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Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., is bringing a guest to the State of the Union who, at 16-years-old, started helping introduce Jeffrey Epstein to underage girls in the early 2000s after having been exploited by the disgraced financier herself as a minor.
Haley Robson was pressured by Epstein to recruit six other underage girls to perform sexual acts after meeting him in 2003, according to 2006 police documents. After initially resisting his sexual advances, Epstein told her to find him other girls he could use. Robson told police she was paid $200 for each time she brought a contact to Epstein’s home and told police “I’m like Heidi Fleiss,” referring to the American madam known for operating a prostitution ring in Hollywood.
Robson described her relationship with Epstein as part of a Netflix documentary series on Epstein, acknowledging that it had taken her over two years to escape from under his influence.
“I would recruit girls who were friends. I would casually bring it up, and we would drive together to his house. I would take them to his room and then I’d walk out. Sometimes I would wait by the pool. When the girls would leave, Jeffrey would come out and pay me. I probably recruited 24 girls. Those girls brought other girls too. They were all underage,” Robson told interviewers.
Jeffrey Epstein, left, pictured alongside President Donald Trump at 2025’s State of the Union. (Rick Friedman/Rick Friedman Photography/Corbis via Getty Images; Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Robson recalled being “destroyed” by guilt for years afterward.
When asked about why he had selected Robson as his guest on Tuesday, Khanna’s office referred Digital to an online statement.
“Haley Robson was 16 years old when she survived Epstein’s abuse. This campaign to malign her and the other survivors on the night of the State of the Union is shameful. Attack me all you want. Do not attack the survivors,” Khanna said. “I am honored to bring [her] as my guest to Trump’s State of the Union. Their courage moved a nation.”
Robson herself could not be reached for comment.
Top Democrats in Congress are attempting to needle President Donald Trump by bringing Epstein victims as guests to the State of the Union on Tuesday evening, putting pressure on an area of public dissatisfaction and continuing the ways lawmakers have advanced political storylines through the address in years past.
Findings from January indicate that fifty percent of the public are dissatisfied with the way the government has handled the Epstein case, according to polling by SSRS, a political polling group.
Another poll put out by IPSOS, a public opinion research firm, found that 75% of the public believes the government is still hiding secrets from the public about Epstein’s dealings.
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The Department of Justice released a trove of Epstein documents on Dec. 19 following President Trump’s signature on the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November 2025. (Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Although the Department of Justice has released millions of files on Epstein, Khanna, who helped push Congress to vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, is one of many Democrats who believe there’s more. He believes the DOJ still has unreleased information that could help lawmakers and investigators identify possible Epstein co-conspirators that made his crimes possible.
Epstein, a former financial advisor, died while incarcerated in 2019 on charges of sex trafficking minors, leaving behind questions about who may have participated in his crimes or known about them.
Other high-ranking Democrats who have also demanded accountability will follow Khanna’s strategy, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
“I’m proud to bring Dani Bensky, New Yorker and survivor of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse, as my guest to the State of the Union to demand the truth. Dani has turned unimaginable pain into unrelenting advocacy. Survivors deserve justice. Trump must end the cover-up and release the full Epstein files — NOW,” Schumer wrote in a post to X.
Similarly, Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, will send an Epstein survivor to the State of the Union in his stead.
“Annie Farmer is a courageous survivor of Epstein’s abuse. I’ve invited Annie to the State of the Union so she can join other survivors and remind the President of his refusal to release all the Epstein files,” Garcia wrote.
Garcia himself will not attend the State of the Union. Instead, he will join a Democrat-led counter event at the Lincoln Memorial.
Using the State of the Union to advance a political storyline isn’t unique to Epstein.
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In 2018, at the height of the MeToo sexual abuse movement, several Democratic lawmakers brought victims of sexual exploitation to put pressure on Trump for past comments he made about his behavior around women and highlight ongoing allegations of misconduct on Capitol Hill.
U.S. President Donald J. Trump stands at the podium during his State of the Union address on January 30, 2018. (Win McNamee/REUTERS)
In the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, Democrats invited officers who had defended the building against protesters, while Republicans invited the innocent family members of those caught in the costly legal crossfire of the fallout.
Although those appearances generated headlines and underscored key political themes, Khanna hopes to continue the public pressure on Epstein will do something more.
He wants prosecutions.
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“Former Prince Andrew PrinceAndrew is being investigated and prosecuted in Britain. In Norway, they are prosecuting a former prime minister. In France, they’re investigating government officials and business leaders,” Khanna said.
“It’s time for the Department of Justice to begin investigations and prosecutions,” he added.
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