Donald Trump hoped that the storytelling of known liar and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell would be the final word on the still-unknown details of the crimes of his old, deceased friend Jeffrey Epstein. Federal prosecutors said Maxwell “lied repeatedly about her crimes” and showed “an utter lack of remorse.” But in her recent interviews with officials from Trump’s Justice Department, she called the president, who owned a club from which she recruited at least one alleged victim, a “perfect gentleman.”
That was good enough for Republicans! But what most of them seemed to have forgotten is that, while Trump’s old leering buddy is dead, Maxwell isn’t the only surviving witness to his alleged sex trafficking ring. There are also the survivors themselves — over 1,000 women, many of whom who were underage girls at the time, according to the FBI.
Mike Johnson called an early congressional recess this summer, in obvious hope that people would give up asking questions about Trump’s reported appearances in the Epstein files. But now, with Congress back in session, Johnson is back in cover-up mode. To make it harder for him, the survivors got organized and are shoving this controversy right back in the public eye.
You’d think Republicans wouldn’t forget that sex crimes leave victims. After all, it was only two years ago that E. Jean Carroll persuaded a civil jury that Trump had sexually assaulted her in the 90s. And yet, many Republicans seem rattled that Epstein’s victims finally spoke out in a showy press conference on Capitol Hill Wednesday, decrying Trump for blocking the release of the full files collected by the FBI and Justice Department on Epstein. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., called an early congressional recess this summer, in obvious hope that people would give up asking questions about Trump’s reported appearances in the Epstein files. But now, with Congress back in session, Johnson is back in cover-up mode. To make it harder for him, the survivors got organized and are shoving this controversy right back in the public eye.
Trump hopes he can make these women go away with lies and distractions. But on Wednesday, they made it clear they will not. The large group of women and their supporters spoke in support of a bill, reportedly backed by all 212 House Democrats and four Republicans, that would force Trump’s White House to release all the Justice Department documents on Epstein and Maxwell’s cases. “The only motive for opposing this bill would be to conceal wrongdoing,” Epstein accuser Anouska de Georgiou told the crowd gathered for their press conference.
She and other Epstein survivors who spoke had trouble being heard, because Trump ordered military planes to fly overhead during the event, temporarily drowning out their words and causing many to cry. The White House insisted the timing was merely a coincidence and the display was to honor Karol Nawrocki, the far-right Polish president who was visiting Wednesday. But the survivors and their supporters were skeptical, and it’s no wonder. Trump couldn’t be signaling harder that he wants nothing more than to silence their voices. On Tuesday, the White House called the efforts to release the Epstein files “a very hostile act to the administration.” And even as the survivors were still speaking on Capitol Hill, Trump was snarling to reporters in the Oval Office that the scandal is “a Democrat hoax that never ends” and that the files are “irrelevant.”
The problem facing the president and his Republican allies hasn’t changed, though. During the campaign, Trump and his staffers repeatedly suggested they would release the Epstein files, allowing his MAGA base to believe the documents would implicate a bunch of hated Democrats — and create the pretext to lock them all up. But as the Wall Street Journal reported, it’s Trump whose name apparently appears repeatedly in the files, which is not surprising to anyone who has been paying attention. The two men were close friends for years. During Wednesday’s press conference, Chauntae Davies, a reported victim of Epstein’s, said the financier’s “biggest brag forever was that he was very good friends with Donald Trump. He had an 8-by-10 framed picture of him on his desk with the two of them.”
“I voted for Trump,” Jena-Lisa Jones, an Epstein survivor, told MSNBC on Wednesday night. “And for him to say what he’s saying is beyond me, because I put my hope in him and he’s supposed to protect us.” Her comments followed a powerful segment that aired on NBC News Tuesday night, when Jones and other survivors called on Trump and congressional Republicans to stop playing games and release the files already. “Not everybody is getting justice, and that’s not right,” said Wendy Avis, an Epstein accuser who had not previously gone public with her allegations.
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When Marina Lacerda, who testified against Epstein in 2019, was asked during Wednesday’s press conference if she wanted to send a message to Trump, she replied, “I don’t want to send a direct message to him. I’m already scared enough.” But she reiterated that her story was true and was not “a hoax.”
Their mere presence served as powerful reminder that these women — ordinary people who didn’t want any of this — are taking on the president of the United States. As Carroll testified in her defamation trial against Trump, his similar claims that she was lying about him led to serious trauma; as she endured a steady stream of death and rape threats from his supporters. It’s easy to forget how terrified these women must be, and how they are only doing this because they believe it truly matters.
Most Republicans appear to believe that Trump has good reason to be worried about what people will learn about him if these files are released. After all, he’s been accused by over two dozen women of sexual assault or abuse — and some were underage at the time of the alleged incidents. At least one accuser has said she was passed off to him by Epstein. Another claimed that Epstein introduced her to Trump, but when Trump eyeballed her, Epstein snapped, “She’s not for you.”
Republicans have supported Trump throughout the many abuse allegations against him, including two adverse civil judgments for his reported assault on Carroll. So it follows that they are continuing the pattern of covering up for their leader, even though most of them must understand that his eagerness to hide the files suggests the contents could be very damning.
Epstein’s reported victims, however, are making this very hard for Republicans. The contrast between Trump’s petulance and the shaky dignity of the women speaking out about Epstein isn’t the only illustration of how difficult this cover-up will be. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., has been embodying the dilemma in a highly dramatic fashion, as is her habit. On Tuesday, she met with the Epstein survivors and was so overcome that she had a “panic attack,” according to reporter Don Lemon, who ran into her immediately after the meeting. (Mace claims to be a survivor of sexual assault herself.) But she swiftly betrayed the women by insisting that Trump is innocent in the scandal, posting on X, “President Trump is the one who is COMMITTED to protecting women and kids.”
Mace surely knows this is a lie — ask E. Jean Carroll. Or Jessica Leeds, who said Trump molested her on a plane in the 70s. Or Jill Harth, who accused him of “attempted rape” in 1997. Or the Miss Teen USA contestants, who said he came into their dressing room in 1997 as they were changing, even as many of them were underage. (Trump bragged about similar behavior to Howard Stern in multiple interviews in the early 2000s.) Or many of the other women who accused Trump of similar behavior. Or hell, the vast majority of Americans, who heard that infamous “Access Hollywood” tape where Trump could be heard boasting that he likes to grab women by the genitals because “when you’re a star, they let you do it.”
Mace is one of the four Republicans who have dared to back the bill forcing the release of the Epstein files. But she’s not the only one who is either deluded or lying about the implications. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., is backing their release, but on Eric Bolling’s show, she insisted that Trump’s cover-up is being run by White House aides against his will — even though the president himself keeps insisting it’s a “hoax” and that’s why the files can’t be released. Bolling, saying something sensible for the first, and perhaps last, time in his life, observed, “He can prove it’s a hoax by releasing it!”
Yes, that is true. If the files show Trump is innocent of any Epstein-related crimes, it would be easy to exonerate him by releasing them. What’s funny, though, is that neither Greene nor Bolling were willing to draw the obvious conclusion from Trump’s refusal to release the documents: He knows he’s in the files, and he doesn’t want the public to know the details. Greene and Bolling really provide a remarkable example of doublethink.
But most Republicans aren’t capable of ignoring the likeliest explanation for why Trump, whose history of alleged sexual abuse and friendship with Epstein are both well-documented, is concerned about the files going public. They’re just assuming there’s a lot of bad stuff about him the FBI turned up. They are reacting like they always do: Covering up for Trump’s crimes and malfeasance. Their clean-up efforts have worked for a decade now, so it’s reasonable for them to believe they could work again.
But this time, they’re facing formidable foils: Epstein’s reported victims. These women survived a sex trafficking ring, after all. A bunch of quisling Republicans kowtowing to their aging fascist leader may seem less scary in comparison.
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