A New Mexico congresswoman met with Jeffrey Epstein survivors. Here’s what she learned.

In a meeting with House Democratic Women’s Caucus leadership, Jeffrey Epstein’s victims asked for transparency, accountability and legislation to protect other women and girls from sexual abuse.

Epstein, the financier who died by suicide in federal custody nearly six years ago, has been at the center of a fight in Congress over releasing records related to the federal investigation into his alleged sex trafficking. Epstein was connected socially to powerful public figures like former President Bill Clinton and President Donald Trump, fueling public interest and speculation.

“We started the meeting with all of us in tears, both the congresswomen and the survivors, because we acknowledged the fact that so many women in America, including members of Congress, have been raped and assaulted,” said caucus Chair Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M. “And to talk about this issue is to remember the trauma of those rapes and sexual assaults.”

In a D.C. news conference the same day, the group of survivors said they would create their own list of people they know were connected to the sexual abuse they experienced and called for support of a House bill to release more records connected to Epstein. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said that if asked she would read such a list in Congress.

Annie Farmer, 46, said she was flown to New Mexico at 16 to spend a weekend with Epstein.

“For so many years, it felt like Epstein’s criminal behavior was an open secret,” Farmer said. “Not only did many others participate in the abuse, it is clear that many were aware of his interest in girls and very young women and chose to look the other way because it benefited them to do so.”

Epstein owned a large property in New Mexico near Santa Fe called Zorro Ranch.

“I apologized to survivors, because I know that some of this heinous activity took place in New Mexico at the ranch that Epstein owned,” Leger Fernández said.

Trump campaigned on releasing “the Epstein files,” documents connected to the federal investigation into Epstein. But more recently, the president has called it a dead issue.

“It’s really a Democrat hoax, because they’re trying to get people to talk about something that’s totally irrelevant to the success that we’ve had as a nation since I’ve been president,” Trump told reporters in an Oval Office interview last week.

Leger Fernández thinks Trump’s changed stance is because “his name probably came up way too many times … And if that’s not the case, then show us the files,” she said.

Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have been calling for more files connected to Epstein to be released. On Wednesday, a Senate amendment to release more records from Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., failed. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., are sponsoring legislation in the House to release all of the records connected to Epstein, a bill Leger Fernández supports. Leger Fernández believes it could pass if a vote on the House floor is allowed.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has opposed the Massie and Khanna petition.

More than 33,000 pages connected to the Epstein prosecution were released last week by the House Oversight Committee, which is investigating Epstein and his prosecution. Many were already in the public domain. But a collection of birthday cards from Epstein’s friends and colleagues was released this week, the majority of which were not previously public, including one apparently signed by Trump. The president has disputed that it is really his signature.

“House Republicans are in lockstep with the president on our commitment to delivering maximum transparency while maintaining adequate protections for innocent victims,” Johnson said in a statement.

Leger Fernández said there is a “cover up” going on to conceal who else is connected to Epstein, a claim other Democrats, including Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., have also made. While there may not be an explicit client list, Leger Fernández said, the survivors told caucus leadership that more people connected to the sexual abuse they experienced are out there.

“And they want the information to come out about that,” she said.

While the Epstein case may be particularly unusual for it’s high-profile nature, human trafficking is not. An estimated 27.6 million people are victimized by human trafficking worldwide, according to the United Nations’ International Labour Organization. The majority of victims are in forced labor, but 23% are in sex trafficking.

“It’s happening in New Mexico. In some of the southern counties, there are serious problems with trafficking of young girls,” Leger Fernández said.

Members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus are backing multiple bills connected to sexual violence, including the Healing Partnerships for Survivors Act, a bill sponsored by Leger Fernández meant to expand trauma-informed care for survivors of sexual assault through strengthened partnerships between community-based sexual assault programs and health and wellness providers.

Caucus members are also sponsoring bills to limit gun ownership for people with domestic violence convictions, eliminate taxes on settlement income for people who win in a suit against their sexual abuser, and address the production of deepfake pornography.