Several survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse spoke out on Thursday, Sept. 18, criticizing FBI Director Kash Patel for saying there was “no credible information” that Epstein had trafficked women and girls to other powerful men.
Patel made this claim during testimony to the U.S. Senate Oversight Committee on Tuesday, Sept. 16. He said that even though he had seen a “good amount” of the FBI’s Epstein files, there was no evidence that Epstein had trafficked women to anyone other than himself.
On Thursday, 10 Epstein survivors — along with the brother and sister of the late Virginia Giuffre — said they were “shocked” by Patel’s comments.
They pointed to Giuffre’s deposition in her civil suit against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s convicted accomplice, in which she named several rich and famous men she alleged were trafficked to by Epstein and Maxwell.
The survivors also referenced a claim by Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky. He said at a separate hearing on Wednesday that the FBI had a list of at least 20 people Epstein allegedly trafficked women and girls to. This list included a Hollywood producer, a rockstar, a prince, a “high-profile former politician,” and “at least 6 billionaires,” according to witness interviews conducted by the bureau.
“Director Patel’s testimony raises more questions than answers,” the survivors wrote. “For years he has criticized previous investigations. He is right that they were incomplete. So what is his plan to make sure a thorough and unbiased investigation is conducted at last?”
The survivors suggested that Patel could release the witness interviews, known as FD302s, that were taken during the investigation leading up to Epstein’s 2019 indictment. These files are not part of the 2008 non-prosecution agreement Epstein and his co-conspirators reached with the Justice Department.
During questioning by Massie, Patel avoided saying whether the FBI would release those files or investigate the individuals mentioned. When asked if the FBI thought the witnesses were not credible, Patel said that was the opinion of previous U.S. Attorneys, not his own.
“Those previous administrations are the ones that Kash Patel spent years accusing of a cover-up,” the statement continued. “Now he will pass the buck to them to decide that information about other men in the Epstein-Maxwell trafficking ring is not worth following up on? There are victims and witnesses who still have not been interviewed. Will they continue to be ignored?”
The statement was signed by Epstein survivors Jess Michaels, Rachel Benavidez, Danielle Bensky, Marijke Chartouni, Annie Farmer, Marina Lacerda, Lara Blume McGee, Sharlene Rochard, Ashley Rubright, and Liz Stein, plus Giuffre’s brother Sky and sister Amanda.
“As head of the FBI, Director Patel can now work to remedy that, in a way that centers survivor voices and pursues the whole truth,” the statement reads. “The public demands it; the victims deserve it; and our system of justice requires it.”
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Trump administration has faced intense scrutiny in recent months after the Justice Department reversed its stance on the Epstein files. Attorney General Pam Bondi initially said Epstein’s “client list” was on her desk, but later claimed it did not exist.
This situation has raised questions about President Donald Trump and his ties to Epstein, who he knew for years before they had a falling out. Concerns grew after Congress released a letter allegedly sent by Trump to Epstein for his 50th birthday, written in the outline of a naked woman, where Trump allegedly said the two have “certain things in common.”
Trump denied writing the letter and sued the Wall Street Journal for $10 billion after the newspaper reported on it.
Epstein first faced sex crime charges in the mid-2000s but served only a year in jail after a controversial non-prosecution agreement. He was required to register as a sex offender and plead to state prostitution charges. He was under a new s*x trafficking indictment in 2019 when he died in a Manhattan jail cell in what was ruled a suicide by hanging.
