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Nov. 16, 2025, 11:13 AM EST / Updated Nov. 16, 2025, 1:36 PM ESTBy Alexandra MarquezRep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., one of two congressional lawmakers leading the push for the Trump administration to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein, said Sunday that the effort is “not about Donald Trump” and called on the president to meet with survivors of Epstein’s abuse.“What we’re asking for is justice for the survivors,” Khanna told NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” “So, it’s not about Donald Trump. I don’t even know how involved Trump was. There are a lot of other people who are involved who have to be held accountable.”Khanna said many of the survivors who have spoken publicly about their experiences with Epstein will be in Washington on Tuesday and that they would ask Trump to meet with them.The California congressman successfully partnered with Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., on a petition calling on the Justice Department to release any documents it has related to Epstein. Last week, the petition reached 218 signatures, which will force a vote on the measure on the House floor.On Sunday, in a separate interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Massie agreed with Khanna, saying, “I’ve never said that these files will implicate Donald Trump, and I really don’t think that they will.” Trump last week called efforts to release the Epstein files a “hoax,” writing in a post on Truth Social, “The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects. Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap.”He added in another post on Wednesday, “In other words, the Democrats are using the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax to try and deflect from their massive failures, in particular, their most recent one — THE SHUTDOWN!”On Sunday, the White House doubled down on calling the effort to release the Epstein files a “hoax” and a “distraction.” The Epstein files grabbed additional headlines last week after lawmakers on the House Oversight committee released 20,000 pages of emails and documents from Epstein’s estate.The president’s name appeared frequently in the emails, but Epstein did not, in these files, accuse him of any wrongdoing or illegal activity.“These emails prove absolutely nothing other than the fact that President Trump did nothing wrong,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at the White House on Wednesday.Khanna added Sunday that releasing files related to Epstein could be a “political win” for the president.“If you gave me a choice, I’d rather the president reverse course. I’d rather he released all these files,” the California congressman said. “Someone was saying that his numbers would go up. I don’t care if he gets the political win.”Meanwhile, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., who appeared later on “Meet the Press,” called Khanna’s efforts to release the Epstein files “an attempt by the Democrats to make Trump a lame duck president.”“I think there’s a lot more important things to talk about right now to get the country back on track,” he added.Barrasso also declined to commit to holding a vote in the Senate on releasing the Epstein files, simply saying that he and Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., will “take a look at it.”Khanna noted that Trump spent time this week trying to convince several GOP House lawmakers who joined all House Democrats in signing the petition to remove their names.“It’s basically Massie and me versus the White House,” he said.Several of the lawmakers whom Trump pushed to remove their names from the petition were vocal this week in their refusal to do so.Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. — whose feud with Trump escalated over the weekend — on Saturday wrote in a post on X, “It really makes you wonder what is in those files and who and what country is putting so much pressure on him?”Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., also kept her name on the petition. She wrote in a post on X on Wednesday, “I signed the discharge petition. I was one of four Republicans to do so. I stand with all survivors.”Greene clarified Sunday that, like Khanna and Massie, she didn’t believe Trump would be implicated of wrongdoing if the Epstein files are released.”Well, I think that’s the part that has so many people confused, that the women themselves that I have talked to have over and over again said that Donald Trump did nothing wrong,” Greene said, referring to the survivors of Epstein’s abuse.She added that she’d like to see them meet with Trump, as well.”Quite a few of them even told me they voted for him, and those are the women I would like to see in the Oval Office with support,” Greene added. “I would like to see all of the women there with support.”Massie said Sunday that “I think we could have a deluge of Republicans” to vote on the measure this week, even more than the number who signed onto the petition.”There could be 100 or more. I’m hoping to get a veto-proof majority on this legislation when it comes up for a vote,” he added.He spoke directly to his Republican colleagues, too, saying, “Donald Trump can protect you in red districts right now by giving you an endorsement but in 2030 he’s not going to be the president, and you will have voted to protect pedophiles if you don’t vote to release these files.””The record of this vote will last longer than Donald Trump’s presidency,” he added.Khanna again pointed to the popularity nationwide of pushing to release files, saying that Trump is “losing his MAGA base on this.”“The reason he’s losing it is he ran saying, ‘There’s a corrupt governing elite that has shafted you,’ that ‘This is the Epstein class versus forgotten Americans, and I’m going to stand up for forgotten Americans,’” Khanna said. “He’s forgotten those forgotten Americans, and we are saying that we are going to stand up for survivors, for America’s kids and we’re going to hold this class accountable.”Alexandra MarquezAlexandra Marquez is a politics reporter for NBC News.Yamiche Alcindor contributed.

- Latest News - November 17, 2025

Rep. Ro Khanna, one of two congressional lawmakers leading the push for the Trump administration to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein, said Sunday that the effort is “not about.

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Savewith a NBCUniversal ProfileCreate your free profile or log in to save this articleNov. 16, 2025, 7:47 PM ESTBy Hallie Jackson and Marlene LenthangSeveral women who survived abuse by Jeffrey Epstein have come together for a public service announcement video demanding that Congress release all files on the accused sex trafficker.“It’s a call to action,” one of the women, Danielle Bensky, told NBC News on Sunday. “While we are Epstein and [Ghislaine] Maxwell survivors, we are standing for so many victims of sexual assault and of domestic violence, as well.”The PSA, produced by World Without Exploitation, directs the public to a link to send automated letters of support to their congressional leaders. It comes ahead of Tuesday’s highly anticipated House vote on releasing those files.“Many people scroll and they see our stories, and they want to find a way to advocate, and they’re not really sure how,” Bensky said. “We really want to tell people that you can get out there and you can do this for yourself and be a part of what’s starting to really feel like a movement, in a way.”The video features several women holding photos of their younger selves at the ages they met Epstein, the prominent late financier who lived in wealthy and politically connected circles.“There’s about a thousand of us,” a woman says in the video. “It’s time to bring the secrets out of the shadows.” Danielle Bensky, one of women who has said she survived abuse by Jeffrey Epstein, speaks to Hallie Jackson about a new PSA demanding the release of the Epstein files Sunday in Washington.NBC NewsEpstein survivor Annie Farmer, whose sister Maria Farmer was the first woman to file a criminal complaint against Epstein, in 1996, stressed the release of the files is not a political issue but one that has been buried too long. “Please remember that these are crimes that were committed against real humans, real individuals. This is not a political issue. This, this has been going on for decades,” Annie Farmer said. “My sister Maria Farmer reported this under the Clinton’s administration, right? There have been mistakes that were made in this case under the Bush administration. So many things have happened over the decades that were law enforcement failures in this case.”This is not partisan. We’re asking for you to stand with us now to release all of the files,” she continued. Bensky has said she was 17 and a budding ballerina in 2004 when Epstein sexually abused her at his Manhattan mansion.”When you look at how long this has spanned, we have to do something about it. And it really is not political. It’s never been political for us,” she said. Annie Farmer speaks to Hallie Jackson about the new PSA on Sunday.Both women were among a group of survivors who wrote a letter thanking Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., for backing the effort to release the Epstein files in a dramatic split from her party line.The women said that the tone of emails in a trove of Epstein-related documents lawmakers on the House Oversight and Reform Committee released last week didn’t shock them and that they hope it signals a new era of transparency.“I think it’s the type of misogyny and classism and the tone of some of these emails that people were really disturbed by was, was something that we were all very aware of, was a part of this group and these types of conversations,” Farmer said. “I think that it was actually nice to see other people looking into that world and being disgusted by it.” Epstein died by suicide in jail in 2019 as he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. Maxwell, his accomplice, was convicted in 2022 on federal sex trafficking charges and is reportedly seeking to have her prison sentence commuted.While survivors have repeatedly stressed the Epstein case shouldn’t be politicized, it has been a political lightning rod on Capitol Hill.President Donald Trump, who was mentioned in some of the released Epstein emails, directed the Justice Department on Friday to investigate Epstein’s involvement with financial institutions and political figures while taking aim at Democrats. Trump has denied any involvement in Epstein’s crimes. Hallie JacksonHallie Jackson is senior Washington correspondent for NBC News.Marlene LenthangMarlene Lenthang is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.Janine Eduljee, Hayley Walker and Jennifer O’Neil contributed.

- Latest News - November 17, 2025

Several women who survived abuse by Jeffrey Epstein have come together for a public service announcement video demanding that Congress release all files on the accused sex trafficker.“It’s a call.

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