Welcome to the beat, everyone. I'm Ari Melbert. We're covering this presentation today on Capitol Hill

by survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse, his indicted crimes. This was a rare and bipartisan event. It was

this briefing hosted by members of both parties designed to empower the actual victims so that we might hear about Epstein's

crimes and what should be done from people who tragically experienced them rather than the so

many other people we've heard from. And this comes after the Trump DOJ did systematically cut

all of these people out of the recent changes

in developments related to the case and hid key information from them. And so right off top,

I want to tell you that makes today an unusual shift in this long-running story, where so often

the spotlight has been on the pundits and the podcasters

and the politicos and some conspiracy theories talking on and on and on about the Epstein case,

about the victims, about their supposed concern, even as, and you see our very deliberate contrast here on the

screen, even as the Trump administration cuts these same people out instead of including them

and hearing them and their view, the victim's view of what should be done in the quest for

supposed transparency and justice.

And I can tell you today, several are clear they oppose the Trump DOJ's secrecy and lenience,

especially for Epstein co-conspirator Maxwell.

Some also recounting their own experiences in public here for the first time.

I was only 14 years old when I met Jeffrey. A friend of mine in the neighborhood told me that I could make $300 to give another guy a massage. It went from a dream job

to the worst nightmare. Epstein flew me to his private island. He listened to my dreams,

promised to help,

but his promises came with a catch. The abuse began. He told me to keep it secret.

It was you who sent me off to the home of a monster, knowing what was waiting for me.

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