{"id":870729,"date":"2025-09-05T21:13:04","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T02:13:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/05\/epstein-victims-push-back-against-trumps-hoax-label\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T21:13:04","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T02:13:04","slug":"epstein-victims-push-back-against-trumps-hoax-label","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/05\/epstein-victims-push-back-against-trumps-hoax-label\/","title":{"rendered":"Epstein Victims Push Back Against Trump’s ‘Hoax’ Label"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Topline<\/h2>\n

Survivors of abuse from Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell pushed back on President Donald Trump\u2019s characterization of the ongoing Epstein files release as a \u201choax,\u201d which he doubled down on in comments Wednesday.<\/p>\n

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Epstein survivor Marina Lacerda speaks at the press conference hosted by Rep. Thomas Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna on Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

AFP via Getty Images<\/small><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Key Facts<\/h2>\n
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\u201cWe are tired of looking at the news and seeing Jeffrey Epstein’s name and saying that this is a hoax,\u201d said Marina Lacerda, who identified herself as one of the victims Epstein abused and spoke out for the first time on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Both Lacerda and survivor Haley Robson insisted the scandal was \u201cnot a hoax,\u201d with Robson, who called herself a registered Republican, adding \u201cwe are real human beings, this is real trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Trump was defiant Wednesday, renewing his attacks on what he called \u201ca Democrat hoax that never ends\u201d at a separate press conference with the president of Poland.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom what I understand, thousands of pages of documents have been given, but it\u2019s really a Democrat hoax,,\u201d Trump said, before pivoting to brag about turning Washington, D.C., into a \u201ctotally safe zone\u201d and \u201cending seven wars.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Crucial Quote<\/h2>\n

\u201cI talked to President Trump back in 2009 and several times after that\u2014he didn\u2019t think it was a hoax then,\u201d said Brad Edwards, the attorney representing some of the victims. \u201cIn fact, he helped me,\u201d Edwards added, noting Trump \u201cgot on the phone. He told me things that were helping our investigation. Now our investigation wasn’t looking into him, but he was helping us then. He didn’t treat this as a hoax.\u201d Edwards said he hoped Trump would return to his old campaign position and demand more transparency in this case. \u201cThis about-face that occurred, none of us understand it. In fact, I don’t understand how this is an issue that’s even up for debate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Key Background<\/h2>\n

The survivors spoke out at a press conference hosted by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., two sponsors of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a bill that would require the federal government to release the remaining Epstein files. Speaking on Wednesday morning, Khanna stressed the bipartisan nature of the movement. “We begin the work of bringing this country together,\u201d Khanna said. \u201cProgressives, independents, moderates, and yes, MAGA supporters, to demand truth and justice.” Massie is attempting to force a floor vote on the bill using a discharge petition, which will succeed if every Democrat and at least six Republicans sign on. Only four Republicans have signed on to the discharge petition as of Wednesday morning\u2014Massie, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., and Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C. Greene spoke after Massie and Khanna, insisting \u201cthis is an issue that doesn\u2019t have political boundaries\u201d and that it \u201cgrieved me to watch the arguments and debates take place among my colleagues and even the administration.\u201d <\/p>\n

What Is The Status Of Massie\u2019s Discharge Petition?<\/h2>\n

As Congress returned from its recess Tuesday, Massie filed his discharge petition. The discharge petition requires a majority of members, or 218 signatures, to succeed. Khanna previously said he believed every Democratic House member would sign on to the effort, and predicted 12 Republicans would join as well. Twelve Republicans are also listed as co-sponsors of the bill, even though only four have signed the petition so far. Some Republicans have already indicated they will not sign Massie\u2019s petition, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., who was originally a co-sponsor of the bill. <\/p>\n

How Has Republican Leadership Responded?<\/h2>\n

Republican leadership in Congress introduced another resolution Tuesday that directs the Oversight Committee to continue its ongoing investigation into the Epstein files. So far, the government has handed over more than 33,000 files over to the committee, but Democrats noted most of these files were already in the public record or contained little new information. The Oversight Committee publicly released those files<\/a> Tuesday after Massie began his discharge petition campaign. Johnson met with some of Epstein\u2019s victims in a closed-door meeting Tuesday, but later confirmed he would not support Massie\u2019s discharge petition. \u201cIt does not adequately protect the innocent victims, and that is a critical component,\u201d Johnson told ABC News<\/a>. The House speaker later reiterated his support for the Oversight Committee\u2019s investigation, which he claimed was \u201cgathering everything that was requested in the discharge petition, plus even more.\u201d The White House also appears to be mounting a pressure campaign against Massie\u2019s petition, telling NBC News<\/a> \u201chelping Thomas Massie and Liberal Democrats with their attention seeking, while the DOJ is supporting a more comprehensive file release effort from the Oversight Committee, would be viewed as a very hostile act to the administration.\u201d Massie on Wednesday morning shot back at this comment<\/a>, calling it \u201ca tacit admission the Oversight Committee data release is woefully incomplete.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Zachary Folk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Topline Survivors of abuse from Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell pushed back on President Donald Trump\u2019s characterization of the ongoing Epstein files release as a \u201choax,\u201d which he doubled down on in comments Wednesday. Epstein survivor Marina Lacerda speaks at the press conference hosted by Rep. Thomas Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna on Wednesday. AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":870730,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,4741],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-870729","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-epstein","8":"category-victims"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=870729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/870730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}