Rising This Week: Epstein survivors head to Washington, D.C.

The women most affected by Epstein's crimes refuse to be ignored any longer on Capitol Hill.

Placard of Epstein after his 2019 arrest. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

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Jeffrey Epstein’s survivors were ignored at the time of his sweetheart plea deal in 2008 — and disregarded again by Donald Trump’s Justice Department in their machinations with Ghislaine Maxwell.

On Wednesday, several will head to Capitol Hill to tell their stories for the first time.

The day begins with a rally across the street from the Cannon House Office Building at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time, with an event organized by World Without Exploitation, the largest anti-trafficking organization in the United States. One of Epstein and Maxwell’s most outspoken survivors, Liz Stein, has confirmed that she will be speaking.

“For years, no one was listening to what we had to say, let alone caring,” Stein said in a statement. “So it’s heartening that so many are coming together to make sure the voices of victims and survivors are silenced no more. Those of us impacted directly by the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell deserve justice and for the world to know our story.”

More than half a decade after Epstein’s death, not all of the survivors’ stories have been previously heard. Organizers have not released a full list of speakers, which also include anti-trafficking advocates and attorney Sigrid McCawley, who represents hundreds of Epstein’s victims.

Roughly an hour after the gathering, Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) host a press conference where they indicate that some survivors will tell their stories “for the first time” at 10:30 a.m. ET.

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There is a reason that All Rise News launched with the statement: “Global authoritarianism is on the march, and the president of the United States has cast our lot with the autocrats.” Trump’s power grabs resonate globally. The global economy has felt the pain of Trump’s tariffs, which two levels of courts have now ruled illegal. His mass deportation scheme relies in part on deal-making with El Salvador’s strongman Nayib Bukele, and some congressional Republicans are taking cues from Bukele’s purge of his judiciary to try to impeach judges here. Every attack on a democratic check and balance in the United States serves as a permission slip for despots abroad.

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• Far from swelling the prisons with his enemies, Trump’s prosecutors have struggled to secure indictments from grand juries. One of his handpicked federal prosecutors in New Jersey, Alina Habba, was ruled illegitimately appointed by a federal court, and her criminal case against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) collapsed in spectacular and embarrassing fashion.

• Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man Kristi Noem vowed would never step foot on U.S. soil after being spirited to El Salvador, was briefly reunited with his family in Maryland, and his attorneys are girding for a long fight ahead in his habeas corpus lawsuit, criminal prosecution, and deportation proceedings.

• Trump’s attempt to silence his supporters from discussing the Epstein scandal has generated more attention on that case than seen in half a decade. Congressional investigations and lawsuits have forced Trump’s Justice Department to abandon its posture of stonewalling the release of more information.

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This newsletter always aims to demystify the ways these systems of accountability operate for an audience that believes the purpose of journalism is useful information for practical action, especially in a time of crisis.

This Labor Day, I am grateful for our subscribers — free and paid — for building All Rise News into such a formidable and growing platform after only four months. “Rising This Week” is a signature Sunday edition of this newsletter, which previews the week ahead in courts, protests, and civic engagement.

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