For survivors, families and friends, the vote is a watershed moment in a decades-long fight for justice that saw them pitted against not just Epstein, his money and his powerful friends but, at times, the US government and justice system.
One survivor, Annie Farmer, said her older sister Maria had tried to report the abuse they both suffered at the hands of Epstein and Maxwell to the FBI in 1996, but their attempts went nowhere.
The bill to release the Epstein files passed the House of Representatives on Wednesday (AEDT).Credit: AP
At numerous junctures and under various administrations, justice was denied, Farmer said. The most recent example she gave was the Trump Justice Department’s decision not to release more files, and the transfer of Maxwell to a less restrictive prison where she has reportedly received special treatment.
“This is not an issue of a few corrupt Democrats or a few corrupt Republicans,” Farmer said. “This is a case of institutional betrayal.”
Three members of Congress – Republican Thomas Massie, Democrat Ro Khanna and former MAGA Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene – joined the news conference on Capitol Hill. Greene and Roberts embraced when the conference concluded.
Greene said the survivors had fought some of the world’s most powerful men, including the president of the United States, referring to Trump. The two former allies have spectacularly fallen out – for several reasons, including Greene’s demands to release the Epstein files. Trump now calls her “Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Greene”.
Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has become one of the most prominent people in conflict with Trump.Credit: Bloomberg
“I was called a traitor by a man that I fought for six years for,” Greene said. “Let me tell you what a traitor is. A traitor is an American that serves foreign countries and themselves. A patriot is an American that serves the United States of America and Americans like the women standing behind me.”
Greene said the real test for the bill would be whether the Department of Justice actually releases the files, or whether new investigations into Epstein’s links to prominent Democrats – ordered by Trump last week – would stymie the process.
“The list of names that these women privately hold – and they hold it because of the fear in their heart of what would happen to them if they released it on their own – will that list of names come out?” Greene asked.
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Later, Sky Roberts said it was time for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, to come to the United States to testify before Congress. His evidence has been sought by Democrats on the House oversight committee, although they cannot compel him to attend.
“He should come to the US and answer,” Roberts said. “I think the UK is doing far more than the United States in the sense of holding people to account. He needs to answer for the actions he has created. I believe my sister.”
Roberts said he wanted to make sure his sister’s voice was heard at this pivotal moment. “This is the moment she fought for,” he said.
