Transcription
Thank you, Mr. Ranking Member. Thank you to all the witnesses. Thank you for your bravery, um, your conviction, and your determination.
Today, I want to ask you first about Ghislaine Maxwell. Miss Wild, in a written victim impact statement that was filed in court, uh, you said that the abuse you suffered was quote, deliberate and systematic, designed by Epstein and facilitated by his staff and associates, including Ghislaine Maxwell. Correct?
Um, I don't, I don't, I never, I don't think that's my, I never had any relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell.
Can you repeat that?
Uh, in a victim impact statement in Jane Doe One and Jane Doe Two versus the United States.
Oh, yes. Yes. Okay. I'm against the, I'm sorry, I've never met Ghislaine Maxwell, but yes, that's what the other Jane Doe. Miss Bensky. At Maxwell's trial, survivors testified that Maxwell participated in the sexual abuse of girls. Maxwell recruited victims for Epstein, including at schools, and that Maxwell once told a 14-year-old girl that she quote, had a great body for Epstein and his friends. Isn't that what was testified to?
Yeah. I also, my experience was not with, with Maxwell, but I am sure that that is true. You know.
Miss Jones, after Maxwell was found guilty of unconscionable acts, Politico reported that Maxwell's lawyer, this guy right here, said that there's a good chance, and for good reason, that Maxwell would get a pardon. You have publicly stated that quote, clemency would be a slap in the face to all survivors. Right.
I agree with that wholeheartedly. I think everyone on this panel agrees. Probably Maxwell hasn't shown any guilt, hasn't shown any remorse, hasn't shown any ounce of accountability for what she did. I've introduced the House resolution condemning clemency for Maxwell. I hope everyone here will join me because we have to do everything in our power to block a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell.
Miss Hirs, I want to turn to another topic. Following the money. You're aware of Epstein-related financial records called suspicious activity reports, SARs reports, that have not been produced. Correct?
Yeah.
And just to level set, a suspicious activity report is a report produced by a bank anytime a customer performs a questionable transaction. It turns out there were numerous such reports filed by banks with the Treasury Department for Jeffrey Epstein, including large cash withdrawals and even requests that Epstein made for the creation of bank accounts and credit cards for teenagers and people who had nothing to do with his family. Isn't that right?
It is. The Senate Finance Committee has found Epstein made wire transfers that are detailed in these suspicious activity reports, SARs reports, to the tune of $1.5 billion with a B, and include the names of women and girls he may have trafficked, as well as the names of his potential clients. I believe that this is paramount to the investigation of this sex trafficking ring. Would you agree with that?
I do agree with that. If we're serious, if we're serious about following the money, I believe that these SARs reports must be disclosed by the US Treasury Department now, immediately, today.
Last topic. Last topic, Miss Hirs. Um, can, can you give me this? These one, two, three, four, five, six people, they must be disclosed today. What do you think about that?
Yes.
I, I absolutely agree with you.
They may be among us today.
Wow.
Perpetrating a continuation of a sex trafficking ring. Now, Mr. Coven, DOJ has not released all of the raw interviews and transcripts from the more than 40 victims of the DOJ's that were investigated in the DOJ's 2008 investigation. Right?
Correct.
And DOJ has not released all of the video footage collected at Epstein's properties. Correct?
Absolutely. Not only that, I've actually walked through the home of Jeffrey Epstein after the incidents occurred and saw where the video cameras were located and no longer existed.
Wow.
Epstein tried to maintain his power over those he abused by taking away their chance at justice. We cannot let that happen. Donald Trump, I'm calling on you to listen to survivors, release all of the documents, unredact all these people, prosecute the rest of these people, and investigate the remaining. In addition, Ghislaine Maxwell should never, ever, ever receive clemency. That monster should not be given a pardon and ensure every enabler of Epstein faces consequences, no matter who they are or their political affiliation. Thank you, and I yield back. Thank you. Now we'll have Representative Stanbury.
All right. Well, good morning, everyone. And I just want to start out by acknowledging our survivors who are here with us and to those of you who spoke. People tell you all the time that you're brave, and you are, but I know that it comes at great cost to yourself, great cost to your families. But I want you to know, and part of why I asked the staff to hold up this picture is because you are literally changing the face of the planet by standing up and telling your stories. And even though the system is failing you again right now in Congress, you are changing the world by helping people who are survivors, who are victims, who have never had their stories told publicly to know that they're not alone. So, I want to say thank you for everything that you are doing. And I know that it's hard, but what you're doing is changing the planet right now. So, thank you for holding that up.
I came, I got in early yesterday and, um, I went for a walk. I walked to downtown here in West Palm Beach and then I walked across the bridge. I think like millions of people across the country, I've seen, of course, the documentary that documents what happened here in West Palm Beach. And I wanted to walk across the bridge that survivors had told this story themselves of literally having been driven across. But I don't think that I truly understood the power, the wealth, the abuse that has happened in this community until I saw the mansions and the estates, the private clubs, and how inequality is literally written into the landscape here. And the reason why I wanted to start there is because there has been a lot said about the system of abuse that Epstein and Maxwell perpetrated. There has been a lot said about how grooming occurred, how recruitment happened, and how he psychologically threatened, abused, and used all these different tactics to abuse girls and women. But I want to make one thing clear here today, and I want to ask some questions about this. Is we talk about the system failing? The system didn't fail. The system was designed to protect the wealthy.
The system was rigged from the beginning when those mansions were built. The system was built on inequality. The system was built on exploiting people. It's written into the landscape here in West Palm Beach. It's written into the landscape in New Mexico where Jeffrey Epstein went to Santa Fe with his rich friends and recruited girls that he exploited and then trafficked to other rich friends that he flew to New Mexico. This wasn't failure. This was a system. It was a system of exploitation. It was a system of abuse. And it was a system of power. And that's one of the things that I want to really dive into here with my short time today. Because the officials, the federal, the state, the local, the attorney generals didn't just fail to investigate these cases. They chose not to investigate them. They chose to take bribes and kickbacks and campaign donations. The police department here in West Palm Beach chose to take a donation from Jeffrey Epstein. The police and sheriffs and others in other cities and states chose to take take donations. And right now, while this is not a partisan issue, this administration is choosing to not investigate the crimes that are in these files. This administration is choosing to release the names of survivors and not perpetrators. This administration is choosing to not investigate or indict a single man who committed rape of a child or woman that is in the files. And this administration is choosing to gaslight the American people. While all over the world, foreign officials are arresting, investigating, a prince has been taken down. And here in the United States, our Department of Justice, which is sitting on millions of files, is refusing to act. That is not a failure. That is a choice. That is a system built on wealth, inequality, and exploitation of women, of girls, of children, and a system built to protect the powerful. That is a system. And it is a system that Jeffrey Epstein developed here in West Palm Beach. And then it is a system that he, he exported to places like the Virgin Islands, to New Mexico, and to all of the places that he operated. And so I want us to think about as we're moving forward with this investigation, we can investigate all the hundreds or even thousands of micro decisions that were made by local police, by sheriffs, by state police, by the Department of Justice, by AGs who chose to turn a blind eye and not prosecute these crimes. But the only way we are actually going to get justice in this case is by changing the system itself. And that's exactly what you guys are doing. And it's powerful. You're literally taking on the entire world right now and a system of wealth and inequality. So I want to ask the survivors, because I feel like you get asked all the time to retell your stories, and I've read your stories. Anyone can go in the files and read your stories, but I want to hear from you what justice would look like in this case. So maybe starting here in the end.