After Trump backed down, US lawmakers are expected to approve the release of the Epstein files on Tuesday
NEW YORK – The US House of Representatives is expected to vote on Tuesday in favour of a bill to release all files related to Jeffrey Epstein. It is a moment that Annie Farmer never thought would happen.
Farmer was 16 years old when she met the late paedophile and was lured to his ranch in New Mexico, where he and Ghislaine Maxwell sexually assaulted her, according to her testimony.
Her older sister, Maria, who was 25 at the time, was also allegedly abused by Epstein and Maxwell.
Now 46, Farmer has lived with her story for three decades and with the House expected to approve the release of the files it marks a milestone for her and other survivors.
“It means so much to me, to my sister and to so many survivors that have been asking questions and not getting answers for many, many years,” said Farmer, who spoke to The i Paper in Washington ahead of the vote.
“I think that it was not something that we thought would happen for a long time and now to be here and see that people are behind us and are putting pressure on elected officials means the world,” she said. “To be honest, at one point I had lost hope we would be in a space where we may actually get the transparency we desire.”
It’s easy to see why Farmer could have given up.
Despite the sisters reporting Epstein to the FBI in 1996, the investigation went nowhere.
Epstein finally pleaded guilty to two charges in 2008 – one count of soliciting prostitution and one count of soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18 – and was sentenced to 18 months in jail, most of which he served in a work-release programme.
He was rearrested in 2019 and charged with sex trafficking minors.
Farmer testified at Epstein’s bail hearing in 2019 and ensured he was remanded in custody: he killed himself weeks later. She also testified at Maxwell’s trial in 2020, securing guilty convictions on all the counts that related to her evidence.
But until now, full accountability – and full transparency – has been elusive, much to Farmer’s frustration.
“My sister Maria always believed that not only could this happen but it needed to happen in order for us to move on from what occurred,” she said. “I mean for us personally, my sister and I, for survivors and really for people in order to restore their trust in the government.”
Exactly what will be made public and when is unclear, but a batch of files released by members of the House Oversight Committee last week, from Epstein’s estate, show the type of explosive material that might still be out there, including details related to Donald Trump.
The 20,000 pages of documents included numerous emails in which Epstein referenced the President, including one in which the convicted paedophile said: “I know how dirty Donald is” and another in which he dubbed Trump “the dog that hasn’t barked”.
Trump has denied all wrongdoing and has called the story a “hoax”, but was forced to U-turn this week on releasing all Epstein documents in the face of mounting pressure from Democrats and Republicans alike.
If the bill passes the House, it will be sent to the Senate, before arriving on Trump’s desk.
Farmer’s decades of seeking answers have led her to be extremely sceptical of the US government, and she said that it was “hard to have trust” that everything that could be released will be.
Rather than what the Trump administration says it will do, its deeds are more important, she said.
Farmer said she hopes that, if and when the files are made public, “people will dig into the information that’s released in order to better understand how these crimes occurred, how they were covered up and who was involved in order to have a better sense of how to prevent these kinds of crimes in the future”.
She said: “There is so much looking the other way in this case and so many bystanders that did nothing and intentionally chose to look the other way. That’s extremely dangerous and I hope when the light is shone that it encourages people to look differently in the future.”
Epstein’s network of powerful male friends once included the likes of Trump, former president Bill Clinton, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew.
“I think scrutiny over that web of relationships among the elite and how it allows people to abuse power is an important piece of the story,” Farmer said.
Despite her measured joy, there is one thing that will be difficult for Farmer: the fact that Virginia Giuffre will not be there.
Giuffre, who claimed that Epstein loaned her out to Andrew for sex when she was 17, killed herself in April at the age of 41.
Giuffre did not live to see Andrew be stripped of his title by King Charles, or to see Andrew being forced out of Royal Lodge in Windsor, where he has lived rent-free for 20 years.
“That’s an emotional one,” Farmer, now a psychologist with her own practice, said when asked about Giuffre.
“I think that Virginia would be incredibly proud that she’s been heard and that we have continued the fight to push forward and bring light to darkness.”
Farmer said that, unlike her, Giuffre would never have lost hope for transparency about the Epstein files. “She had that fighting spirit… She believed the truth would prevail. It’s painful to think about her not being here for this.”
One of the most surprising developments surrounding the release of the files has been how Republicans have taken a rare stand against Trump, something Farmer put down to survivors like her finally being listened to by members of Congress.
“I think that actually understanding what occurred in this case changed some hearts and that led people to stand up courageously and do the right thing,” she said.
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She singled out Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia Republican who broke with the President over the Epstein files, earning her his public ire and death threats from some of Trump’s Maga supporters.
“I’m grateful for her courage in this case and for her withstanding the immense amount of pressure on her to change course,” Farmer said.
“I’m grateful she’s also spoken about the types of threat and intimidation she has endured as it highlights the type of experience my sister and other survivors faced as they were bravely telling the truth about it.”
