Survivors of Jeffery Epstein’s abuse spoke at the US Capitol on September 5, telling about their years of torment caused by the serial pedophile. They made the simple request that Donald Trump release the Epstein files, which he could do with the stroke of a pen. Files amassed by the FBI and Justice Department since 2005 would likely contain significant evidence of Epstein’s charged and uncharged crimes–victim statements, investigators’ notes, the identity of those who took part and what caused law enforcement to finally start investigating allegations against Epstein.
Donald Trump could have cleared the air and supported the victims by releasing the entirety of the files. Instead, he slapped them in the face, claiming that the entire Epstein tragedy was a “hoax” and refusing to meet with them. The message, from the highest official in the land to those who had suffered sexual abuse as minors, was that they would have no support from the government–a clearcut case of victim shaming.
Anyone who has been involved in child sex abuse crimes knows that there are powerful deterrents to reporting–shame, intimidation, threats and the like. Epstein’s victims have reported that both he and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, threatened them with dire consequences if they disclosed the abuse. When wealthy, prominent people are the criminal molesters, victims are often ignored or discounted. Maria Farmer reported Epstein’s abuse twice to the FBI in 1996, but no action was taken against him until a decade later.
When I took office as Idaho Attorney General in 1983, we put a high priority on protecting kids from physical and sexual abuse. Criminal laws were toughened to prevent abuse and prosecuted when it happened. But, unless young victims feel safe in coming forward to report abuse and testify in court, the effort will not fully succeed. Substantial emphasis on the needs and protection of abuse victims is essential.
Accordingly, we got a victim rights bill passed to ensure the protection and recovery of abuse victims. We worked with county prosecutors to establish county victim assistance programs. Laws were passed to protect victims in the court setting and to allow their stories to be told to juries. I argued a case to the US Supreme Court to allow the use of child statements in court. Most other states saw the need for similar protections.
It is hard to calculate the damage that will result from Trump’s false labeling of the Epstein saga as a hoax. Abuse victims can’t help but read his outburst as a cue to silence their voices. After all, law enforcement ignored Maria Farmer’s abuse reporting for ten years, possibly because Epstein was a wealthy, powerful person and she was a nobody in their view. For the self-described “chief law enforcement officer” of the country, Trump’s reckless claim will further traumatize young victims of sexual abuse.
The Epstein files are not a hoax in any sense. The strange thing about this entire matter is that Trump and his allies have repeatedly pledged that he would release the files. Those files are under his complete control, yet Trump has refused to honor that pledge. Strangely enough, his resistance began in earnest when his Attorney General, Pam Bondi, had the records scoured and told Trump his name appeared “multiple times.”
Some information has surfaced that Trump may have been the one who instigated the investigation of Epstein’s conduct. On September 5, US House Speaker Mike Johnson told a reporter that Trump “was an FBI informant to try to take this stuff down.” Johnson later tried to walk back the statement a bit but could not stuff the cat back into the bag. It may have occurred to the Speaker that this would show Trump knew about Epstein’s criminal activity in the 2005-2006 timeframe.
Johnson’s comment provides some substance to a report that Trump disclosed Epstein’s sexual abuse of minors to law enforcement in order to preempt Epstein from reporting Trump for money laundering activities on behalf of a Russian oligarch. This revolved around property that Epstein told Trump he wanted to buy, but which Trump surreptitiously bought out from under him. Journalist Michael Wolff has written about the unseemly dealing between them. If and when Trump decides to release the unredacted files in their entirety, we may finally learn the truth. If he continues to withhold them, we will have good reason to believe it is because he has something shameful to hide.
In the meantime, Trump should show compassion for Epstein’s victims. He should unequivocally tell the nation that abuse victims will be supported and protected and that abuse by even the rich and powerful will be punished to the fullest extent of the law.