In their latest efforts to keep the resurged Jeffrey Epstein criminal case at the forefront of the national conversation, Democrats are pushing for a congressional hearing with survivors of the convicted sex trafficker and pedophile.
In a joint letter led by U.S. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., more than a dozen House Democrats requested the hearing from House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky.
As President Donald Trump‘s U.S. Justice Department seeks testimony from Epstein’s imprisoned co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, Democratic lawmakers said those harmed by their sex crimes should have the opportunity to provide their firsthand accounts, which they say “may not be sufficiently represented in the Department of Justice’s records.”
The letter details findings from the federal investigation of Epstein, including the fact that more than 1,000 people were subjected to “unique trauma.”
“Over the course of decades, Jeffrey Epstein operated an expansive and predatory network that exploited and trafficked young women and girls, often with the complicity of powerful institutions and individuals,” write the group of Democrats, which includes U.S. Reps Jasmine Crockett, Summer Lee, Kweisi Mfume, Lateefah Simon, Ro Khanna, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Robert Garcia and others.
The Democrats urged, “This trauma can be a lifelong sentence–when someone is violated and preyed upon, especially as a child, the resulting harms are often deep and lasting.”
The latest move from Democrats comes after weeks of renewed calls for the FBI files related to Epstein’s criminal case to be released. For years, supporters of Trump have had a great interest in the Epstein scandal, believing that federal records would reveal a conspiracy to protect the sex offender involving government officials and other high-profile individuals.
Trump, as a presidential candidate, and members of his administration, including U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, promised transparency with the public about the files. However, in a July memo, the Department of Justice announced that the files would remain sealed and downplayed their significance. Trump’s MAGA base of supporters grew incensed, causing some to break from Trump and his administration, including Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Recent reports have indicated that Trump, who was a close friend of Epstein for many years, according to Epstein himself, may be mentioned in the Epstein FBI files.
Democrats have seized on the issue, which has become a political lightening rod for the Trump administration.
The group of Dems urging Chairman Comer to allow a hearing for Epstein’s survivors say they should have an opportunity to “have their stories heard and their healing centered in our efforts to achieve transparency and accountability.” The letter accuses the Trump administration of trying to silence victims in its attempt to put the case to bed without additional public “without even talking to a single victim.”
On July 23, 2025, Oversight Committee Democrats successfully forced a bipartisan vote to subpoena the DOJ to turn over the full and complete Epstein files, redacted only to protect the identities, safety, and privacy of the victims.
Following the motion from Democrats, Pressley, the lead signer of the letter to Comer, shared that centering Epstein’s victims is personal for her as a survivor of child sexual abuse.
“When you are violated, when you are groomed, when you are exploited, when you are preyed upon, when you are violated as a child, it changes you at your core,” Pressley shared with MSNBC’s Jen Psaki. “On a cellular level, it is a life sentence…This healing, transparency, accountability for these survivors is important and they deserve it. And it’s long overdue.”
