I'm Dahlia Lithwick.

This is Amicus, Slate's podcast about the courts, the law, and the Supreme Court.

There's a sense of gathering momentum around the idea that the past few weeks have signaled some kind of beginning of some sort of end.

The shutdown, the elections, Donald Trump's 30-something percent approval ratings, one court after another hurling sand into the gears.

And this week, the near inevitability of a Jeffrey Epstein revelation that Donald Trump has managed to outrun and to deflect for decades.

Adding her voice to that momentum, here is newly seated Arizona Democrat Adelita Grihalva in her first speech to the House after her

50-day wait to be sworn in came to an end this week.

Our democracy only works when everyone has a voice.

This includes the millions of people across the country who have experienced violence and exploitation, including

Liz Stein and Jessica Michaels, both survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse. They are here

in the gallery with us this evening. Thank you for being here. Just this morning, House Democrats released more emails showing that Trump knew more about

Epstein's abuses than he previously acknowledged.

It's passed time for Congress to restore its role as a check and balance on this administration and fight for we, the American people.

As somebody who actually thought it was the beginning of some sort of end back when the Access Hollywood

tapes surfaced, I'm not here to make any promises. But I am here to tell you that this is not the moment to say

nothing matters. To the Epstein survivors, this moment matters. It also matters to history,

and with all due respect to our friends at the New York Times, to all the women who poured

their values and their feelings all over the law for the last two centuries, the reckoning is past due, and it still

matters. And so we beat on boats against the current, and this week's episode showcases two

extraordinary forces for justice in unprecedented times. In a moment, a clarion voice who answered

a question that we've been asking on this show for weeks.

What would a federal judge say if they could step out of the straitjacket of convention, professional norms, and lifetime tenure, and say exactly what they think about what is happening right now?

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