Topline
Survivors of abuse from Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell pushed back on President Donald Trump’s characterization of the ongoing Epstein files release as a “hoax,” which he doubled down on in comments Wednesday.
“We are tired of looking at the news and seeing Jeffrey Epstein's name and saying that this is a hoax,” said Marina Lacerda, who identified herself as one of the victims Epstein abused and spoke out for the first time on Wednesday.
Both Lacerda and survivor Haley Robson insisted the scandal was “not a hoax,” with Robson, who called herself a registered Republican, adding “we are real human beings, this is real trauma.”
But Trump was defiant Wednesday, renewing his attacks on what he called “a Democrat hoax that never ends” at a separate press conference with the president of Poland.
“From what I understand, thousands of pages of documents have been given, but it’s really a Democrat hoax,,” Trump said, before pivoting to brag about turning Washington, D.C., into a “totally safe zone” and “ending seven wars.”
“I talked to President Trump back in 2009 and several times after that—he didn’t think it was a hoax then,” said Brad Edwards, the attorney representing some of the victims. “In fact, he helped me,” Edwards added, noting Trump “got on the phone. He told me things that were helping our investigation. Now our investigation wasn't looking into him, but he was helping us then. He didn't treat this as a hoax.” Edwards said he hoped Trump would return to his old campaign position and demand more transparency in this case. “This about-face that occurred, none of us understand it. In fact, I don't understand how this is an issue that's even up for debate.”