The Epstein Victims' press conference, held on September 3rd, was a powerful and politically charged moment. Sadly, this conference should not have been as politically charged as it was. All the victims were asking for was justice. There were many pleas to the President to help the victims achieve justice and closure. Justice should not be a politically charged issue because justice is supposed to be part of the framework of this country. Make no mistake, it took great courage for these handful of women to come forward to tell their stories and to demand justice from a government that should have given them justice a long time ago. They were only ten, but there are hundreds of Epstein victims out there that we still have not heard from. The demand for transparency and for justice is not unreasonable. What is telling is the resistance to that transparency and that justice they are facing.

Ten Women stood in front of the camera telling their story of abuse and survival. Some were speaking out for the very first time. To me, that took real courage. Their message was clear: no leniency, no deals. That is the message that resonates with all of us. We tell our children that they need to take accountability for their actions as we teach them the lessons of life. We tell people convicted of crimes that they must take accountability for their actions when they are sentenced in a court of law. Now these crimes have been committed by some very rich and powerful people, and let's face it, rich people are very seldom held accountable. They have the means to hire the best teams of lawyers and investigators. They have the means to corrupt our justice system. They have the means to buy the silence of their victims and, in some cases, intimidate their victims into silence. We heard about some of that during the press conference. That intimidation does not lead to justice, and it is meant to stop transparency. Threats and intimidation are means to escape accountability and justice.

To many, this is a bipartisan issue. Why? Because this is not against a political party. This is seeking justice for those who have in the past abused and raped minor girls and women. Rape and sexual assault are not supposed to be a partisan issue. This is not a partisan attack on the Trump administration. These women are asking Trump for help and to live up to the transparency that he promised. Some of these women have been seeking justice since the 1990s. That is over thirty years. That is going all the way back to the Clinton administration. Epstein got his immunity deal during the Bush administration. Both political parties failed to give these women justice, and now both parties should unite to give them justice and closure. Democrat Representative Ro Khanna and Republican Thomas Massie led the effort to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act, asking the Department of Justice to release all of the investigative documents. They were joined at the press conference by Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Every time people begin demanding that they release the Epstein files, the Justice Department releases files, most of which have already been released. The bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act seeks to compel the Justice Department to release all of the investigative files. At the press conference, I believe they want all the files, including the files from the estate and from the CIA. At first, I was surprised to hear the CIA, then it dawned on me the international scope of the cover-up. The people that are being protected are not only the rich and important people from our country, but also from other countries who try to exert political influence within our own government. What are we talking about? Russian oligarchs? Saudi Sheks? Drug Cartels?  To me, this is exposing more of the swamp that is what our government has become. That swamp has only grown in size since Trump took office.

During the press conference, the participants were harassed by a flyover of military jets trying to drown out the participants.  By participants, I am referring to the victims. You could see the surprised looks on the victims' faces as those jets screamed overhead. Of course, immediately after the conclusion, MSNBC had assembled a group of talking heads to discuss what we had just witnessed. As soon as they started discussing the press conference, they had to cut away to the White House for Trump to make a statement. He called it a “Democratic hoax”. His Statement was “This is a Democratic hoax that never ends. From what I understand, thousands of documents have been given. But it’s really a Democratic Hoax because they are trying to get people to talk about something totally irrelevant to the success that we’ve seen as a nation since I’ve been President.”

One Democrat and two Republicans attended this press conference. That alone shows that it was not a Democrat hoax. Also, the ones doing the talking and sharing their stories were the victims of these sexual assaults and rapes. The only person who is in prison for these offenses is Ghislaine Maxwell, and she is serving her sentence at a minimum-security prison, which appalled the victims. Not a single one of Epstein's clients has been named. Not a single one of those rapist has been held accountable for their disgusting actions. Children's lives are scarred forever, and the rich people who cause all the damage get off scot-free because they are being protected by the White House and the Department of Justice, which, in a perfect world, would be working for the victims. Haley Robson at the conference stated: “Mr. President Donald Trump, I am a registered Republican- not that that matters because this is not political. However, I cordially invite you to the Capitol to meet me in person so you can understand this is not a hoax. We are real human beings. This is real trauma.” Yet Trump went on television calling it a “Democratic Hoax”, which in reality is calling the victims of this sexual abuse and rape liars. At that point, I feel like he was acting as a guilty man. At the least, it shows he is guilty of covering up the truth, and at the most, he was a participant.

Trump's dismissal and the survivors' demand for accountability are the flashpoint of a broader issue. That is the debate of elite accountability and government transparency. I think that we need to know how our government, since the 1990s, has been covering this up. We need to know who from the Government is responsible so history can hold them accountable. We need to know who these elite figures are and how they have corrupted our laws and our Justice System. Trump and his goons are invading our cities, but justice and law and order are not his goal. If law and order were his goal, we would see those Survivors receiving their justice and closure. Crossing the border illegally is a misdemeanor, and they are calling them dangerous criminals and putting them in Concentration camps. We have elites who are rapist and our own government is protecting them. If you agree with that, then please don’t talk to me about law and order because that is something that you don’t believe in.