Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein held a roundtable on Capitol Hill after King Charles III declined to meet with them despite his brother's connections to the reviled sex offender.
Missed Opportunity for the King
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), one of the lead sponsors of the legislation that led to the release of files related to Epstein, said ahead of the king's joint address to Congress that the British monarch would address survivors in his address. "I think it is a missed opportunity, and it would be tone deaf for him not to speak to the plight of the survivors and the crimes of Epstein," Khanna told reporters. "Especially given that we're having this roundtable on the same day, given that we wrote a letter to him, given that the British ambassador has said that he plans to address the survivors."
Ultimately, Charles did not directly address Epstein survivors, although he did make a reference to "victims" in his address to Congress that was intended to include them. But before then, Khanna's roundtable included many survivors, including the siblings of Virginia Giuffre. Before she died by suicide, Virginia Giuffre alleged that she was trafficked to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, the king's brother, which Mountbatten-Windsor denies. Andrew was stripped of his royal titles following revelations of his ties to Epstein and allegations he shared insider information with the financier, who later killed himself in a New York jail cell.
Survivors Speak Out
"You would expect this to be a moment for the king to give a message to the world that he stands with survivors," said Virginia Roberts' brother, Sky Roberts. "We still can't get that from our own president of the United States."
The roundtable also included Epstein survivors Sharlene Rochard, Dani Bensky and Marijke Chartouni. "I am disappointed in the fact that it's a good opportunity for him to care about humanity," Rochard told The Independent. "We are people, and there are survivors in the U.K. and the country." Many of the advocates have come to Capitol Hill on multiple occasions to push for the release of the files of Epstein, who used his wealth and influence to foster connections across leaders in business, academia and politics. Congress passed legislation to force the release of files related to Epstein last year.
Legislative Push and Ongoing Hurdles
Rep. Ro Khanna, who co-sponsored the legislation to release the Epstein files, led the roundtable. But many of the files have not been released, and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has said no more files related to Epstein would be released. This came after Attorney General Pam Bondi announced her resignation after her mishandling of the Epstein investigation. Earlier this week, journalist Katie Phang sued Blanche, who is now the acting attorney general, for his alleged failure to release files related to Epstein.
Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez of New Mexico, the chairwoman of the Democratic Women's Caucus, said she was disappointed that the king did not address survivors of Epstein. "It's always disappointing that men and power fail to recognize abuse of women, and we saw the same thing happen," she told The Independent after the address.
The advocates and survivors also spoke about pushing legislation such as Virginia's Law, which would eliminate the statute of limitations for survivors of sexual abuse to file civil claims. "I'm just coming to terms now with my own abuse that almost 40 and statute of limitations absolutely needs to change," Dani Bensky, another Epstein survivor, said during the roundtable. "There should be no time limit on trying to figure out what happened to you."
But survivors of Epstein still face major hurdles. Since Bondi announced her resignation, she has continuously tried to avoid testifying before the House Oversight Committee despite the fact that the committee subpoenaed her.
Still, Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) told the survivors to keep going. "And so even though the institution itself has a foundational problem, even though this institution and the federal government are failing to act and have failed to act since the beginning of when many of you first told your stories, I want you to know that your stories are changing the world," she said.
