I must qualify this by saying that winning and losing are relative terms. Ghislaine Maxwell is incarcerated, therefore losing, yet by keeping her mouth shut, she protects the man in control of the board. She managed a transfer to a prison with softer conditions, where she plays with puppies and is getting help filing for a commutation. Is that winning?
Yet, there are some clearer winners and losers in Epsteingate, and some who, for now, could appear on both lists. We’ll start with the losers.
Losers:
Mike Johnson
Mike Johnson did all he could to prevent the release of the Epstein Files. He sent the House of Representatives home for 54 days to keep from swearing in Adelita Grijalva who won an Arizona special election in September. Grijalva had promised to sign the discharge petition, making her the 218th person, giving members the exact number needed to force a vote. After all that, and the failure of the White House to convince any of the four Republicans to take their name off of the petition, it became clear the petition would pass and there would be a vote.
Johnson proved unable to hold back the floodgates and several Republican members said they would vote for the petition. Who wants to be on the record protecting pedophiles? Eventually, Donald Trump saw the writing on the wall and allowed Republicans to vote for the petition. At a press availability hours before the vote, Johnson outlined all the things wrong with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, but indicated he would vote for it anyway because Donald Trump told him to.
On the House floor during arguments before the vote, Johnson assured House members that the Senate would make the needed corrections via amendments to the bill, and everything would be okay. About three hours later, the Senate passed the bill by unanimous consent, leaving Johnson with some explaining to do.
When leaving a state dinner for the Saudi Crown Prince. Reporters followed Johnson up some stairs, asking him, “What happened?” Johnson was rattled and mumbled something about being disappointed by the Senate. It has been Johnson who subjected the House to weeks of looking futile and useless, as has Johnson.
The Republican Women’s Caucus
On Monday, September 15, 2025, twenty women who identify as survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell wrote a letter requesting a meeting with the relatively recently formed Republican Women’s Caucus. The group had lofty goals when they formed in late March of 2025.
The letter from the survivors was addressed to Rep. Kat Cammack and Sen. Katie Britt. These quotes reflect the survivors’ emotional appeal, their demand for accountability, and their call for bipartisan support:
“We are survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s trafficking network. We are asking you to meet with us.”
“We are asking you to stand up against abuse of power and support the release of the remaining Epstein files.”
“Remind us that America is the country that we thought it was when we were little girls, before we were let down repeatedly by our own government.”
“We are not asking for pity. We are asking for action.”
“We are asking you to help us end the silence.”
While all the women of the Republican Women’s Caucus ultimately voted in favor of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, they only did so when a man permitted them, refusing to ever meet with or even acknowledge the group of Epstein survivors.
Donald Trump
Trump suffered perhaps the most significant loss of his presidency, proving unable for the first time to keep Republicans in line and do his bidding. Four Republicans joined Democrats in signing the discharge petition cosponsored by Rep Thomas Massie (R-KY) and three women. Trump pushed hard, especially on the women, in an attempt to make them change their minds. Trump called Marjorie Talror Greene a traitor, hauled Lauren Boebert to the Situation Room, and left messages everywhere for Nancy Mace, who ducked his calls. After the bill passed, MTG blasted Trump, implying he was the true traitor who thought mostly about foreign countries and himself.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act petition was the first successful discharge petition since 2015 to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. Just days later, the House passed a second forced vote on the Stock Buyback Accountability Act. Has the dam broken against Trump’s wishes?
Trump goes into nervous breakdown mode whenever asked about the Epstein files. He responded to one female reporter by calling her “terrible” and threatening to have her employer, CBS News’s license removed. He pointed his finger at another reporter, saying, “Quiet, quiet piggy! Does that sound like a winner?
Winners
It’s hard to declare anyone a real winner. Over 1,000 girls and young women were abused, raped, and trafficked by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, and none of the men they were trafficked to have been punished. Some came out better than others, considering that things are relative.
John Thune
John Thune, the Senate Majority Leader, escaped being tarnished by the Epstein Saga while his counterpart in the House, Speaker Mike Johnson, took a brutal ass-whooping. Thune was expected for weeks to have to do Trump’s bidding and keep the bill from the Senate floor.
Johnson said he talked to Thune and the Senator promised to make the needed amendments to the bill, thus putting Thune in the position of protecting pedophiles. That didn’t happen either.
During my college basketball days, I was a pretty good defensive player, yet once during a home game, I got dunked on. A friend told me I wouldn’t be posterized because if you looked to see who got dunked on, I had immediately disappeared. I was out of the frame. John Thune was out of the frame and escaped any of the blame for the Epstein fiasco.
Marjorie Taylor Greene
Marjorie may well be the biggest winner of all. Question her motives if you like, but she stood up for the women and against Donald Trump, succeeding where many have failed. When Republicans next look for candidates to run for President, MTG will be one of the few who have ever stood up to Trump, whose popularity could well be in negative numbers by the next election. Greene has successfully blown her own horn while often pictured in the center of survivors.
Democrats have temporarily stopped making her the butt of jokes and independents may well give her consideration they would not have before. Greene has demonstrated political instincts, suggesting we may not have seen the last of her.
Thomas Massie
You likely didn’t know who Rep. Thomas Massie was six months ago and maybe you won’t six months from now. His recently-grown beard makes him look better, in my opinion, and he’s become prominent in national politics due to his co-sponsorship and advocacy of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Massie didn’t hog the cameras like Greene and has projected strength and reasonableness throughout. He might belong in the Too Soon To Tell category, but he handled himself well if he has future aspirations.
Too Soon To Tell
The Survivors
It’s too early to know whether the survivors will ultimately come out winners. Once names start coming out, they will be attacked, in some cases by men with vast resources and savage lawyers.
William Spivey
While they look to have achieved a significant victory with votes in the House and Senate to release the files, as the bill is written, the Attorney General can withhold information relevant to active investigations, and Trump very recently demanded some new investigations, which Pam Bondi readily agreed to. We may never get the good stuff from Congress, which means the survivors may have to release the names themselves. They’re already talking to lawyers, should it come to that.
The survivors were once losers, with no one making them the priority in the last two decades. They may well come ot winners, but their struggle is nowhere near over. Ask me a year from now if they truly got justice. To be determined.
This post originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of William Spivey's work on Medium. And if you dig his words, buy the man a coffee.