It is becoming increasingly difficult to keep count of exactly how many times the 2026 Department of Justice has betrayed the survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. This betrayal feels especially jarring because many survivors voted for Donald Trump on the promise that he would release the documents and finally serve justice.1 Instead, this administration has withdrawn from that promise. In fact, on February 3, 2026, Mr. Trump went so far as to claim that since he feels “exonerated,” it is now time for the country to move on.2
“I think it’s really time for the country to maybe get onto something else. Now that nothing came out about me, other than it was a conspiracy against me, literally by Epstein and other people.”
Donald Trump, Feb. 3, 2026
With a president who appears to view the Oval Office as a vehicle for personal service rather than public duty, it is little wonder that extracting the Epstein files from the Department of Justice felt like pulling teeth. Despite these institutional delays and the subsequent scrubbing of the files, the numbers tell a devastating story of proximity. Across the 5,300 files released by the DOJ on January 30, Donald Trump’s name and private residences are mentioned a staggering 38,000 times.3
This volume of citations creates a profound ethical paradox: the very man whose personal history is most inextricably linked to the evidence is the one overseeing the department tasked with its redaction.4 It is a feedback loop of institutional capture that makes true transparency virtually impossible.
The Doxxing of Epstein Survivors By The Department of Justice
The DOJ currently appears to be functioning as a bulwark for perpetrators rather than a sanctuary for victims.5 This institutional bias becomes dangerously clear when examining the figures shielded by this protective wall: a group that allegedly includes the President and his most intimate circle of advisors. In this environment, the gravity of Epstein’s crimes seems to have been neutralized by familiarity.6
Rather than viewing the systematic abuse of minors as an inexcusable violation of human rights, this administration appears to view it with a staggering indifference. This posture suggests they see little wrong with the machinery Epstein built—perhaps because so many within this nouvelle élite were once cogwheels within it. In fact, many were complicit; some, like Mr. Trump—according to Epstein’s own boasts—allegedly met their spouses through the late millionaire’s social brokerage.7
Many survivors have fought a long, painful battle to remain anonymous. This fear is rooted in the chilling, long-standing allegations of victims buried in the desert of Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch or beneath the manicured turf of Donald Trump’s golf courses—not to mention the haunting disappearance of Katie Johnson.8 Survivors naturally fear for their safety when their identities remain at risk.
Despite these dangers, the 2026 Department of Justice, under Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, took the unprecedented step of publishing unredacted files on January 30. In this catastrophic breach of privacy, the DOJ exposed everything from photographs of minors in states of undress to unredacted driver’s licenses. While one might attribute such a failure to mere incompetence, the surgical precision of the system suggests otherwise. Specifically, the system continues to shield the men allegedly complicit in these crimes while stripping survivors bare for public consumption.
A Collective Cry for Justice
Shocked and disappointed by this state-sanctioned betrayal, the survivors released a joint statement on Feb. 2:
“This latest release of Jeffrey Epstein files is being sold as transparency, but what it actually does is expose survivors. Once again, survivors are having their names and identifying information exposed, while the men who abused us remain hidden and protected. That is outrageous. As survivors, we should never be the ones named, scrutinized, and retraumatized while Epstein’s enablers continue to benefit from secrecy. This is a betrayal of the very people this process is supposed to serve.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre alone reported many abusers connected to Epstein’s network, yet the public still does not have the full truth about who enabled him, who participated in his exploitation, and who has been shielded for years. Hundreds of women have come forward with additional reports like hers. The scale of this failure is staggering and indefensible.
The Justice Department cannot claim it is finished releasing files until every legally required document is released and every abuser and enabler is fully exposed. We need to hear directly from Attorney General Pam Bondi when she appears before the House Judiciary Committee on February 11. Survivors deserve answers, and the public deserves the truth.
This is not over. We will not stop until the truth is fully revealed and every perpetrator is finally held accountable. As we have always said, this is not about politics. We hope Democrats and Republicans will stand with survivors in continuing to demand the full release of the Epstein files.
We look forward to hearing from Attorney General Pam Bondi on February 11.”
Epstein Survivors Joint Statement, January 30, 2026
They made it clear that “transparency” cannot exist when it only serves to re-traumatize the victims. This powerful document bears the signatures of Annie Farmer, Anouska de Georgiou, Ashley Rubright, Danielle Bensky, Jess Michaels, Juliette Bryant, Lara Blume McGee, Liz Stein, Marijke Chartouni, Marina Lacerda, Rachel Benavidez, Amanda and Sky Roberts, Sharlene Rochard, Teresa J. Helm, and Wendy Pesante.
Furthermore, the administration’s implementation of Project 2025 confirms it has no interest in seeking justice for survivors of male violence. The Trump administration is currently scrubbing federal agencies of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” vocabulary—a move that effectively bans the words survivors need to articulate their reality. By prohibiting terms like gender-based violence, injustice, oppression, social justice, trauma, and even women, the state is attempting to erase the witness of those who survived Epstein and men like him.9 10
The Capture of American Institutions
Ultimately, by voting for Trump, the public let the proverbial fox into the hen house, and justice now appears ever-increasingly out of reach. One of the foundational principles of any legal system is nulla poena sine lege—no punishment without a law. By rolling back human rights and deleting the vocabulary of trauma, the state ensures that no “crime” can be recognized. Consequently, the Epsteins and Trumps of the world are free to reign in the chaos of a “captured” America.
References
- Silverman, Hollie. (2025, Nov. 18). Epstein Survivor Who Voted For Trump Blasts President–’Embarrassment’. Newsweek. ↩︎
- Alund, N.N., and Garrison, J. (2026, Feb. 4). Trump says America should move on from Epstein files: ‘Get onto something else’. USA Today. ↩︎
- Alund and Garrison. 2026. ↩︎
- Wakefield, Manya. (2026, Feb. 4). Donald Trump Threatens To Sue Michael Wolff. Narcissistic Abuse Rehab. ↩︎
- Wakefield, 2026. ↩︎
- Wakefield. 2026. ↩︎
- Dougherty, Hugh. (2024, Nov. 2). Listen To The Jeffrey Epstein Tapes: ‘I Was Donald Trump’s Closet Friend. The Daily Beast. ↩︎
- Manne, Kate. (2026, Jan. 31). Katie Johnson is Still at the Heart of the Epstein/Trump Story. More To Hate. Substack. ↩︎
- Yourish, K, Daniel, A, Datar, S. White, I. and Galo, L. (2025, March 7). These Words Are Disappearing in the New Trump Administration. The New York Times. ↩︎
- Neumeister, L., Peltz, J. Sisak, M.R. (2023, May 10). Jury Finds Trump Liable for Sexual Abuse, Awards Accuser $5M. The Associated Press. ↩︎
