Jeffrey Epstein’s survivors are calling B.S. on Kash Patel. After two bruising days on Capitol Hill, the FBI director ignited a firestorm by testifying that the bureau has “no credible information” Epstein trafficked girls to anyone besides himself, a claim survivors say flies in the face of years of reports and interviews.
Patel made the remark under questioning from Sen. John Kennedy and later doubled down when pressed by Rep. Thomas Massie, insisting the FBI hasn’t found solid evidence of other culprits. The assertion sent the hearing into a tailspin, with lawmakers in both parties hammering Patel over transparency and his shifting stance on releasing the full Epstein files.
Jamie Raskin shows Kash Patel videos of all the podcasts he’s been on for the last several years, where he repeatedly claims Epstein’s black book is under the direct control of the FBI Director.
This is the cover-up you get when you put a podcaster in charge. pic.twitter.com/meQbptlYqY
— Blue Georgia (@BlueATLGeorgia) September 17, 2025
Within hours, a group of survivors and advocates unloaded. In a joint statement highlighted by national outlets, they said they were “shocked” and “struggling” to understand how Patel could wave away records and victim accounts naming powerful men. They pointed to long-public allegations from Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide in April at age 41, and to congressional references to FBI interview notes that purportedly identify at least 20 other men.
The survivors also accused Patel of punting to prior administrations whose credibility he himself has questioned in the past. If he hasn’t read the underlying reports or met the victims, they asked, why is he defaulting to old judgments that labeled key accounts “not credible”? Their bottom line: stop deflecting, release the witness interview memos, and meet with survivors who still haven’t been heard.
🚨 BREAKING: Rep. Thomas Massie just EXPOSED a hidden Epstein list and called out Kash Patel for lying to the American people.
Massie says the FBI is sitting on files that name 20 other men tied to Epstein’s sex trafficking operation; including a high-profile government… pic.twitter.com/vuxy6OF1CT
— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) September 17, 2025
Capitol Hill isn’t done with Patel, either. Across two committees, he sparred with members over everything from alleged “cover-ups” to a 2003 birthday book for Epstein that Democrats say includes a sexually suggestive note tied to Donald Trump, one Patel said he’d review. Republicans, meanwhile, have leaned on Patel’s line that there’s no verified “client list,” even as they demand more documents.
Context matters. Prince Andrew settled Giuffre’s civil suit in 2022 without admitting liability, a reminder that powerful names have already been dragged into legal proceedings around Epstein’s orbit. And Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s convicted accomplice, was transferred in late July to a minimum-security prison camp, a move now under congressional scrutiny as survivors decry leniency and demand full disclosure of what she told the Department of Justice.
Epstein survivor Annie Farmer: “When the systems meant to protect us recreate the abuse cycle, the betrayal that occurs can be just as damaging as the original trauma…We are not going to be quiet. We are not going to give up. And I ask the American public to stand with us.” pic.twitter.com/4URhNeKWjQ
— Home of the Brave (@OfTheBraveUSA) September 3, 2025
Patel’s defenders argue he’s just stating the status of evidence, not closing the door. But phrasing matters, especially to victims who’ve spent years repeating the same accounts to agencies that, in their view, keep moving the goalposts. Patel’s insistence that there’s nothing “credible” beyond Epstein himself landed like a slap, reigniting the core grievance of the saga: that institutions protected the powerful and failed the vulnerable.
Where this goes next could set the tone for the entire probe. Survivors want the FD-302s out, sworn interviews on the record, and a sit-down with the FBI chief. Lawmakers want receipts, not briefings. And the public, still processing the government’s July conclusion that there is no “client list” and that Epstein died by suicide, is demanding clarity after years of rumor and redactions. The credibility clock is ticking.
