Victims feeling exhausted and anxious about wrangling over Epstein files
[August 07, 2025]
By JAKE OFFENHARTZ and JAIMIE DING
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Women who say they were abused by Jeffrey Epstein are
feeling skeptical and anxious about the Justice Department's handling of
records related to the convicted sex offender, with some backing more
public disclosures as an overdue measure of transparency, and others
expressing concerns about their privacy and the Trump administration's
motivations.
In letters addressed to federal judges in New York this week, several
victims or their attorneys said they would support the public release of
grand jury testimony that led to criminal indictments against Epstein
and his former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell — if the government agreed
to allow them to review the material and redact sensitive information.
The Justice Department has asked the court to take the rare step of
unsealing transcripts of that secret testimony, in part to placate
people who believe that the government has hidden some things it knows
about Epstein's wrongdoing.
Other victims, meanwhile, accused President Donald Trump of sidelining
victims as he seeks to shift the focus from Epstein, who killed himself
in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges that he habitually sexually
abused underage girls. Some expressed concern that the administration —
in its eagerness to make the scandal go away — might give Maxwell
clemency, immunity from future prosecution or better living conditions
in prison as part of a deal to get her to testify before Congress.
“I am not some pawn in your political warfare,” one alleged victim wrote
in a letter submitted to the court by her lawyer this week. “What you
have done and continue to do is eating at me day after day as you help
to perpetuate this story indefinitely.”
Added another victim, in a letter submitted anonymously on Wednesday:
“This is all very exhausting.”
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of helping Epstein sexually abuse underage
girls and is serving a 20-year prison sentence. A top Justice Department
official, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, interviewed Maxwell for
nine hours late last month, saying he wanted to hear anything she had to
say about misdeeds committed by Epstein or others. After that interview,
Maxwell was moved from a federal prison in Florida to a low-security
prison camp in Texas.
Alicia Arden, who said Epstein sexually assaulted her in the late 1990s,
held a news conference on Wednesday in Los Angeles. She said she would
support the release of additional material related to the case,
including a transcript of Maxwell’s interview with Blanche.
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Alicia Arden, who accused Jeffrey Epstein of sexual battery in 1997,
reads a statement alongside her attorney, Gloria Allred, during a
news conference in Los Angeles Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (AP
Photo/Jae C. Hong)
But she also expressed outrage at the possibility that Maxwell could
receive clemency or other special treatment through the process,
adding that the Justice Department’s approach had been “very
upsetting” so far.
The Trump administration has faced weeks of furor from some segments
of the president's political base, which have demanded public
disclosure of files related to Epstein. Epstein has long been the
subject of conspiracy theories because of his friendships with the
rich and powerful, including Trump himself, Britain's Prince Andrew
and former President Bill Clinton.
Last month, the Justice Department announced it would not release
additional files related to the Epstein sex trafficking
investigation.
Prosecutors later asked to unseal the grand jury transcripts, though
they've told the court they contain little information that hasn't
already been made public. Two judges who will decide whether to
release the transcripts then asked victims to share their views on
the matter.
In a letter submitted to the court Tuesday, attorneys Brad Edwards
and Paul Cassell, who represent numerous Epstein victims, wrote:
“For survivors who bravely testified, the perception that Ms.
Maxwell is being legitimized in public discourse has already
resulted in re-traumatization.”
An attorney for Maxwell, David Oscar Markus, said this week that she
opposed the release of the grand jury transcripts.
“Jeffrey Epstein is dead. Ghislaine Maxwell is not,” he wrote.
“Whatever interest the public may have in Epstein, that interest
cannot justify a broad intrusion into grand jury secrecy in a case
where the defendant is alive, her legal options are viable, and her
due process rights remain.”
The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment on
the victims' statements.
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