Epstein Victims Aren’t Happy With Democrats. Here’s Why.

For months, Democrats have fancied themselves to be champions of Epstein victims, framing their push to release documents as a righteous quest for justice. But victims themselves are calling out the charade. They see what's really happening: House Democrats are weaponizing the Epstein files against Trump, while treating victims like collateral damage.

In recent weeks, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have released cherry-picked emails and photos that served no other purpose than to give the false impression that Trump was connected to Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal activities. The problem? Their strategy backfired spectacularly. The new revelations have instead highlighted connections to people in the Democratic orbit, making their partisan exploitation of the files look even more cynical. For example, last month, Democrats leaked a small batch of curated, doctored emails they believed would damage Trump. Republicans responded by releasing more than 20,000 emails, shattering that narrative. The fallout ensnared Larry Summers, Bill Clinton’s former Treasury secretary and an Obama economic adviser, along with Virgin Islands Delegate Stacey Plaskett, Obama White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler, and even House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Now, survivors are speaking up about how Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have handled this process. According to CNN, multiple Epstein survivors voiced serious concerns during a private video call earlier this week with female Democratic lawmakers. They made it clear: the intermittent, selective publication of documents and photos is distressing and harmful. Four sources familiar with the call confirmed that survivors feel this way.

The video call included members of the Democratic Women's Caucus, several Epstein survivors and their representatives, and several female House Democrats. Some of those lawmakers acknowledged the problem. They told survivors they understood their distress, and shared concerns about how the releases were being handled. Democratic Rep. Melanie Stansbury, who sits on the House Oversight Committee, promised to relay survivors' concerns to the committee's top Democrat, Rep. Robert Garcia.

ICYMI: Epstein Files Have Been Released, And Democrats Won’t Like These Photos

Stansbury went further, revealing she had already spoken with committee lawyers about the criteria for selecting which photos to release. She made clear she was unhappy with the minimal notice she received before the committee dropped new material. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who serves on both the Democratic Women's Caucus and the Oversight Committee, backed up Stansbury's assessment. Pressley told the group she's committed to ensuring lawmakers don't inflict additional harm or trauma on Epstein survivors through careless releases.

One source told CNN that some survivors did receive a heads-up from the oversight committee that new photos would be released on Thursday, though it is not clear how much detail, if any, about the contents of the images were shared ahead of time.

After members advocated to provide survivors notice in advance of releasing materials, Garcia informed Democrats on the oversight committee on Thursday morning ahead of the release what was included and shared that the survivors’ legal representatives were notified on Wednesday, according to an adviser familiar with conversations.

The whole episode reveals what this has really been about. Survivors want justice and sensitivity. Democrats want to score political points against Trump. When women who had interacted with Trump around Epstein came forward to say they never saw him engage in illegal conduct with underage girls, Democrats suddenly lost interest in elevating those survivors. Their stories didn't fit the narrative, so they were discarded.

The Epstein files deserve to see the light of day, and now they are, after four years of the Biden administration sitting on the files. Survivors deserve justice and respect. But Democrats have turned this into a partisan hit job, using victims as props when convenient, and ignoring them when their testimony doesn't serve the cause.

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