Backed by several members of the US Congress, including four Republicans, the accusers of Jeffrey Epstein’s child sex trafficking network shared their stories on Wednesday, with some speaking publicly for the first time.

The survivors called for the release of what has been dubbed the “Epstein files”—documents that Attorney General Pam Bondi previously claimed in February were “on my desk,” but later stated over the summer that they did not exist. The survivors mentioned they are collaborating to compile a list of known names.

“We know the names, many of us suffered at their hands,” said Lisa Phillips, who recounted her experience of being taken to Epstein’s private island in 2000. She indicated that the group is “unsure how or if we will disclose them,” as reported by CBS News.

Nevertheless, she emphasized that the survivors plan to “confidentially compile the names familiar to us, those frequent in Epstein’s circle, and this task will be carried out by survivors, for survivors—without external involvement.”

“We are the keys,” added Haley Robson, who alleges she was trafficked by Epstein beginning when she was 16. “We know the games. We know the players.”

Rep. Thomas Massie from Kentucky—who, along with California’s Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna, organized the press conference—tweeted post-event that the survivors “would face lawsuits leading to poverty for naming names.” However, he explained that he and Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene “are prepared to disclose names in the House of Representatives using Constitutional ‘speech or debate’ immunity.”

Survivors at our press conference announced they are privately compiling their own Epstein list.

They would face lawsuits leading to poverty for naming names, but @RepMTG and I are prepared to disclose names in the House of Representatives using Constitutional “speech or debate” immunity.

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) September 3, 2025

Greene, along with fellow Republicans Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Nancy Mace of South Carolina, have signed onto Massie and Khanna’s discharge petition to force a floor vote in the House of Representative for a bill requiring the Department of Justice to release all of the Epstein files.

So far, 214 of the required 218 representatives have signed the petition.

“Today, we are coming forward and we are going to fight like hell for these women, because we have to fight like hell for those that are enduring sexual abuse and are living in a prison of shame,” said Greene at the press conference.

“This is the most important fight we can wage here in Congress, is fighting for innocent people who never received justice,” she added. “And the women behind me have never received justice.”

Annie Farmer, who testified against Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislane Maxwell in 2021, said releasing the files is “an important step” toward “healing for those involved.

“We are not going away, we are not going to be quiet, and we are not going to give up,” she said, adding that “I ask the American public to stand with us and not give up.”

But most Republicans in Congress are stalling on the bill. Ralph Norman, a South Carolina Republican, told NBC News that he would not vote to get Massie and Khanna’s bill out of committee, but he would vote in favor if the petition to move it to the house floor success. He called the bill, however, a “hate ‘Trump’ bill.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson called the effort “misguided,” saying the House was moving, however slowly, to release documents in the files.

Meanwhile, the president called the Epstein story a “Democrat hoax that never ends” during a meeting with the Polish president at the White House, timed to compete with the survivors’ press conference, CBS reported. He also ordered a military flyover during that time, USA Today reported.

The survivors, meanwhile, kept talking. Marina Larceda spoke publicly on Wednesday for the first time, saying she was “one of dozens of girls that I personally know who was forced into Jeffrey mansion … when we were just kids.”

Lacerda said Epstein offered her $300 “to give an older guy a massage” when she was 14.

“It went from a dream job, to the worst nightmare,” Lacerda said, and that nightmare continued “”until he finally told me that I was too old.”

Many of the women questioned how and why Epstein was allowed to continue his abuse for so long and that the hidden files could hold those answers — and prevent such abuse from taking place in the future.

“Our government could have saved so many women, but Jeffrey Epstein was too important and those women didn’t matter,” Lacerda said. “Why? Well we matter now. We are here today, and we are speaking, and we are not going to stop speaking.”

Epstein received a sweetheart deal in Florida in 2008 that saw him serve 13 months in jail on a work release program, returning to jail only to sleep at night. That deal was brokered by then US Attorney Alex Acosta, who later became secretary of labor during Donald Trump’s first term as president. Epstein was arrested again on federal charges in 2019 but died in jail before his trial could take place. His death was ruled a suicide.

Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and confidante, was convicted on sex trafficking charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison. She was moved to luxurious minimum security prison earlier this year after meeting with Justice Department Deputy Director Todd Blanche, a former personal attorney for the president.