WASHINGTON — Victims of late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his incarcerated accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell said in a Wednesday press conference on Capitol Hill that they are putting together a list of the pair’s rich and powerful “clients” allegedly linked to their sex trafficking scheme.
Lisa Phillips, a model who was introduced to the disgraced financier in the early 2000s, said that she and other survivors of the perverted Epstein-Maxwell axis have been discussing organizing a roster of influential associates who Phillips alleges “abused them.”
“We know the names,” Phillips told reporters and supporters. “Many of us were abused by them.”
“Now, together, as survivors, we will confidentially compile the names we all know who were regularly in the Epstein world. And it will be done by survivors and for survivors — no one else is involved,” she added.
Nearly a dozen other victims or family members of victims who were abused by either Epstein or Maxwell or both met at the US Capitol Wednesday to call for Congress to pass a discharge petition that would force the release of all files currently held by the federal government about the sex trafficker, who was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell on Aug. 10, 2019, while awaiting federal trial.
That petition, which was introduced by Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), was still two votes shy of the 218 votes needed for passage as of Wednesday morning.
All 212 Democrats are expected to back the petition, along with Massie and GOP Reps. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado.
Greene went a step further Wednesday, vowing she would be willing to disclose “every damn name” of the alleged abusers from the House floor.
Ahead of the congressional press conference, Phillips was joined at a rally by family members of Virginia Giuffre; Annie Farmer, the sister of fellow Epstein accuser Maria Farmer; Liz Stein and others.
Giuffre committed suicide in April, while the Farmer sisters were among the first to report sexual abuse by Epstein to the NYPD and FBI in 1996.
Wendy Avis, Haley Robson, Jena-Lisa Jones, and Jess Michaels, who alleged that Epstein raped her in 1991, also spoke, with Michaels saying for years she thought she was “the only one” victimized by him.
The Department of Justice and FBI revealed in a July 6 memo that there are more than 1,000 victims of Epstein’s sex trafficking network.
One victim who came forward for the first time Wednesday was Marina Lacerda, a Brazilian who worked for Epstein from ages 14 to 17 after having been groomed and asked to give an “older guy a massage” for $300.
British victim Anouska De Georgiou also shared that she had been threatened by both Epstein and Maxwell if she ever spoke up about the alleged abuse.
Chauntae Davies, who was photographed in 2002 giving former President Bill Clinton a massage in an airport lounge, also spoke about Epstein’s friendship with Donald Trump years before he sought political office.
“His biggest brag forever was that he was very good friends with Donald Trump,” Davies said. “He had a framed picture on him on his desk, with the two of them.”
Trump, who broke off contact with Epstein in the mid-2000s before the financier first pled guilty to Florida sex crimes — including soliciting a minor — and registered as a sex offender, called the Epstein inquiry a “Democrat hoax” on Wednesday.
“Nobody is ever satisfied,” the president told reporters. “They’re trying to get people to talk about something that’s totally irrelevant to the success that we’ve had since I’ve been president.”
Robson, who claimed she was a registered Republican, told reporters that Trump’s remarks were upsetting — and asked for the president to personally meet with her.
Bradley Edwards, one of the attorneys for the victims, urged lawmakers to pass the discharge petition — and said Americans would be “appalled” at what the feds have hidden from the public.
“Unfortunately, all of the documents and evidence that we have worked so hard to gather hide behind protective orders, confidentiality agreements and bank secrecy laws,” Edwards said.
“That is why this discharge petition is so important — while we have seen the documents, you haven’t.”
Edwards added that the agencies involved in holding back information include the DOJ, CIA and the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which recently received a request from House lawmakers for suspicious activity reports.
He also took credit for having fought the federal government in court for more than a decade to get accountability for victims, launching a slew of civil suits that ultimately resulted in the criminal prosecution of Maxwell, who is now serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking conspiracy.
Edwards alleged that Epstein and Maxwell were part of “a complicated scheme, where others should still be investigated.”
“Without these people, he could not have done this,” the attorney went on. “Certain of his friends he farmed out … the women he was exploiting to.”
“I don’t think he wrote the names of those people down,” he added, in reference to rumors that Epstein kept a ledger of fellow perverts who preyed on girls as young as 14.
“In New York City, countless young women were abused by him,” Phillips also said of Epstein. “Everyone in the industry knew, yet he was too powerful to stop. He had friends in all of our entertainment and arts, and his value to those friends made him untouchable.”
“Who was he to our government that he was allowed to operate openly for decades?” she asked. “Why was he allowed to sponsor visas for young models using their immigration status as leverage to abuse them and silence them?”
“Epstein was not just a serial predator — he was an international human trafficker,” Phillips concluded. “And many around him knew this, many participated, and many profited. And yet he was protected.
“I know that the files contain the names of powerful men who have been shielded because of their fame or their fortune.”
