Tuesday, May 26, 2026

My name is Maria Farmer. I am the whistleblower who reported Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, Les Wexner, and others to the FBI 30 years ago in 1996. Today I apologize for my appearance. I was not well enough to attend this hearing in person and have recently been released from the hospital. That's the result of thirty years of fighting. For three decades, I have carried a weight that no survivor should ever have to bear. I reported what I believed were heinous crimes against children, and these individuals responsible were involved in an international pedophile ring. I reported their crimes in real time, and the government continues to ignore me to this day. In 1996, I reported Epstein and his co-conspirators to my local New York City Sixth Precinct. The Commanding Officer told me local police could only address the local arson crimes, and he instructed me to immediately report the whole story, spanning several states, to the FBI. He told me that it was vitally important that I tell the whole story to the FBI, which I did. The FBI asked me questions, said they were familiar with some of the perpetrators I identified, and gave me every reason to believe they would respond. That failure--that single moment when law enforcement refused to take action--set off a cascade of injustice and grave repercussions to my sisters, my family, and so many others, and to me personally, including my health and well-being. The FBI's decades of failure and inaction led to countless more girls and young women suffering abuse and trauma that could have been prevented. Individuals like Virginia Giuffre, Anouska de Georgiou, Chauntae Davies, Marijke Chartouni, Dani Bensky, Jena-Lisa Jones, Ashley Rubright, and Jennifer Araoz among others. Each survivor represents a life changed forever, suffering that could have been spared if the FBI had done their job in 1996. The failures did not stop there. In 2006, the FBI tracked me down, stating that they searched for me because they knew I had reported Epstein ten years earlier and no one else had. They urged me to testify in a federal criminal trial against Epstein and his co-conspirators, and they promised that they would "get him" this time. I trusted them again, relied upon them again, and they betrayed me again. Rather than following through with their promises, the government offered Epstein a sweetheart deal and shielded powerful individuals from accountability, and they persist in granting special treatment to certain people to this day. I have received death threats from Maxwell and her associates--including one instance where they threatened to burn my apartment down--and those threats have not stopped. I have been subjected to more than three decades of ongoing harassment, vicious challenges to my truthfulness, and real danger from internet instigators, trolls and more. Meanwhile, my numerous efforts to obtain my 1996 report from the FBI have been rejected again and again. In 2023, I wrote a letter to the government, asking for an investigation of the government's actions or inactions in response to my 1996 report. The Inspector General replied, saying they were busy with other things but would get back to me, and they never did. I sent multiple FOIA requests for my FBI report records. In January 2025, in response to my most recent request, the government said that they would get back to me in November 2027, a delay of nearly three years. I finally received a letter saying they looked at my complaint, took some kind of action, and the matter was "addressed," but what they did was a secret. With no other choice, I filed an administrative claim against the government and then a lawsuit. Since then, virtually nothing has happened, and I'm left waiting and wondering what is next. With the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, after years of efforts to get my records, an FD-71 form was released for the first time, confirming part of my 1996 whistleblower report and vindicating some of what I had said for years. However, the full extent of what I told the FBI was not in that document, so the release of the Epstein Files provides only partial relief for me. Where is the evidence I provided of my sexual assault, and that of my sister Annie? Why won't the FBI release my full report? The failures of those sworn to protect us have overwhelmed me. Doing my civic duty has cost me dearly. The stress of this trauma, the government hiding and refusing to turn over written confirmation of my 1996 report, along with the ongoing harassment and death threats, have contributed to me developing serious health issues, including Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a brain tumor, and recently Addison's disease. In the last month, I have spent 23 nights in hospitals, including multiple nights in the ICU. Along with my health, it has robbed me of my career. In 1996, I was fresh out of graduate school, and living the life that I had always dreamed, creating and selling art in New York City. When I was assaulted, threatened and held captive, my career was halted, and the trajectory of my life was thrown off course. So many others had their dreams shattered by these crimes, and they could have been prevented. Individuals like Virginia Giuffre, who is the backbone of this case and remains the inspiration behind this fight. She's the reason my sister and I came forward publicly, so we could stand together. She faced also relentless attacks to her credibility, yet she fought. While Virginia may no longer be physically beside us, she has been our shining star and guiding light and remains so today. The rest of humanity owes it to her legacy to continue this quest. We are still walking down the trail that Virginia blazed for us. So let me be direct about what we need. The federal government owes us explanations, accountability for injuries caused, and a promise of systemic change when crimes against children are reported. Accountability should start with the government's acknowledgement and responsibility for their repeated failures to act in response to my 1996 report. The government needs to take responsibility for endangering and injuring girls and young women. The government needs to start telling the truth, face my lawsuit, and be held to account to me and to all others who have been harmed. Had the FBI done their job, thirty years of child sex abuse and trauma could have been avoided. I want my full FBI file, including the 1996 and 2006 reports, including my art. We also need the FBI and the Department of Justice to fully investigate every lead in this case. We need investigation and prosecution of everyone responsible, both men and women. This includes the officials who enabled the 2008 sweetheart deal, the other perpetrators and the many co-conspirators, and anyone who is currently shielding powerful individuals from justice. No more protection for the guilty. There must be no pardoning or commuting the sentence of Maxwell, who sexually abused me, my minor sister, hurt so many girls and young women, and personally threatened to kill me, has shown no remorse, and has demonstrated no basis on which to believe she would ever be truthful. As the Epstein case whistleblower, I have waited three decades for justice. It's a miracle I'm still fighting, especially considering what the stress of three decades of this case has done to my health and well-being. I will keep fighting for justice and transparency, for a better, safer future for the next generation. Thank you.

Hello. My name is Courtney Wild. When I was 14 years old, I was abused by Jeffrey Epstein. He abused me until I was 17 years old. What happened to me was terrible. But what happened after that--by our own government--changed my life just as much. I came here today to ask for one simple thing: Make sure this never happens again. I filed a case under the Crime Victims' Rights Act because the government secretly made a deal with Jeffrey Epstein. They signed a non-prosecution agreement. They made that deal behind closed doors. And they never told me. They never told any of us. Instead, they sent letters telling us to "be patient," even though they knew that the case was already over. For years, I believed there was an investigation happening. There wasn't. When I found out the truth, I went to my lawyer, Brad Edwards. He took my case in 2008, and he fought for me against the government--for over a decade--without ever being paid or knowing what would happen next. We wanted to do the right thing for all the victims. Together, we just wanted answers to a simple question: How could this happen? We had to fight all the way to the Eleventh Circuit, which took years, just to get the emails between the government and Jeffrey's lawyers to help us understand what happened, When we finally got them, they showed something I will never forget-- The government wasn't just negotiating with Epstein's lawyers, it looked like the government was trying to make him happy and make sure that he was okay with the punishment that they were going to give him. It seemed like they must have forgotten that there were 40 of us kids that he had abused. I was so confused because where I come from, if you commit a crime, you go to jail. I have never heard of the feds letting you help them decide which crimes they are going to charge you with or if you're cool with how long you're going to spend in jail, But I thought, what do I know? Maybe that's how it works for rich guys. Finally, after more than 10 years of fighting, in 2019, a federal judge finally ruled that my rights--and the rights of the other victims--were violated by the Non-Prosecution Agreement. But there was nothing that could be done about it. There was no remedy. I just want to say that again: The court found that the government violated the law . . . and nothing happened. That means the law--the Crime Victims' Rights Act, 18 USC 3771--does not matter. And if a law has no consequences, it doesn't protect anyone. I was lucky. I had a lawyer willing to fight for me for over a decade. Most victims will never find that. So, I am asking you to fix that. Fix the Crime Victims' Rights Act so that it actually helps victims in the future. I have my own ideas, and I know my lawyers have more ideas, but I really hope that if nothing else comes of this, we can finally get this legislation right. There needs to be a clear definition of what it means to "meaningfully confer" with victims. I still don't know what that means but I know that it never happened for me. There must be real consequences and penalties in the statute that apply automatically when a court determines that a victim's rights have been violated. The answer after years and years of litigation cannot be that nothing happens when you finally win and prove that your rights were violated. If prosecutors choose to ignore victims' those victims' voices must be put on the record, memorialized, and preserved--especially when a deal is made behind closed doors. There needs to be an attorneys' fee provision, so victims can find lawyers who will stand up for them. If those changes had existed back then, maybe what happened to me--and so many others--would not have happened. My case against the government for violating the rights of at least 40 of us Palm Beach kids was happening from 2008 to 2019. Do you know how many other girls Jeffrey abused in that time period? I bet the FBI knows. If they don't know, I bet my lawyers can tell them. But the point is that Jeffrey Epstein continued to abuse other girls in New York, in New Mexico, around the world, and even still here in Florida after he was released in 2009 and everyone knew it, There were lawsuits. There were so many news articles. He was a registered sex offender. And still--nothing was done by the government. Not until 2019, when he was finally arrested. None of those girls should ever have been abused. Jeffrey Epstein should have been in jail. If he had been in jail like any other man who did the same thing as him would have been, then he would not have had a single victim after 2009. But he wasn't and he did. He abused so many girls after 2009. At the exact same time that I was asking the government why he got that deal and why they violated my rights. That is the real injustice here, That is the real thing that we need to prevent from ever happening again in this country. I was there for his bail hearing in 2019. I spoke to the judge right in front of him about how dangerous he was. His bail was denied. And for the first time, I thought we might finally get justice. But a month later, he was dead, Once again, the system failed us. Someone let him die in a secure prison ensuring that he would never be held accountable for what he did to me when I was a kid. Since then, there have been prosecutions. There have been civil cases. There have been settlements. But none of that changes what was lost. And none of that fixes what allowed this to happen in the first place. Now Congress is holding hearings. This should not be about politics. It should not be about Democrats or Republicans. It should not be about headlines. It should be about two things: Letting victims peacefully move on with their lives and making sure this never happens again. Right now, many of us cannot move on. Victims are struggling. Victims are being investigated in their home counties. Victims are checking into hospitals. This may make some people feel like something is finally being done. But you should ask yourselves: What is the point--and when does it end? Because there needs to be an end date to this investigation. If the point is to figure out who helped Jeffrey Epstein commit his crimes--then look at the professionals that were in his life. If the point is to prosecute other men who abused girls--then tell the FBI to ask the girls who abused them. If the point is to understand how the government failed victims--my case already proves that. If the point is to fix legislation like the Crime Victims' Rights Act so that it actually helps people--then let's do that now. Instead, what we see is a continued investigation into a man who has been dead for six years. And the longer this goes on, the more victims continue to suffer. We can't take much more. We fought for years to have Jeffrey Epstein arrested. We fought to hold people accountable. We did not fight so that this would turn into something political--or so that victims would be used again. I lost years of my life fighting this. So did many others. We did that so the next victim wouldn't have to. Please don't let that work be in vain. Let's end this the right way, Thank you.

Hello, my name is Dani Bensky, I was abused by Jeffrey Epstein in 2004-05. That was 8 years after the FBI was first alerted. Although my abuse is nowhere near "easy" to discuss and I live with diagnosed PTSD from that experience, my story is one of the safest to tell. The key abuser who caused me physical harm is dead. It's imperative to understand that the stories that you are hearing today are a tiny fraction of the whole. I am one of more than 1,200 girls and women, and each story is unique. I don't face the same level of threats of defamation lawsuits and serious risks to my health and physical safety as some of my survivor sisters do. The main perpetrator in my story is no longer in a position of power. While there are co-conspirators who need to be held accountable for the parts they played in the operation of my abuse, I was trafficked only to Epstein, which was unfortunately not the case for so many others. I'm here to tell you my story, which happens to fall in the middle of the 30 years of the Epstein timeline. I was groomed prior to meeting Jeffrey Epstein. I grew up in the dance world. Perfectionism and body image issues ran rampant in a world built on hierarchy and at times, secrecy. Older teachers, artistic directors, and company members had unique access to young dancers. I was accustomed to private lessons with a ballet mistress that I was not allowed to tell anyone about. The secrecy was because she hand selected dancers to develop. I would go to her apartment, strip off my sweatpants to my leotard and tights and have my body be criticized, critiqued, and manipulated, not so different from what I initially experienced with Jeffrey. I was trafficked to Jeffrey. It happened in broad daylight on Manhattan's Upper East Side. I had two recruiters, one was a late teen, the other was only 15 years old and just trying to escape her own abuse and make it for herself. There was a process of systematic manipulation. Jeffrey weaponized my aspirations and dreams by speaking the language of dance, making false promises, and continuing to prey on my body image issues. My mom had been diagnosed with a brain tumor. I had seen the name "Epstein" listed on a donor wall and believed that his wealth and power had come from the medical profession. I brought him her scans. I was hoping to understand her diagnosis. He told me that he could help ensure the best doctors and care, or he could have it taken away. He held my mother's brain scans over me, giving me an ultimatum: either recruit more girls or do more for him. I didn't recruit anyone and instead endured the abuse. In May of 2005 my mother had a successful operation at Mount Sinai to remove the tumor. Jeffrey was not in charge of her care, nor did he provide financial support for her surgery. Once my mother was rehabilitated, and I knew she would live, I finally extricated myself from Jeffrey Epstein and his web. The Epstein case demonstrates that institutional systems have failed survivors time and time again. I was first subpoenaed in 2008 for an interview. I was truly terrified entering the FBI. I was just 20 years old and without a victim's rights advocate or a lawyer; I didn't know I was entitled to those protections. No one told me I was safe, and many parts of the interview felt like an interrogation. Jeffrey had already threatened my friend, and he had told me that I would be charged with prostitution if I ever interacted with law enforcement. That thought was pervasive, it sat deep in me, haunting me. Shame cloaked in fear prevented me from speaking out. To say that I feared for my safety is an understatement. He made it clear that he held the cards. If authorities had listened to Maria Farmer in 1996, when she first reported Jeffrey to the FBI, hundreds of girls, including myself, might have had a completely different life trajectory. Yet, time and time again, these systems have failed survivors. The systemic failures of survivors extend beyond the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislane Maxwell, as documented by the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Survivors from across the nation contacted their congressional leaders and fueled this fight. Survivors, advocates, and constituents across the country wanted to see change. Yet, despite the Act's passage, a moment in which survivors hoped and believed that we might see some reckoning, we were met with yet another harsh disappointment. Prior to the Transparency Act passing, we met with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle where we made two things abundantly clear. 1. We are not political, we are human. 2. Protections for survivors are imperative, no redactions for perpetrators. Out of an abundance of caution, my lawyer then teamed up with another law firm representing survivors, and together they submitted 350 victims' names to the DOJ as names that needed to be redacted prior to the deadline on December 19th. In that first round of documents, I saw my name in two places. Then in the January dump, there were more and the redactions were far worse. Seeing my information exposed in those documents triggers intense PTSD. There's a feeling that shoots through my body like a hot flash on a bullet and a nausea that lives in the deepest parts of my being. With every exposure survivors are revictimized. I am just one of hundreds of the survivors exposed. These files displayed my name, phone number, old address, where I worked at the time, where I was studying, and other identifying information. What's important to understand is that these documents weren't somehow just overlooked and not redacted at all, on one document my nickname is redacted, while Danielle Hannah Bensky is left completely unredacted. A few weeks ago, a legal analyst reached out to share that yet again, my name appeared in a 3rd batch of only 20 documents. After my lawyer continued to contact the DOJ on multiple occasions for protection my name and information remained attached. These documents hold disturbing, yet incomplete accounts of my abuse, and they were viewable not only by the entire world, but also by my child, my students, my students' parents, my friends, my employers, my colleagues, and my family. I'm public, however in my FBI 302, a Jane Doe who has never wanted to be revealed was exposed. She is someone I have tried to protect. This outing of survivor names does real irrevocable damage. The passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act was meant to be a moment when survivors could regain their power and finally obtain the truth, transparency, and justice they deserve. It was a time for our institutions, created to protect the American people, to, for once, side with survivors. As survivors we have said time and time again this is not political. This requires coming together and not prioritizing political showmanship. I recently had the opportunity to return to Jeffrey's mansion on the Upper East Side. Normally, when you're a child, everything feels massive, and when you revisit those same places as an adult, they seem smaller. That was certainly not the case here. Jeffrey's mansion on the Upper East Side of Manhattan still felt immense, the doors towering and the architecture looming, designed in a way to make you feel small. This reflects something deeper. Our entrenched systemic failures have allowed powerful people like Jeffrey to make others feel small. When institutions prioritize protecting the powerful and their enablers over protecting victims, individuals like Jeffrey become normalized. If we continue down this path, the question isn't whether the abuse will happen again, but who? Who is the next Jeffrey Epstein? What will be the next mansion used to exploit privilege and enable the abuse of young girls? I'm always asked "what does accountability look like?" Getting perpetrators out of positions of power, seeing arrests be made, and a complete culture shift to not only believe our most vulnerable populations, but protect them. This moment is critical. It is time to reform our system to protect our survivors, not perpetrators, and to ensure the truth can come to light.

Chairman, Ranking Member, and Members of Congress, my name is Jena-Lisa Jones. I was 14 years old when I was abused by Jeffrey Epstein in Palm Beach. It has taken me many years to find my voice. For a long time, I stayed silent because I was afraid--and because I did not understand why this happened to me. When I finally came forward, I made a commitment to use my voice responsibly. I am here today to do exactly that. Last September, I went to Washington, D.C., alongside other survivors, with a simple request: transparency and accountability. We asked you to help us understand how Jeffrey Epstein was given a non-prosecution agreement, even though the government had evidence that he had sexually abused dozens of children, including me. We asked how he was allowed to leave jail in 2009 and continue harming young girls. We asked for answers--answers that would hold our government accountable for its actions. We still do not have those answers. Instead, what we received caused harm all over again, including to many of our survivor sisters who had never come forward before and who never wanted their names or abuse to become public. The Department of Justice released documents that exposed our names, our Social Security numbers, and deeply personal information. Survivors' identities were made public. Husbands learned about the abuse of their wives for the first time. Children learned about the abuse of their mothers from reporters, from strangers on the internet, and, in some cases, from other kids at school. Some survivors learned that friends had also been abused only because they saw their names in those documents. Others saw the most intimate details of their own trauma publicly exposed. Our privacy was violated. The government promised us, over and over again, that our information would be protected and properly redacted. Those promises were broken. This is not the transparency we asked for. It is not the transparency our government should ever have wanted, allowed, or defended. In fact, this was not transparency at all. This was re-traumatization. We came to you seeking answers for why our rights were violated in 2007. And in the process of asking for those answers, our rights were violated again. I want to believe that each of you in this room is listening because you truly care--not just about us, but about every child in this country who survives sexual abuse. If Congress and the Department of Justice truly want to do right by survivors, the path forward is not complicated: acknowledge the failures--when Jeffrey Epstein was set free in 2009, and again when our privacy was shattered earlier this year. Take responsibility. And provide meaningful remedies to the women who have been harmed, over and over again. Please do not force us to relive this through more litigation against the very government that promised to protect us, You are the government too. You have the power to make this right--to ensure the Department of Justice does right by survivors and gives us some measure of justice, however small, for these profound violations of our privacy. Please, pass a law requiring the Department of Justice to compensate victims for the harm that was caused by releasing their names and information. That would show that this is truly about helping victims. With respect to your ongoing investigations, please remember this: Jeffrey Epstein is dead. Ghislaine Maxwell is in prison. But for many of us, this is not in the past--and it may never feel like it is. It continues to live on through repeated exposure, through ongoing investigations, and through being asked, again and again, to relive what we endured. Mr. President, do not pardon Ghislaine Maxwell. If there are other men who hurt women, then hold them accountable. But please--leave the survivors alone. If you have subpoenaed someone to testify before your committees and she tells you she is a victim, listen to her. Believe her. Respect her trauma. Sharing our stories should be a choice--the choice I was able to make today. It should never be something survivors are forced to do. The girls who were groomed by Ghislaine Maxwell and abused by Jeffrey Epstein should not be treated like criminals. Please, I implore you: learn the stories of the women who have been harmed before you force them to testify--before a room full of strangers--about the worst moments of their lives. Jeffrey Epstein destroyed so many of our lives, and Ghislaine Maxwell helped him do it. Do not blame their survivors for the crime of abusers. That is not how this story should end. Find a way to bring closure to the story of Jeffrey Epstein--to allow survivors, and this country, to finally begin to move forward so that one day (and I pray soon) Jeffrey Epstein's name is no longer something we are forced to hear every single day. I am not here today only to talk about the past. I am here for the children who are sitting in classrooms today--children who may be vulnerable, confused, and unsure of what is happening to them. When I was a teenager, I did not have the language to understand what was happening to me. I did not know who to tell. I did not know where to go. Many of us didn't. We were young, and we were manipulated. We were left without the tools or the support systems we needed. That is something Congress can change. Every middle school and high school student in this country should receive education on the signs of sexual abuse and exploitation--what it looks like, how to recognize it, and how to safely report it. Schools should have trained adults and accessible resources so that no child feels as lost or as alone as we did. I have worked with other survivors to start a nonprofit organization called The Survivors, Inc., because not everyone who has been abused has access to strong legal representation, therapy, or support systems. I became a certified life coach because I believe in giving others the support I wish I had. Through The Survivors, we are able to provide life coaching services to people who have been abused so they can begin to find their way forward. I am proud of that work. But individual efforts are not enough. Real change requires leadership at the national level. You have the power to make sure that what happened to us does not happen again on this scale. I believe one of the most important places to begin is in our schools. Train teachers. Educate students. Give children a place to turn when they feel they have nowhere else to go. Together, we can do better--for the next generation--through education, awareness, and making sure help is always within reach. Most importantly, I can't imagine how busy you must be, so thank you all for taking the time to be here today.

Hello, I am Lauren Hersh, CEO of World Without Exploitation (WorldWE), the largest national coalition in the United States dedicated to ending human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. Our coalition represents nearly 200 organizations across the country, and our work is grounded in close partnership with survivors to advance survivor-centered policy, education, and advocacy. I want to begin where this conversation must begin: with survivors. What we have witnessed in the handling of the Epstein files is not simply a bureaucratic misstep--it is a profound and deeply troubling failure to protect the very people the system is meant to serve. Survivors were promised dignity, confidentiality, and care. Instead, we have seen a breakdown in the protection of their identities and personal information. That failure is unacceptable. The Department of Justice did not comply with the requirements of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. This raises urgent and fundamental questions: Why did this happen? Where, procedurally, did the system fail? Who made the decisions that led to this outcome? And what safequards were either ignored or insufficient? These are not abstract questions. They demand clear, transparent answers. Survivors--and the public--deserve a full accounting of what went wrong inside the Department of Justice. But accountability cannot stop at process. It must extend to outcomes. We must now turn to the question of accountability moving forward--both criminal and civil. Recent assertions by Kash Patel that there are no credible investigative leads, echoed by Todd Blanche, are deeply concerning. From my perspective as both the CEO of WorldWE and a former prosecutor, that conclusion is not only premature--it is inconsistent with the available record. There is an abundance of potential investigative leads that warrant serious, independent review, The notion that no viable paths forward exist undermines public trust and risks foreclosing justice before it has even been pursued. We are looking at a pattern of systemic failure: A failure to protect survivors as promised A failure to ensure transparency and proper process And increasingly, a failure to pursue meaningful accountability This cannot stand. There are known areas that demand further investigation. These include individuals whose names have surfaced repeatedly, as well as institutions that may have had knowledge of or facilitated abuse. This includes major systems such as Mount Sinai Health System and New York-Presbyterian Hospital, as well as academic and other institutional actors. Each of these potential leads deserves careful, independent examination through appropriate legal channels. Every credible lead should be assessed through a structured, impartial process--whether through independent hearings, investigatory bodies, or prosecutorial review. Dismissing them outright is not due diligence; it is abdication. And let me be clear: the burden should not fall on survivors to prove their worthiness for justice. The onus is on investigative bodies--on prosecutors, on the Department of Justice, on all relevant authorities--to do their jobs thoroughly, transparently, and with integrity. Survivors have already carried far too much. They should not have to carry the failures of our institutions as well. What is needed now is not defensiveness, but accountability. Not closure, but investigation. Not dismissal, but action. Thank you.

It took a great deal of courage for me to return to West Palm Beach today, so I ask for your understanding if I become emotional. In 2008, I had just turned 18 in Uzbekistan when I met the owner of MC2 Model Management, Jean-Luc Brunel. Coming from a financially unstable background, I was the perfect target for coercion. I was promised a modeling career beyond my dreams. In less than six months, MC2 obtained an O-1 visa for me--a feat nearly impossible for a teenager with almost no experience. I did not have the documentation to earn that visa; that was the "Epstein magic." By May 2009, I was in New York City, isolated and controlled in a manner I had never experienced. Within three months, the agency claimed I owed them over $10,000. I had no family, no friends, and no money. MC2 controlled every aspect of my life: where I went, how I dressed, and how I looked. They provided just enough of an allowance to keep me afloat, but never enough to be independent. Less than a month after I arrived in the U.S., my agency sent me to the home of a registered sex offender while he was supposedly in jail. I was introduced to his girlfriend under the guise that she was a photographer helping me build my pollfolio. Jeffrey Epstein was supposed to be in a jail cell in June 2008, yet I met him in his home right here in West Palm Beach. Jean-Luc Brunel brought me to West Palm Beach to have dinner with Epstein in July, furthering the grooming and manipulation. Epstein used the names of powerful politicians to demonstrate his influence, telling me he was the investor at the very agency that promised me a career. He spoke of his arrest as if it were a game, bragging about girls visiting his cell and his friendships with authorities. Jeffrey offered me a position at the Florida Science Foundation to handle phone calls to help with my financial "troubles." One day, his masseuse called me into a room where I was molested by Epstein. For the following three years I was subject to ongoing rape and stripped of my dignity. Jeffrey Epstein was under house arrest for the molestation of underage girls at the exact time he was abusing me. The fact that he could commit these acts made justice feel impossible and stole my ability to seek help. He raped me repeatedly. For months, I was summoned to his residences right here in West Palm Beach. My agency even relocated me to Miami to keep me closer to him, and only after he was released from house arrest was I allowed to return to New York, where my nightmares continued. Seeing a man supposedly under arrest living so comfortably stole my ability to seek help. I was scared for my life and the lives of my family. Those years of abuse turned into a decade of fear that I still carry today. I eventually found the courage to reach out for help. I stepped forward alongside other survivors, hoping those who allowed this to happen would be held accountable. I kept my identity protected as a "Jane Doe." To wake up one day and see my real name mentioned over 500 times in unsealed documents was a stab in the heart. While the rich and powerful remain protected by redactions, my name was exposed to the world. Now, reporters from across the globe contact me. I cannot live without looking over my shoulder. I can only imagine the long-term impact this "mistake" will have on my life. I wanted to be a doctor growing up, so I want to leave you with this story. In the mid-1800s, a doctor named Ignaz Semmelweis discovered something life-saving. He realized that doctors were performing autopsies and then immediately delivering babies without washing their hands. He identified that "cadaverous particles" were being transferred to mothers, causing them to die in agony. He had the evidence. He had the solution. He begged the medical establishment to simply wash their hands to save lives. But the doctors were offended. They found it easier to protect their own reputations and maintain the status quo than to admit they were the ones causing the harm. They chose their pride over the lives of women, and Dr. Semmelweis was ignored, ridiculed, and eventually cast out. I see this same pattern today with the handling of these files. Releasing my name while redacting the names of the powerful is not a "mistake"--it is a choice. It is a choice to prioritize the comfort of the institution over the safety of the survivor. The evidence is right in front of us, yet those in power would rather watch us suffer the consequences of their exposure than do the right thing and hold the true perpetrators accountable. They would rather we keep dying--socially, emotionally, and physically--than admit their own complicity. I am no longer a "Jane Doe" hidden in a file. I am a woman, a fighter, and a witness. And I am telling you: it is time to wash your hands and finally give us justice.

My name is Sky Roberts, and I am the little brother of Virginia Roberts Giuffre. I'm here today because without Virginia's courage and her story, we would not be having this conversation about accountability. In the summer of 2000, just steps away from this courtroom, at Mar-a-Lago, Virginia was recruited by convicted trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. She was only 16 years old, a child who had just finished 10th grade, when she began being trafficked. Before her passing, Virginia gave sworn testimony exposing this for what it truly was: a global trafficking operation enabled, protected, and funded by powerful people. For years, survivors have been asked the same question: "Who were the names?" The truth is, many survivors stay silent because many of these individuals still hold power, wealth, and influence in our society. Point blank, Period, that is dangerous. No survivor should have to risk their safety just to be believed. But Virginia, she did it anyway. She stood up when others were afraid, told the truth under oath, and faced people she knew were powerful. Today, we lean on her courage once again, because she believed accountability should reach everyone involved, no matter their status or influence. If Virginia were here today, she would say these words herself. Since she cannot, I will say them for her as her little brother. With that, I'd like to share Virginia's own words from her sworn deposition dated May 3, 2016: "They trafficked me to many people. Ok, please name a person that Ghislaine Maxwell directed you to have sex with. Prince Andrew. Ok, who else? As a whole, they both trafficked me to many people. Ok, Can you please tell me to whom Ghislaine Maxwell asked you to go have sex with another person. Glenn Dubin. Who else? Well, [Redacted] is another one. Ghislaine Maxwell asked you to have sex with [redacted]? And Glenn Dubin and Steve Kauffman were, like I said, the first people I was sent to after my training. And where does Alan Dershowitz fit into this group of people? Same. I can't tell you piece by piece by piece who. I know Glenn Dubin was first. Ok. And I know Steven Kauffman was one of the first that I was sent to. Alan Dershowitz could have been between there--between, sorry, between Glenn and Steven." This is only a small sample of the thousands of stories that still remain untold. But the question today is no longer whether names exist. The question is: What will Congress and the Department of Justice do about it? Even if only a handful of names are known publicly, will there finally be investigations and accountability? With that, I'd like to turn it over to my wife, Amanda Roberts. First, I want to thank this committee, Representative Garcia, and everyone who continues to fight for accountability, transparency, and truth in the Epstein case and most importantly, for standing with survivors. Virginia's story was harrowing, but her courage was extraordinary. We are talking about millions of files: sworn testimony, depositions, emails, flight records, bank records, photographs, videos, and evidence collected over decades. Evidence that points to a network, not just two people who trafficked and abused over 1,200 victims. Epstein and Maxwell did not act alone. So when the Department of Justice says there is "nothing to see here," survivors know what that sounds like. It sounds like a cover-up. Virginia wrote in Nobody's Girl "Don't be fooled by those in Epstein's circle who said they didn't know what Epstein was doing." That sentence should guide this committee's work. Because "I don't recall" is not enough. When people like Les Wexner are asked about Epstein's finances and alleged connections to this network, the public deserves real answers. When Howard Lutnick has given changing accounts about his association with Epstein, that deserves scrutiny and resignations. When Former Prince Andrew denied knowing Virginia, despite evidence and testimony surrounding that encounter, that deserves scrutiny and investigation. And when Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche met with Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted sex trafficker accused of perjury, and shortly afterward she was moved to a minimum-security prison, that demands answers. So today, we ask for four things. First: Congress must hold the Department of Justice accountable, including contempt proceedings as the record has shown that the DOJ has Violated the law. Second: state investigations must continue and expand--in New Mexico, New York, Florida, the Virgin Islands, and everywhere this network operated. Third: this committee must issue further subpoenas and require alleged co-conspirators, enablers, financiers, and witnesses to testify under oath. Fourth: follow the money. The financial records are not secondary--they may be the key to exposing the full network. Suspicious payments, shell entities, possible tax violations, money laundering, and transactions connected to trafficking and abuse must be investigated aggressively. Because financial crimes can lead to real prosecutions. And finally: The Epstein and Maxwell investigations must be reopened. Not partially. Not quietly. Fully. Survivors and the public deserve the truth, and enablers must no longer hide behind wealth, power, or silence.

Ranking Member, and Members of Congress, my name is Spencer Kuvin, and I have represented numerous survivors of sexual exploitation and trafficking over the years, including the first victim to come forward in the Epstein investigation here in Palm Beach. I am here today because what happened during the prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein was not simply a failure of judgment--it was a systemic failure of justice. In Palm Beach County, credible evidence of widespread sexual abuse involving minors was presented to state prosecutors. Law enforcement initially identified dozens of victims. The conduct was organized, repeated, and devastating. Yet instead of a prosecution that matched the scale of the harm, what followed was a secret agreement that minimized the abuse and insulted the children who had been abused. Despite the efforts of some fantastic Federal agents, the U.S. Attorney's office in the Southern District, decided to have secret meetings with Epstein's attorneys. The U.S. Department of Justice in conjunction with the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office colluded in secret to quietly shelve this case with minimal state charges that branded and treated 15 and 16 year old child victims as "prostitutes"--a sweetheart deal for Epstein and four named, as well as "unnamed" co-conspirators. The Southern District U.S. Attorney at the time, Alex Acosta, spearheaded what every attorney looking at it subsequently would describe as the worst non-prosecution agreement every entered by a U.S. Attorney. This sent a message. It told victims that even when the evidence is strong, accountability is negotiable if you're rich and powerful. This awful non-prosecution agreement effectively shut down further federal charges for the events they were investigating in Florida. As I mentioned that tragic deal was negotiated and signed in secret. Not only was it kept secret from the world, it was kept secret from me as an advocate for multiple victims at the time and it was kept secret from the victims of the crime. I was forced to file motions with the court to compel its disclosure, and even take the matter up to the appellate court before it was finally provided to the victims, a full year after it was signed. The victims were not consulted. Their advocates like me, were not consulted. Victims were never given an opportunity to be heard. This was not just a moral failure--we believed it was a violation of law. Under the Crime Victims' Rights Act, originally passed in 2004, and subsequently amended in 2006, 2008 and 2015, victims have the right to confer with prosecutors and the right to be treated with fairness and respect. Yet those rights were ignored at the very moment they mattered most--when decisions were being made that would determine whether justice would ever be pursued. The result was predictable. Survivors were retraumatized--not only by the abuse they endured, but by a system that excluded them from the process designed to protect them. And the public was left questioning whether justice can be trusted when powerful interests are involved. This failure by the Department of Justice was the subject of litigation in the case of in In re Wild. What that case ultimately exposed is a gap in the law--one that must be closed. Today, I want to offer a clear path forward. First, Congress should amend the Crime Victims Rights Act to make explicit that victims must be notified and given a meaningful opportunity to confer before any non-prosecution agreement or deferred prosecution agreement is finalized. Second, there must be enforceable remedies. Rights without remedies are not rights--they are suggestions. Victims should have standing to challenge agreements reached in violation of the Act, and courts must have the authority to review and, where appropriate, void those agreements. Third, transparency must be the rule, not the exception. Secret agreements that extinguish criminal liability--particularly in cases involving multiple victims--should not exist in our system of justice. And finally, there must be accountability. When prosecutors fail to uphold victims' rights, there must be consequences sufficient to ensure that these failures are not repeated. This is not about relitigating the past. It is about ensuring that what happened here never happens again. The survivors in this case showed extraordinary courage. They came forward. They told the truth. They trusted the system. The system failed them. Congress now has the opportunity--and the responsibility--to fix it. Thank you. I look forward to your questions.

Dear Ranking Member Garcia and Democratic Members of the Committee, I am writing to you as a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. What was done to me--and so many other young women and girls--was not the result of chance or individual failing. It was the result of a network that operated with impunity, protected by wealth, power, and the silence of institutions that should have stopped it. Navigating the federal investigative and justice systems as a sexual trafficking survivor gave me my first painful lesson in how institutions can fail and oppress the very people they claim to protect. I saw firsthand how systems purporting to help can actually cause harm, how institutional responses reflect who is deemed worthy of protection, and how structural barriers compound individual trauma, When institutions fail to address the concerns of sexual abuse victims, the betrayal cuts at a much higher cost. It perpetuates a cycle of abandonment, one that creates long-term psychological barriers preventing survivors from seeking the help they need and deserve. It also tells survivors implicitly and explicitly that their abuse was their fault, that their trauma didn't deserve recognition, and that their recovery wasn't worth institutional investment. I have witnessed this betrayal not only in my own experience, but in the lives of fellow survivors. My friend Maria Farmer was the first survivor to report Epstein. She filed a report with authorities in 1996 and she was repeatedly ignored. The profound sense of abandonment that followed has never fully left her. I know that feeling well. The consequences of that failure have been grave. Despite the enormous public attention the Epstein case has received, Epstein's powerful network of enablers and protectors have yet to face justice. Only Maxwell has been convicted--and even that single shred of hard-won accountability is now under threat. When perpetrators are not held accountable, a message is sent to survivors and to the public alike that exploitation is tolerated, and that victims are not believed. Today, survivors like me have little trust in the very systems structured to provide us security, accountability, and restitution. If the institutions of this government will not believe us, who will? I urge you to use the full weight of your oversight authority to ensure that the survivors of Epstein and Maxwell are heard, believed, and afforded the justice that has been denied to us for decades. This starts with accountability by the United States for the FBI's failure to act in response to, or outright rejection of, Maria Farmer's 1996 report of Epstein's crimes to the FBI. I also implore you to take every action within your power to ensure that Ghislaine Maxwell is not pardoned. Pardoning her would erase the only measure of justice we have ever received and be a devastating and unconscionable blow to every survivor. Our pain is not disposable and we cannot continue shielding the powerful from accountability. Respectfully, Marijke Chartouni Ranking Member Garcia and Democratic Members of the Committee, I write this letter to you today strengthened by the unwavering support of my fellow survivor sisters, and I speak not only for myself, but for thousands of young women who endured abuse in silence at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein and those within his trafficking network. For decades, our voices have been silenced, our stories distorted, we have faced relentless harassment, and the federal government has failed to pursue justice. But we will not be intimidated. I personally experienced severe abuse as a young woman at the hands of Epstein, and I was groomed and trafficked by Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as others. My autonomy was taken. Speaking out is not easy; to relive such moments is gut-wrenching, but I do so with the strength of my fellow survivors in my heart and with the hope that by telling the truth, we can protect young women from falling victim to those who have yet to be held accountable. This all stems from past blunders and inactions by the federal government. The United States government and law enforcement were notified decades ago of Jeffrey Epstein's disgusting crimes, including through Maria Farmer's initial 1996 FBI report--yet they failed to act. That failure to respond meaningfully and purposefully allowed Epstein's abuse to continue, resulting in irreparable harm to countless young women. Had the appropriate authorities taken decisive action when first alerted, as their job dictates, decades of survivor sexual abuse and trauma could have been prevented. This inaction cannot be forgotten, it cannot continue, and there needs to be accountability. What we are asking for is the bare minimum of justice. We have yet to see a single perpetrator or enabler within Epstein's criminal enterprise fully brought to justice. Nor has an explanation been provided as to why Maria Farmer's report to the FBI in 1996 was ignored. Instead, sensitive information about survivors has been exposed, while potential enablers have remained shielded from scrutiny. We deserve full transparency and accountability about the scale of the abuse orchestrated by Epstein and the individuals who allowed it to continue unchecked for so long. All survivors and Jane Does deserve full protection, thorough investigations need to be opened, and those who perpetrated and enabled this abuse need to be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Federal institutions entrusted with justice, including the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, cannot continue to let survivors down. Survivors can no longer be failed by delay, secrecy, or inaction. The government must also be held responsible for its past inaction. That is why I am writing to you today. We must do better, for our sisters, our mothers, and our daughters. We demand justice. We demand accountability. And we will not rest until this is delivered. Sincerely, Rachel Benavidez Dear Ranking Member Garcia and Democratic Members of the Committee, thank you for holding this hearing and giving us the opportunity to share statements on the record. My name is Annie Farmer and I was 16 years old when I met Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. My sister Maria Farmer has also provided testimony on the harm that unfolded because the FBI did not heed her 1996 report about the abuse she endured on Les Wexner's property in Ohio and the nightmare I experienced at Zorro Ranch in New Mexico. I have witnessed first hand the tremendous negative impacts that carrying this burden had on her life and the fallout of the institutional failures--of countless law enforcement officials, elected leaders, and those meant to protect survivors--for hundreds of girls and women who experienced similar abuse. I second her requests for the government to finally take responsibility for their inaction, to explain how this happened, and promise that it will never happen again. The DOJ, FBI, and law enforcement across the country must hold all those engaged in harming so many girls and women accountable to the fullest extent possible. I also want to speak directly to the Republican lawmakers who I recently learned from Chairman Comer were considering a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell in exchange for her testimony. Not only is a pardon or commutation completely unnecessary--given the potential for her to be granted limited immunity for any testimony she gives to the HOC--I have no faith that she would provide accurate information. Maxwell was previously charged for lying under oath, charges she faced specifically related to lies she told about me. Even entertaining such a pardon is a deeply insulting slap in the face to my family, the other women who testified against her, and all the victims who have clung to her sentence as the one piece of justice that we have seen in this case. The fact that a potential pardon would be causally discussed as a possibility, leads me to believe that our leaders still do not understand the institutional betrayal we've endured for three decades. For those in favor of a Maxwell pardon, I want to briefly share why it would feel so harmful to me personally. Despite my disappointment in the FBI's inaction to hold Epstein and Maxwell fully accountable, I took a leap of faith and agreed to testify about my experiences when the FBI interviewed me again in 2019. After Maxwell was arrested I spent a year in lock down attending bail hearings virtually and dreading the trial. I rearranged my work obligations repeatedly to account for changes in the schedule. I spent multiple days in a small room in the federal courthouse anxiously awaiting my testimony. I was retraumatized when I was aggressively cross-examined, and then spent that Christmas awaiting a verdict, six months waiting for sentencing, and years waiting as Maxwell exhausted her appeals. I did all of this because I understood the significant harm Maxwell had caused not just to me, but how she terrorized my sister Maria with her threats, and the role she played in the abuse of brave survivors like Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who I have had the honor of calling a close friend, as well as countless others. Let me be clear: any commutation of Ghislane Maxwell's sentence or pardon for her crimes would be a tremendous insult to survivors and send a dangerous message to other victims of sexual crimes who already are often hesitant to report because of the systemic barriers they face. I ask the DOJ to permanently close the door on this, and instead open the door on a criminal investigation into the enables of Jeffrey Epstein and Maxwell's abuse. Respectfully, Annie Farmer