‘No One Told Me I Was Safe’: Epstein Survivors Appear in First Public Congressional Hearing

It’s been one insult followed by another since the Justice Department dumped a trove of Epstein files onto its website in February—or what the DOJ has since called “the end” of the files. And while this sick streak has slighted everyone, it’s especially slighted the survivors of the disgraced financier, whose names, details, and nude images were carelessly revealed in the documents—mistakes that have been followed up with zero apology, zero justice, or zero invitations to testify. So survivors on Tuesday appeared at a shadow hearing—for the first time—to take matters into their own hands. 

The public hearing took place in Palm Beach County, Florida, where survivors added detail to their stories, and talked about the infamous sweetheart deal Epstein snagged with federal prosecutors in Florida in 2008. (No Republicans were present.) As it was a shadow hearing and Dems have no subpoena power, witnesses were not compelled to testify under oath. 

“These documents hold disturbing, and yet, incomplete accounts of my abuse,” Danielle Hannah Bensky, one of the survivors, said in her opening statement. “And they were viewable not only by the entire world, but my child, my students, my students’ parents, my friends, my employers, my colleagues, my family. In public. However, in my FBI-302, a Jane Doe who has never ever wanted to be revealed was exposed.” 

One of the big controversies around Epstein’s sweetheart deal is that the victims were never informed of the agreement—and instead told that the case was still under investigation. Courtney Wild, who was 14 when she first met Epstein, affirmed this detail when asked by Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.) whether she had still been contacted by the DOJ even after it was decided he would face no federal charges. “Yes,” she replied. “They sent me a paper in the mail, my attorneys have it, saying it was going to be a lengthy process, saying they were doing everything they could to put him away.”

“So that letter they sent you was a lie, they lied to you?” he replied. “Yes,” she said. 

Prior to the plea deal being struck, many victims were subpoenaed—an experience Bensky called an “interrogation.” “No one told me I was safe, and for many parts of my interview, it felt like an interrogation. Jeffrey had already threatened my friend, and he told me that I would be charged with prostitution if I ever interacted with law enforcement. He made it clear that he held the cards.” 

“The passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act,” she continued, “was a moment in which survivors hoped and believed that we might see some reckoning. But the system, yet again, failed survivors.” Bensky’s name was one of 350 that lawyers ensured would be redacted in the release of the Epstein files—though she said she saw her name mentioned twice. 

Shortly after the February dump, 20 Epstein victims had condemned the DOJ for failing to properly redact information and exposing their details—and one of their attorneys, speaking to ABC News, said there were “literally thousands of mistakes.” “We are getting constant calls for victims because their names, despite them never coming forward, being completely unknown to the public, have all just been released for public consumption.” 

In recent months, the administration’s refused to apologize to the victims for this error, nor do anything to investigate the hundreds of powerful men mentioned in the documents. Despite multiple reports of missing files, the DOJ insists it is done with the files—though it’s for this reason Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was hit with a lawsuit last month.

When confronted in February, about a week after the “last” of the files were released, former AG Pam Bondi flamed their appearance at a hearing as “theatrics.” Despite trying to weasel out of a subpoena to talk about her botching the Epstein files because she’s been fired from her post as AG, Bondi will speak to the Oversight Committee next week.

“We’re going to be talking to [her] next week,” Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.) said to the victims. “Do you have any suggestions on what we should ask her?” 

“I think there’s a lot to ask her,” Jena Lisa-Jones replied. “But… do we believe anything that’s going to come out of her mouth?” She continued that if so, she wants to ask: “Who are we covering for? You were willing to lose your job to cover up for these people—what do they have on you?” Damn. I have a few guesses.