache of Epstein documents, a move that appears poised to receive majority support in the coming weeks. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has even suggested that Trump should meet with the victims at the White House—a suggestion the president has so far ignored.
House GOP leaders, including Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), have urged lawmakers to support the Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s efforts to obtain more disclosures from the Department of Justice, the Epstein estate, and former federal officials. On Tuesday, September 2, the House Oversight Committee released a batch of files received from the DOJ in response to a congressional subpoena. But critics, including survivors and their advocates, argue that many of these documents were already public and do little to answer lingering questions about Epstein’s powerful associates and the alleged cover-ups.
Trump, for his part, has grown increasingly frustrated with the attention the Epstein case continues to receive, even lashing out at his own supporters who have clamored for more information. The FBI and DOJ maintain that Epstein had no “client list” and died by suicide in 2019, but the chorus of voices demanding answers has only grown louder. Epstein’s social circle included not only Trump, but also former President Clinton, Britain’s Prince Andrew, and a constellation of celebrities and billionaires—fueling endless speculation about who might have been implicated in his crimes.
In an opinion piece published on September 7, 2025, in the Boston Globe, columnist Renée Graham sharply criticized Trump for dismissing Epstein’s survivors as liars and labeling the push for transparency a "Democrat hoax." During a heated Oval Office tirade on September 3, Graham noted, Trump showed no empathy toward the women who were sexually abused by Epstein, instead insisting that the controversy was "totally irrelevant to the success we’ve had as a nation since I’ve been president."
But Epstein’s survivors are refusing to be sidelined. At a press conference in front of the US Capitol, they were joined by Reps. Massie, Greene, and Democrat Ro Khanna of California, all rallying behind the discharge petition to force a full release of the DOJ’s Epstein files. "This is not a hoax. We are real human beings. This is real trauma," said Haley Robson, a survivor and registered Republican. "I would like Donald J. Trump and every person in America and around the world to humanize us, to see us for who we are, and to hear us for what we have to say."
For the survivors, the fight is about more than documents. They are working to compile their own confidential list of individuals close to Epstein who they allege abused them—names that Massie and Greene have pledged to read aloud on the House floor under constitutional immunity, sidestepping the threat of lawsuits. "We know the names. Many of us were abused by them," survivor Lisa Phillips said at the Capitol news conference. "Now together as survivors we will confidentially compile the names we all know who were regularly in the Epstein world. It will be done by survivors and for survivors."
Massie has framed the effort as a litmus test for American democracy. "This is a litmus test: Can we drain the swamp? Are there people who are outside of the reach of the law? I don’t think there should be," he said, as reported by the Boston Globe. The survivors, for their part, are determined to ensure that "the days of sweeping this under the rug are over," as Anouska De Georgiou, another survivor, put it.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s handling of Ghislaine Maxwell—Epstein’s longtime associate and convicted sex trafficker—has added fuel to the fire. Maxwell, who was transferred in 2025 from a Florida prison to a less restrictive facility in Texas, has reportedly exonerated Trump and other high-profile men in interviews with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Trump has conspicuously refused to rule out a pardon for Maxwell, further angering survivors and their advocates.
Amid this maelstrom, new questions have emerged about Trump’s own relationship with Epstein. Some Republicans, including Speaker Johnson and Rep. Nancy Mace, have praised Trump as a “heroic” confidential informant who helped bring Epstein to justice. Journalist Michael Wolff, however, reports that Epstein believed Trump "dropped the dime" on him in 2008 not out of concern for victims, but to avoid a lawsuit over a Palm Beach mansion involving Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev. Trump’s shifting explanations—including his claim that he broke off his friendship with Epstein because Epstein "stole" Virginia Giuffre, a 16-year-old employee who later became a key accuser—have only deepened public skepticism.
Adding to the controversy, Trump’s own words have come back to haunt him. In a 2002 interview with New York Magazine, he described Epstein as a "great guy" who "likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side." He has also made notorious remarks on the Howard Stern show and in the infamous Access Hollywood tape about his attitudes toward women and sexual assault—statements he later admitted under oath were "largely true." These comments, along with allegations of hush money payments and intimidation of accusers, have intensified scrutiny of Trump’s conduct and credibility.
For their part, survivors and their congressional allies are undeterred by what they see as stonewalling from the White House. They insist that the fight for transparency is not about politics, but about justice and recognition for those who have suffered. "We, the survivors say, ‘no more,’" declared Anouska De Georgiou. As the discharge petition gains momentum and public pressure mounts, the question remains whether the administration will be forced to yield—or whether the survivors will have to keep fighting for the truth, one press conference and one file at a time.
The Epstein scandal, with its tangled web of power, secrecy, and trauma, continues to haunt the nation’s capital. For the survivors, the fight is far from over—and their voices, at last, are being heard.
