Victim-survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking circle have united and pledged to release their own list of known abusers, as US lawmakers continue to call for more files from the Epstein investigation to be released to the public.
Standing together on the steps of the US Capitol on Wednesday, nine female Epstein accusers detailed their experiences of abuse by the disgraced financier during a two-hour news conference.
“We are here demanding accountability, and I’m demanding justice,” said Lisa Phillips, one of the nine women.
“Congress must choose. Will you continue to protect predators, or will you finally protect survivors?”
“Us Epstein survivors have been discussing creating our own list,” Phillips added. “We know the names. Many of us were abused by them.”
“We will confidentially compile the names we all know were regularly in the Epstein world. It will be done by survivors and for survivors. No one else is involved.”
Phillips urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release all the information it has from the investigation, adding that many victims were afraid to go public with the names themselves out of fear of being sued or attacked.
Theresa J Helm, one of Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell’s victims, gave a powerful address at the conference, sharing that she “was systematically recruited, trafficked across this great nation, groomed and assaulted.”
“Systems require support. There are others that are complicit, that have caused harm to women and children, that have benefited from that harm, and as it stands at this moment, have enjoyed impunity and dodged accountability,” Helm said, calling for action from the DOJ in releasing the Epstein files and names of the perpetrators.
“Systems built with a root of corruption, violence and deceit, always crumble. That time is coming. Your pseudo power has diminished. It is our time in the power of justice, of common sense. It’s our system now.”
The women also paid tribute to one of Epstein’s most prominent accusers, Virginia Giuffre, who passed away in April 2025. Giuffre was widely known for her efforts to expose his sex trafficking network, which she was recruited into at the age of 16 by Ghislaine Maxwell.
“Virginia Giuffre’s heroism for speaking her truth, her humility, bravery and love ended my 14 years of silence. She is the heart of this fight,” said Annie Farmer, speaking at the Capitol on behalf of her sister, Maria, who reported Epstein to the FBI in 1996.
US president Donald Trump has been under intense scrutiny for his seemingly close relationship with Epstein, which Trump denies and claims the pair fell out in the early 2000s.
One of the women at the Capitol news conference, Chauntae Davies addressed a question about Trump and Epstein’s relationship, saying one of the sex offenders “biggest brag forever was that he was very good friends with Donald Trump.”
“[Epstein] had a framed picture of [Trump] on his desk, with the two of them,” Davies said.
When asked about the news conference and the survivors’ calls for action, Trump dismissed the situation as a “Democrat hoax that never ends”.
The news conference was organised by Representatives Thomas Massie (Republican for Kentucky) and Ro Khanna (Democrat for California), who are pushing to collect 218 signatures — half the House of Representatives — to force a vote to compel the DOJ to release everything in the Epstein files. That means six Republicans must support the plan.
“It’s shameful this has been called a hoax. This is not a hoax,” Massie said.
“There are real victims to this criminal enterprise and the perpetrators are being protected because they are rich and powerful.”