[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 194 (Tuesday, November 18, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H4716]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1100
STANDING WITH TRUTH AND JUSTICE
(Ms. Stansbury of New Mexico was recognized to address the House for
5 minutes.)
Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to stand with truth and
justice, to stand with every survivor of sexual assault, and to demand
the release of the Epstein files now. I say to the one man on planet
Earth who has the power to do so, Mr. President, it is time to release
the files.
Today, we vote on a resolution to release these files, but we have
already subpoenaed them, and the President has refused to comply,
engaged in a monthslong coverup right before our very eyes, threatening
and pressuring Members of Congress, and even calling his own allies
traitors, and this legislation a hostile act.
Well, Mr. President, the irony is not lost on us that such desperate
attempts to evade accountability are at the heart of the matter itself,
as the Epstein case is, at its core--its dirty, rotten core--about rich
and powerful men who abuse the system to avoid accountability and who
engaged in unspeakable crimes and believed that they could do anything
to any woman or any little girl and get away with it because they knew
their friends in powerful places would protect them or they could
simply buy their way out of the justice system.
Well, we are here today to stand up with the survivors and say: Time
is up. We demand accountability.
Now, it is also not lost on me that I am standing in this Chamber, in
this seat of power from which wars have been launched and the fates of
millions have hung, a Chamber where in the nearly 250 years of this
great Nation, only 3 percent of the people who have ever stood here on
this floor have been women. That is why we must stand up, why we must
demand accountability, why we are not saying ``pretty please.'' We are
engaged in a criminal investigation of criminal behavior in a justice
system that has failed women and girls who were raped and who were
abused and of the powerful people who never were held to account.
We are not, Mr. President, as you have asked us, just going to move
on. We will continue to pursue justice to the end.
Let me tell you about this investigation, about the evidence that has
come in just in the last week from documents produced by the Epstein
estate, including over 1,600 mentions of you, Mr. President. There are
emails, court documents, and statements about a lawsuit by a woman
accusing Donald Trump of rape at Jeffrey Epstein's house, whether it
happened or not. There is a sexual assault suit against Epstein in
which Donald Trump appears to have been subpoenaed, served, and
deposed. There are sworn statements and court documents from a 16-year-
old who was recruited at Mar-a-Lago and then raped and groomed, not
only by Jeffrey Epstein, but his rich and powerful friends.
There were statements from Epstein himself, who said Trump knew about
the girls. In fact, Trump, by his own admission, knew that Epstein and
Maxwell were recruiting young girls from Mar-a-Lago. There were also
statements that Trump was at Epstein's house, including with girls, in
which Epstein bragged about having pictures and passing a woman to
Trump, and noted that Trump spent hours with one of the victims and was
the ``dog that hasn't barked.''
These files also include financial transactions between Epstein and
Trump. There are discussions of financial affairs, potential money
laundering, including in real estate deals. There was also an admission
by Jeffrey Epstein himself that he was facing a mandatory minimum of 10
years in Federal prison, yet the DOJ failed to prosecute him. There are
statements by Epstein that he believes that Donald Trump was involved
in the case.
I say to the American people: There is a mountain of evidence in
front of your very eyes. Believe your eyes. It is right there in front
of us.
Mr. President, let me say this to you: You can run, but you cannot
hide because the survivors know what happened.
To every woman and little girl who has wept or felt shame or believed
that you were alone or that the system had failed you, to every parent
who has feared the absolute worst, and to every survivor who believed
the system was rigged against them, know that you are not alone. We see
you. We are fighting for you, and we will not stop.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Members are reminded to direct their remarks to the Chair rather than
a perceived viewing audience and to refrain from engaging in
personalities toward the President.
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