Transcription
We're so grateful to be joined by Jeffrey Epstein survivor Annie Farmer. Annie, thank you so much for taking the time to come back on the show. Uh, as you know, members of Congress got a chance to view the files in an unredacted setting today. Here's part of what Republican Thomas Massie had to say after that.
>> We went in there for two hours. There's millions of files, right? And in a couple of hours, we found six men whose names have been redacted who are implicated in the way that the files are presented.
What's your reaction to that, Annie?
>> It sounds like the DOJ is continuing to do the one thing that they're not supposed to be doing, which is um impeding transparency. Right. It was very clear the way this law was written and uh perpetrators were not supposed to be protected and we see that continuing to happen. And I'm glad to hear lawmakers standing up and saying that's not okay.
Do you have anything in particular that you want members of Congress to be looking for or or telling you after viewing the unredacted files?
>> I think many of us have been pouring over the fires files ourselves and are finding places where there are redactions that seem to be um problematic and are communicating those to them. You know, I know in one example there appears to be a reference to my sister Maria Farmer's 1996 report and there's a few lines that signal that that's what it's about and then there's a lot of blocked texts. So, what is the explanation for that? You know, one of the central questions we have is why was nothing done with that report in 1996 to prevent the abuse of so many? So, I think that's a great example of the kind of thing we want more information about that we should be able to see.
Gilane Maxwell, as you know, pleaded the fifth today at a congressional hearing again and again. Uh, take a listen to just one of those instances.
>> Miss Maxwell, have you ever coerced, directed, or otherwise instructed any young woman or girl to provide sexual favors to Mr. Epstein or any other individual?
>> I invoke my fifth amendment right to silence.
as her lawyer continues to press for clemency in exchange for her testimony, something President Trump has continually declined to rule out. How does this all make you feel?
>> It's honestly very disturbing to see these images of her and um have her be looked at as someone who could potentially be providing any kind of information in this case. I mean, she has refused over and over to cooperate uh with the investigation. she's refused to have she doesn't have any empathy or has not expressed any empathy or remorse um to her victims. So, I think it's highly problematic uh that anyone would consider negotiating with some a serious criminal like this. And I think it would just really be indicative of guilt in some way because we know that she is not a credible source of information.
And you say to her victims, as you know, she has repeatedly said uh that she had no involvement directly with actually abuse.
>> Yeah, I yeah, I can speak, you know, very personally to the fact that that's not true. Um, you know, she was abusive towards me and there's so many other crimes that she committed that she wasn't even prosecuted for. You know, there were four of us that testified at her trial, but I have now met so many women who say it was because of Gilan Maxwell that I ended up being abused, sometimes for years, and that she was at times involved in that abuse herself. So, she was a very central figure in this system. Um, and her efforts to minimize her role have not been effective. you know, we've seen in the files that have been released already. Um, several places where the the emails she sent are contradictory to things she said on the record before about knowing Virginia Roberts Ju for example, about the photo of her with Andrew Windsor. Um, and so I think the more information we have, the more clear it is that she is not a credible source of information.
I want to go back to De because as as I was mentioning as these files have been released some have pointed to the fact that there are these redactions on emails that appear not to identify others who were associated with Epstein. But in the days as you know after the files were released names of the victims at times were briefly brought out publicly before then being taken down. How do you and and the other the tight-knit group of survivors feel about this?
>> Yeah, that was a really upsetting piece of um this process for us. You know, I think we had tried to prepare ourselves that there would be potentially places where some identifying information could slip out because of the number of files, right? But then to see just whole sections of names of victims completely unredacted. You know, I know my own date of birth and phone number was released, but that was true for so many people. And then even more upsetting, you know, was the fact that there were images, nude photographs of um girls and young women that were also released by our own DOJ. So, you know, I think when Pam Bondi is before the judiciary committee this Wednesday, I really want people to press her on this process and how this is could have possibly happened because that is not um that is huge. That is really really problematic that they allowed this to happen.
You were part of a PSA released on Super Bowl Sunday pushing for accountability and justice. Do you have a message for President Trump tonight about what you want him to do next?
>> I want Trump to follow the law to make sure that his DOJ follows the law. Um, I want to make sure that that means full transparency in this case, which would just be redacting the survivor's names while not redacting and protecting the people who harmed us. and promising that he will not provide clemency to Gilen Maxwell would be an important step in that process as well.
>> Annie Farmer, we thank you so much for your time and and talking with us again. Thank you so much for having