A South Florida congresswoman wants justice for the victims of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, saying the topic "should not be politicized."
Democrat U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel spoke on "The Florida Roundup" days after she and her colleagues voted to release investigative files on Epstein, the late financier accused of sex trafficking and abusing underage girls.
President Donald Trump signed the legislation, which compels the Department of Justice to give the public everything the government has on Epstein. The House passed it 427-1, and the Senate advanced it without a formal vote.
ALSO READ: House and Senate both approve releasing the Epstein files by a near unanimous margin
The lone vote against was by Louisiana Republican Clay Higgins, who warned of innocent people being hurt by a broad reveal of criminal investigative files.
Frankel represents Palm Beach County, where many of Epstein's alleged crimes took place.
On "The Florida Roundup," she said she felt like the vote to release the files was a step toward justice. She added that it was a "very good message of just standing up to power."
"Common sense tells me that terrible, awful things go on all the time — all over the world," Frankel said. "So this isn't going to stop all that, but given the acrimony of the day, it was at least some comfort to see bipartisan [support] in Congress."
How did we get here?
Epstein, who lived in Palm Beach, was known for socializing with celebrities, politicians, billionaires and the academic elite.
His relationships with President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton and former British prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have been a topic of speculation. But neither Trump nor Clinton has been accused of any wrongdoing, and the former prince has denied abuse allegations. Trump campaigned on releasing the files, but has more recently accused Democrats of using the case as a distraction.
ALSO READ: Epstein survivor recalls 'a collective sense of joy' when Congress voted to release DOJ files
Epstein was first investigated in Palm Beach in 2005 after being accused of paying a 14-year-old girl for sex, according to the DOJ. He made a secret nonprosecution agreement with Alexander Acosta, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, to avoid federal charges. This allowed him to plead guilty in 2008 to a state prostitution charge, and he served 13 months in a work-release program. It also granted federal immunity to Epstein and “potential co-conspirators."
The Miami Herald exposed this "sweetheart deal" in 2018. New York federal prosecutors then revived the case in 2019 and arrested Epstein on sex trafficking charges. A month later, his body was found in his jail cell, and officials ruled his death a suicide.
In 2021, Epstein's former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted of sex trafficking for helping recruit some of his underage victims. Records and testimony revealed that his private retreat, Little St. James in the U.S. Virgin Islands, was a hub for these activities.
For years, there have been calls for transparency and accountability for anyone involved in Epstein's crimes.
The significance of Congress' vote
Ben Wieder is an investigative reporter in McClatchy's Washington bureau and for the Miami Herald. On "The Florida Roundup," he described why Congress' vote to release investigative files was significant.
"It's a signal that politicians are finally saying, 'Hey, we need to really get to the bottom of this,' " Wieder said.
Wieder said there have been reports that the DOJ has completed looking into whether there was prosecutorial misconduct in the past and how the case was handled initially.
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He described how there was a report released a few years ago, and the executive summary initially released to the public presented a "rosier picture of the conduct." He said it was less critical of the prosecutors making the key decisions than the full report, which the news organization obtained.
"That is one example of why I think it's important that we see all the material so that people can make their own decisions and not have these things summarized by officials, who may have an interest in protecting their colleagues," Wieder said.
Frankel said she has many questions on why Epstein "got a slap on the wrist" in Palm Beach, saying the public deserves to know and that it should never happen again.
"I want to know, 'Why did my local prosecutors do what they did?' It was shocking to me when I read this transcript, and I know some of them," Frankel said. "I was astounded. We deserve answers."
Released emails pertaining to Trump, others
About 23,000 documents recently released by the House Oversight Committee show emails and texts about how Epstein courted influential people and used connections to push back on negative stories.
Some of the documents included chats and shared advice involving Larry Summers, former Harvard University president and U.S. Treasury secretary under Clinton; former Trump strategist Steve Bannon; and others.
They also revealed that Democrat Stacey Plaskett, a U.S. Virgin Islands House delegate and manager on one of Trump’s failed impeachments, received texts from Epstein during a 2019 hearing with Trump’s former fixer, Michael Cohen. She has defended the messages as routine constituent contact.
ALSO READ: The latest Epstein emails reveal the powerful people who sought his counsel
According to NPR, the released emails had more than 1,000 mentions of Trump but no direct communication with him. Wieder said Epstein was positioning himself as an influential "Trump whisperer," but that it's difficult to tell if he was puffing himself up. Trump has said he had not had any contact with Epstein since the early 2000s.
Wieder added that anyone who was conversing in the emails should have known what Epstein was charged with.
"You can say, 'Hey, I knew the guy, but I knew the guy before he was ever convicted of anything. Once I found out, once I realized who he was, I stopped talking to them.' You can make that claim," Weider said. "If you're conversing with him after 2009 — if you're palling around with him as we saw so many of these people doing, you knew full well who this guy was."
When will the Epstein files be released?
The legislation passed by Congress means the Justice Department has to make documents available to the public in a searchable and downloadable format within 30 days of Trump signing it into law. Meaning, no later than Dec. 19.
Trump ordered an investigation into several Democrats, like Summers and Clinton. Wieder said it's a concern as it could be used to justify not releasing information. This is because the law allows the DOJ to withhold files it says could jeopardize an active federal investigation.
Anything containing a victim's personally identifiable information is not authorized to be released. Wieder said it's a possibility the DOJ could try to argue it needs more time to redact material.
"There are so many questions we have that these files could answer, but yeah, it's a real question as to what will actually be in there when they release it," Wieder said.
This story was compiled from interviews conducted by Danny Rivero for "The Florida Roundup."
