On November 18, 2025, the day the House of Representatives planned to vote on releasing the Epstein Files, a group of Epstein survivors held a press conference, in part to urge House members to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act by the widest possible margin (Ed Note: The House voted nearly unanimously, 427-1).
I expected much of what I heard from the press conference. Politicians Ro Khanna (D-CA), Thomas Massie (R-KY), and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) said political things, although Greene went unexpectedly hard on Donald Trump about who the real traitor was. But what was most interesting was what the victims said.
“It’s time that we put the political agendas and party affiliations to the side,” said Haley Robinson.
“This is not an issue of a few corrupt Democrats or a few corrupt Republicans," added Annie Farmer. "This is a case of institutional betrayal.”
“The Epstein files are not about loyalty to any one political party. They’re evidence of a crime,” said Liz Stein.
“I beg you, President Trump, please stop making this political," Jena-Lisa Jones requested. "It is not about you, President Trump. You are our president. Please start acting like it.”
Shortly after the victims’ press conference ended, House Majority Leader Mike Johnson held his weekly press availability, during which he read a lengthy statement outlining what was wrong with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Johnson announced that he would support the Act, reversing his months‑long opposition. He told reporters that he would vote to approve the bill, noting that the House was likely to pass it by a wide bipartisan margin.
Johnson emphasized that while he backed the release, he expected the Senate to amend the legislation to address “serious deficiencies,” including concerns about survivors’ privacy and the risk of unintended disclosure of sensitive information. His shift came after Donald Trump reversed course and urged Republicans to vote for the release, making resistance politically untenable.
William Spivey
But the remarks that stood out for me are those made by Lisa Phillips at the victims’ press conference.
I am traumatized, I am not stupid! I am traumatized, I am not stupid!
Phillips also indicated that the victims would release the names of the guilty if Congress does not. She stressed that survivors were not acting alone — they were coordinating with legal teams to ensure accountability. She also said that the release of names tied to Epstein’s crimes was inevitable, framing it as a matter of justice rather than speculation.
Her remarks underscored that survivors were prepared to pursue disclosure through both Congressional action (the Epstein Files Transparency Act) and legal channels.
For the moment, the victims have the upper hand in that no one can be against revealing the names of pedophiles and sex traffickers. Unfortunately, they will find out once names come out and the personal attacks on the Epstein victims begin. People have tried naming names in the past and experienced backlash. The late Virginia Giuffre named attorney Alan Dershowitz and endured a financially draining legal attack that forced her to back down, suggesting she might have been mistaken about Dershowitz and his tighty-whities. Giuffre stated in her posthumously-released book that there were men she was afraid to name, including one who threatened to keep her in court the rest of her life.
“You may notice that while I’ve named some men in this book, I’ve not named all the men I was trafficked to…because there are certain men who I fear naming…. I fear that this man will seek to hurt me if I say his name.
There are other men…who have threatened me in another way: by asserting they will use litigation to bankrupt me. One of these men’s names has come up repeatedly…and in response he told my lawyers that if I talk…he will employ his vast resources to keep me in court for the rest of my life…. I fear if I do so again here, my family will bear the emotional and financial brunt of that decision…”
…I have been a daughter, a prisoner, a survivor and a warrior, my most important role is that as a mother…and I won’t put my family at risk if I can help it. Maybe in the future I will be ready to talk about these men. But not now.”
In the days after the George Floyd video was released, millions of protesters hit the streets after the world witnessed a heinous crime. No one dared to speak out against Black Lives Matter, which was clearly on the right side. As time went on, the forces against them attacked the movement and the individuals involved, and the same will happen to the survivor movement. Listening to House members speaking before they vote, it’s clear the only victims they’re concerned about are the rich men who may be named. The survivors will ultimately catch hell, but it won’t be for the first time, will it?
The survivors have proven their resilience and will still be standing when the rubble clears. I’m hoping the same can’t be said of those who trafficked young girls and laughed later. The time for laughing is over.
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.