As continued outrage grows over the Epstein scandal and the apparent cover-up of it that has lasted for years, a collection of Epstein victims spoke in the nation’s Capitol and commented to NBC News on the situation. Amongst much criticism of successive administrations’ handling of the subject, the survivors did again vindicate Trump and noted that they never saw him do or heard of him doing anything inappropriate with Epstein.
For reference, their comments came during an NBC News exclusive interview conducted in a panel-type format by NBC personality Hallie Jackson, who asked a group of Epstein victims and their families about their experience with Epstein. The interview came alongside a press conference conducted on Capitol Hill by Epstein survivors who pressed the president to release the Epstein files.
Their comments and sharing of their experience come alongside President Trump’s somewhat odd, seeming equivocation surrounding the files’ release. On one hand, he has had the DOJ interview Ghislaine Maxwell and make other moves toward establishing clarity on what happened, but on the other, he has referred to the whole scandal as a “Democrat hoax.”
A particularly notable moment during the Epstein interview came when Jackson asked the gathered group of survivors and family members if the current president had been directly seen doing anything inappropriate with Epstein, or if any of them had heard of anything like that happening. They informed her that it had not, an answer that landed with loud and clear finality.
Specifically, Jackson asked, “I do have to ask, and I know, and it’s just something that I think we’re compelled to at this moment with the attention on President Trump, with these questions around a pardon, did anybody see or hear of the President himself doing anything inappropriate, as it related to Jeffrey Epstein?” She was told, with heavy finality and surety, “No.”
Watch the moment here:
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Alongside that interview came the presser on Capitol Hill. During it, one of the Epstein victims and accusers, Marina Lacerda, noted that she is “Minor Victim 1” in Epstein’s 2019 federal indictment in New York. Speaking about her experience, she said, “I was one of dozens of girls that I personally know who were forced into Jeffrey’s mansion on 9 East 71st St. in New York City when we were just kids. Today is the first time that I ever speak publicly about what happened to me.”
Continuing, Lacerda said, “I was only 14 years old when I met Jeffrey.” She added, choking up as she spoke, “It was the summer of high school. I was working three jobs to try to support my mom and my sister when a friend of mine in the neighborhood told me that I could make $300 to give another guy a massage.” He continued, “It went from a dream job to the worst nightmare.”
Another victim who spoke in the presser was Annie Farmer. Farmer has alleged that, when just 16 years old in 1996, she was flown to Epstein’s ranch in New Mexico and was assaulted there alongside her sister, Maria. She alleged the incident was never investigated properly, saying, “I am now 46 years old; 30 years later, we still do not know why that report wasn’t properly investigated, or why Epstein and his associates were allowed to harm hundreds, if not thousands, of other girls and young women.”
Farmer added, “Not only did many others participate in the abuse, it is clear that many were aware of his interest in girls and very young women and chose to look the other way because it benefited them to do so. They wanted access to his circle and his money. Their choice to align with his power left those of us who had been harmed by this man and his associates feeling very isolated.”
Ghislaine maxwell pic By Ghislaine Maxwell – I. Maxwell, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15965324