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Haley
Robson,
victim
of
financier
Jeffrey
Epstein,
speaks
during a
press
conference
to
discuss
the
Epstein
Files
Transparency
bill on
Capitol
Hill in
Washington,
D.C.,
Sept. 3,
2025.
Evelyn
Hockstein/Reuters |
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GOP Rep.
Thomas
Massie
said he
and Rep.
Marjorie
Taylor
Greene
“are
willing
to name
names”
on any
list
compiled
by
survivors
of
Jeffrey
Epstein’s
abuse.
President
Donald
Trump
had
earlier
dismissed
the
furor as
a
“Democrat
hoax,
even as
women
who said
they’d
been
abused
by
Epstein
called
for
action. |
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The
Transparency
Trap:
Why
Washington
Fears
the
Epstein
Files
Waymon
Sleete -
Op-Ed
Tell Us
USA News
Network
WASHINGTON
- This
week,
Congress
released
over
33,000
pages of
documents
tied to
Jeffrey
Epstein—flight
logs,
court
filings,
surveillance
footage—most
of it
already
public,
all of
it
politically
radioactive.
The move
was
billed
as a
gesture
of
transparency.
In
reality,
it
exposed
Washington’s
chronic
allergy
to
accountability.
Survivors
of
Epstein’s
abuse
stood on
Capitol
Hill,
demanding
the
release
of
unreleased
DOJ
memos
and
internal
communications.
Their
voices
were
clear.
Their
demands
were
simple.
But
clarity
and
simplicity
are
precisely
what
Washington
resists.
Instead
of
action,
we got
process:
committee
hearings,
press
releases,
and a
bipartisan
discharge
petition
that now
teeters
on the
edge of
viability.
The
petition—led
by Reps.
Ro
Khanna
and
Thomas
Massie—would
force a
floor
vote to
compel
full
disclosure.
It’s a
rare
moment
of
cross-party
courage.
But
Speaker
Mike
Johnson
has
dismissed
it as
“reckless,”
and
former
President
Trump
labeled
the
entire
effort a
“Democrat
hoax.”
When
transparency
itself
becomes
a
partisan
wedge,
the
question
isn’t
what’s
in the
files.
It’s
what
Washington
is
afraid
we’ll
find.
Meanwhile,
the DC
National
Guard
remains
deployed
through
November,
ostensibly
for
“beautification”
and
public
safety.
Guardsmen
are
sweeping
sidewalks
and
posing
with
tourists.
It’s a
surreal
tableau:
troops
polishing
parks
while
Congress
sidesteps
justice.
The
symbolism
is
unmistakable.
Performative
order
masking
institutional
rot.
Globally,
the
stakes
are just
as high.
Gaza
faces
famine.
Ukraine
mourns
its
dead.
Sudan
and
Pakistan
reel
from
climate
disasters.
And yet,
the
Epstein
files
dominate
headlines—not
because
they’re
more
important,
but
because
they
reveal
something
deeper:
the
architecture
of
impunity.
The same
forces
that
protect
the
powerful
in
Washington
echo
across
war
zones
and
disaster
sites.
Secrecy,
delay,
deflection.
This
isn’t
just
about
Epstein.
It’s
about
whether
our
institutions
can
confront
abuse
when it
implicates
the
elite.
It’s
about
whether
survivors
will be
heard
when
their
stories
threaten
the
powerful.
And it’s
about
whether
transparency
is a
principle—or
just
another
political
tool.
Congress
has a
choice.
It can
release
the full
record.
It can
honor
the
voices
of
survivors.
Or it
can
continue
to hide
behind
procedure,
hoping
the
public
forgets.
But the
public
hasn’t
forgotten.
And
neither
have the
survivors.
If
justice
means
anything,
it must
mean
sunlight.
Let it
shine.
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