Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / The Sarah Kellen Congressional Transcript (Part 1) (6/11/26)

Transcript

The Sarah Kellen Congressional Transcript (Part 1) (6/11/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

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Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
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Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're gonna get started with
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the Sarah Kellen testimony that she gave before Congress back
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in May. And like usual, there's a whole accounting of
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who's at the interview. We're gonna skip that. We're gonna
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start right away with the questions. Miss Brygnac is doing
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the questioning and Sarah Kellen is doing the answering. When
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I say question, it's Miss Brignac, and when I say answer,
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that's Sarah Kellen Vickers. And if somebody else jumps in,
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I'll notate that. So let's dive in, Miss Brynac. We're
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ready to go on the record. This is a transcribed
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interview of Miss Sarah Kellen conducted by the House Oversight
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Committee and Government Reform under the authority granted to it
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pursuant the House Rule X. According to House Rule X,
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grants the Committee broad jurisdiction for the committed to conduct
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investigations of any matter at any time. This interview was
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requested by the Chairman, James Colmer as part of the
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committee's investigation into the circumstances and subsequent investigation into the
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crimes of Jeffrey Epstein and Glenn Maxwell, the operation of
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sex trafficking rings and ways for the federal government to
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effectively combat them, the ways in which mister Epstein and
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miss Maxwell sought to curry favor an exercise influence to
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protect their legal activities, and potential violations of ethics rules
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related to elected officials. Can the witness please state her
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name for the record, Sarah Kellen, Miss Brignac, thank you.
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I want to thank Miss Kellen for appearing here voluntarily today.
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My name is Britney Brignac, and I'm senior counsel for
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Chairman James Colmer. Under the Committee on Oversight and Government
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Reforms rules, you're allowed to have council present to advise
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you during the interview. Do you have council present with
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you today in a personal capacity? Kelln yes, Brignac. Will
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counsel please identify themselves for the record, and to this,
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Sarah Kellen's lawyer, Miss Hamm speaks up. Kimberly ham Morrison Forrester,
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another lawyer for Kathleen Cassidy, Morvillo Abramowitz, another lawyer for
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mister Uriarty, Carlos Uriarty Morrison Forrester, Miss Brignac for the record.
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Starting with the Chairman, Can the majority members introduce themselves,
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then ranking member, then minority members James Comer, Clay Higgins,
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Andy Biggs starting with the majority staff, Krish No Morthy,
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James Walkinshaw. Starting with the majority staff, Can the additional
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staff members please introduce themselves with their name, title and affiliation.
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Ellison Tolin, who is the council for Chairman James Comer,
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Jack Emmer, Chief Counsel for Investigations for Chairman Comer, Mister
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harneics Will Harneys, Professational staff Member for Chairman Comber. Hannah Cathay,
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Professional staff member for Chairman Comber. Billy Grant, Deputy Chief
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Council for Investigations for Chairman Comber. Mister Ashworth, Daniel Ashworth,
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General Council for Chairman James Comer, Peter Spector, Director of
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Oversight for Chairman Comber, Jessica Collins, Communications Director for Chairman Comber,
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Mallory Koeger, Director of Operations in Chief Clerk Chairman Comber,
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Miss Vineyard Ashley Vineyard, Deputy Staff Director Chairman Comber. Emily
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fire Bend Council for Chairman Comber redacted and the next
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viewer are adapted. So we're just going to pass that
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on to Miss Brignac asking the questions, Miss Kellen. Before
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we begin, I'd like to go over the ground rules
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for the interview. The questioning will proceed in rounds. The
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majority will ask questions for up to an hour, and
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then the minority will have opportunity to ask questions from
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up to an hour if they choose to the extent.
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Members have questions for the witness, they'll be propounded during
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their sides respective rounds. The clock will stop if you
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need to confer with counsel, your council is speaking, and
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when members or staff are speaking during the opposing sides
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rounds a question, we will alternate back and forth and
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until there are no more questions. Do you understand Kellen? Yes, Brignac.
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There is a court reporter taking down everything I say
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and everything you say to make a written record for
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the interview. For the record to be clear, please wait
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until the staff are questioning you finishes each question before
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you begin to answer, and the staffer will wait until
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you finish your response before proceeding to the next question. Further,
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to ensure the court reporter can properly record this interview.
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Please speak clearly, concisely, and slowly. Also, the court reporter
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cannot record nonverbal answers, such as nodding or shaking your head,
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so it's important that you answer each question with an
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audible verbal answer. Minority exhibits will be identified alphabetically. Do
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you understand, Kelln Yes, Brignac. We want you to answer
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our questions in the most complete and truthful manner possible,
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so will take our time. If you have any questions
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or do not fully understand the question, please let us know.
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We will attempt to clarify, add context to, or rephrase
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the questions. If we ask about specific conversations or events
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in the past, and you're unable to recall the exact
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words or details, you should testify to the substance of
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those conversations or events to the best of your recollection.
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If you recall only part of the conversation or event,
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you should give us your best recollection of those events
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or parts of a conversation that you do recall. Do
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you understand, Miss Kellen, Yes, Brignac. Although you're here voluntarily,
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you're acquired by law pursuing the Title eighteen of the
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US Code Section one thousand and one to answer questions
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from Congress truthfully. This also applies to questions posed by
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Congressional staff in the interview. Do you understand Kellen, Yes, Brignac.
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If any time you knowingly make false statements, you could
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be subject to criminal prosecution. Do you understand Kellen, Yes, Brignac.
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This includes knowingly providing false testimony, but also stating that
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you do not recall or remember something when you in
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fact do. Do you understand Kellen, yes, Brignac. Furthermore, you
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cannot tell half truths or exclude information necessary to make
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statements accurate. You're required to provide all information that would
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make your response truthful. A deliberate failure to disclose information
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can constitute a false statement. Do you understand miss Kellen, Yes, Brignac.
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Is there any reason you're not able to provide truthful
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testimony in today's interview? Kellen No, Brignac. Please note that
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if you wish to assert a privilege over any statement today,
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that assertion must comply with the rules of the Committee
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on Oversight and Government Reform pursu into that Committee. Rule
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sixteen See one states for the chair to consider her
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assertions of privilege over testimony. Your statements, witnesses her entities
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must clearly state the specific privilege being asserted and the
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reason for the assertion on or before the scheduled data
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testimony or appearance. Do you understand, Kellen? Yes, Now, her
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lawyer jumps in, Can I just very quickly, just so
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the record's clear. We've previously shared with the committee staff.
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There are certain topics. This is a voluntary interview that
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she's prepared to discuss today. She'll talk about her own questions,
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pertinent questions regarding her own victimization, but not questions about
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other persons victimization. The reason for this include her own
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mental trauma, her ability to withstand sustain questioning on these points,
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legislative purpose and pertency, concerns about the private rights of individuals,
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including my client, and the protection of her constitutional rights.
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And I know that we've discussed it with the Majority
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and Minority staff, but I just wanted to make sure
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that everyone in the room understood our condition. Mister Ashworth
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for the record, thank you. As previously stated, the Committee
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will ask all questions it deems relevant to the committee's
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investigation and hopes the witness will answer those questions. As
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she sees fit. Thank you, miss Brignac. Ordinarily, we take
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a five minute break at the end of each hour
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of questioning, but if you need a longer break or
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a break before that, please let us know and we
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will happily accommodate it. However, to the extent that there's
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a pending question on the record, we would ask that
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you finish answering the question before we take a break.
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Do you understand Kellen, yes, Brignac, you have any questions
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before we begin? Kellen, No, I don't have any questions. Brignac. Great,
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and I believe we had another member join us. Can
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you please identify yourself for the record, William Timmins, South Carolina. Brignac,
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thank you. I understand that you have an opening statement
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that you want to read for the record. Kelln, yeah, Brignac,
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you can do so now. Kellen, thank you, Chairman, ranking member,
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and members of the Committee. My name is Sarah Kellen.
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I worked for and was sexually and psychologically abused by
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Jeffrey Epstein for over a decade. It's important for the
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committee to understand before I begin that the woman sitting
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in front of you today is not the woman I
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was supposed to become. The years that have shaped my
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adult life were not my own. During those years, I
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was trapped inside Jeffrey Epstein's world. He grew me sexually
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and psychologically abused me, controlled me, manipulated me, dominated me,
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and gas lit me until I could no longer tell
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which thoughts were mine and which were his. It was
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like living with a permanent virtual reality had set on.
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I was reminded every day how powerful he was, how
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influential he was, and that to turn on him or
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disobey him would mean losing everything, my job, my home,
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everyone I knew in the world, even my life. Understanding
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who I was before meeting Jeffrey Epstein and Glenn Maxwell
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will help explain why I was the perfect target for them.
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I was raised in a religious cult of Jehovah's witnesses
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in a small community in North Carolina, in a faith
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where women did not speak unless spoken to. We were
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not allowed to question men. In fact, we were required
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to submit to and obey men. We were discouraged from
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thinking for ourselves. At the age of thirteen, an eighteen
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year old man began pursuing me. At the time, I
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was flattered. I thought I was falling in love with him.
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Only now do I understand what was happening. I was
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being groomed and molested and then raped. I dropped out
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of high school at the age of fifteen to prepare
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to marry this man, which I did at the age
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of seventeen. To me, I had no other choice. It
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was the only way to reconcile the fact we were
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having sex outside of wedlock a grave sin in the
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eyes of Jehovah God. At the time, I thought it
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was love. Only much later did I come to understand
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what had happened to me was wrong. My husband took
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me to Hawaii, thousands of miles away from my family
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and friends. Three years later, he served me with divorce
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papers at an airport. I signed them without a lawyer
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because I did not know I was allowed to have one.
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He then this fellowshiped me from the Jehovah witnesses, excommunicated,
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without anyone ever having questioned me. I still don't know
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to this day why I was this fellowshiped. From that
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day forward, everyone who is Jehovah's witness is no longer
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allowed to speak to or associate with me, including my
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entire family, my parents, my siblings and all my friends.
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From one day to the next, I was completely alone
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in the outside world, with no tools to navigate this
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world outside of the religious cult in which I had
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been raised. I was twenty one years old, far from
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where I grew up, stuck on an island in the
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middle of nowhere. No college degree, no family, no friends,
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no money, nowhere to live. The only person who offered
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me shelter was a photographer twenty years my senior, who
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demanded nude photographs and delhi sex from me in exchange
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for a roof over mine head. When I couldn't afford
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to pay rent, I had no other choice to survive.
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I began to disassociate during these encounters, a coping mechanism
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that will stay with me for many years. During this
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time period, I went to Neiman Marcus makeup counter in Honolulu.
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The makeup artist introduced me to a famous New Yorker
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hairdresser who was there promoting his new hair care line.
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He said he wanted me to model in a hair
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show for him in Maui. When I flew to Maui,
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he had me staying in his hotel room. There was
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no hair show. He sexually assaulted me that night. He
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then said he wanted to introduce me to his friend
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Jeffrey Epstein, who he said was his scout for Victoria's Secret.
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Jeffrey flew me to La for a casting in his
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shutters on the Beach hotel room. Although he did not
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sexually assault me that day, he made me think he
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was a model scout and told me to undress for him,
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which I did. Months later, while working at a hotel,
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a young woman I work with became friends with me
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and knew I was desperately trying to leave Hawaii. She
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said that she knew a couple in New York looking
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for an assistant and asked if I would be interested
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in the job. The couple was Jeffrey Epstein and Glene Maxwell. Unfortunately,
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I got the job. The first time Jeffrey Epstein assaulted me,
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I was on Little Saint James's private island. This was
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not a vacation destination, it was isolation. He told me
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he was taking me on a tour of the island.
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He drove me on a four wheeler to his bedroom.
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He locked the door behind us. He approached me and
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lifted up my shirt. To this day, I can't remember
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exactly what happened in the minutes that followed. My mind
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shut down. I have since learned in therapy that this
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is called disassociation. It became how I survived. There were
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many events during my time working with Jeffrey and Golaine
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that my mind shut down and doesn't allow me to
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remember the traumatic details. I was then flown to Palm
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Beach in Jeffrey Epstein's private seven twenty seven, then to
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New York City. I was surrounded by unimaginable luge, private jets,
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designer clothing, lavish homes, the largest townhouse in Manhattan. I
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was told. After a week of traveling with them, I
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was sent back home to Hawaii. About a month later,
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Glane called me and told me to come to Palm
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Beach right away and start working. They bought me a
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flight for the next day, and I immediately started training,
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traveling and working for them twenty four to seven with
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no pay. I was too afraid to even ask how
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much I would earn, terrified of jeopardizing my only chance
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at survival and stability. I have read articles online labeling
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me as Glenn Maxwell's lieutenant. That is a gross misrepresentation.
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I was a literal indentured slave. In fact, she even
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referred to me as her slave and her minion. I
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had zero power or authority. I was there only to
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serve and submit. Only after Jeffrey confirmed that I would
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submit to his sexual abuse did he begin paying me.
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After months of unpaid labor, he instructed me to draw
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m a bath on the island, then ordered me to
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undress and get in with him, and he said the
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job is yours now, you just have to keep it.
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He then pulled me onto his bed and made clear
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that keeping the job required only after submitting to his
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sexual abuse did the paychecks begin. Twenty five thousand a
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year for working non stop on call twenty four to
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seven months at a time when no days off. I
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understood the math exactly. I was being paid, in part
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to be raped. I was on call to him every
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hour of the day. I won't catalog every assault because
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it would take too much time, but I want this
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committee to know that the abuse happened on average on
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a weekly basis, and at times was violent. It included
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Jeffrey entering my room in the middle of the night
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and putting his fingers inside me, waking me up from sleep.
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It included the occasion in Palm Beach when he trapped
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me in the gym by lowering the metal hurricane shutters,
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blasted the music so loud so no one could hear,
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choked me, and violently rape me. The abuse continued while
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Jeffrey was supposedly serving his Florida JELSA. He even skyped
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me from a computer inside the Palm Beach County Stockade
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and ordered me to undress forum on camera. As a
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result of the years of abuse, constant sleep deprivation and
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course of control inflicted by Jeffrey and Glane, psychological conditions
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hampered my ability to identify my own emotions, differentiate reality
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from Jeffrey's manipulated reality, and crippled me for making decisions
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or asserting agency when it mattered most Today, I continue
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to suffer from major depressive disorder, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder,
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and complex PTSD, specifically as a result of Jeffrey Epstein's
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sexual assaults and psychological abuse. I know some of you
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are probably wondering why I didn't leave. I had nowhere
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else to go. I had no money, no family, no education,
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and no sense that I deserved any better. This is
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why It's so important for people to be educated on
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how grooming processes work and how trauma bonds form. I
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have only just begun to understand this myself over the
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past few years of therapy. I can provide more information
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how I was groomed, but I will not speak for
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others and how they were groomed. Jeffrey made certain I
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knew that defying him would cost me my life. He
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knew everyone in the highest echelons of society, and everyone
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catered to him. He knew everyone in the fashion industry, academics, finance, government,
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powerful world leaders, dictators, and everyone in between. From the beginning,
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he showed me that he was more powerful than basically
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anyone in the world. I sat in a room in
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Cuba with him and Fidel Castro. I was taken to
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Asia and Africa with President Bill Clinton, including a lunch
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at the home of the Sultan a Brunei. I was
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at Princess Beatrice's eighteenth birthday party at Windsor Castle and
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at the desert home of Sheik Muhammad in Dubai. I
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sat across the table from Adhud Barakh in Israel. Jeffrey
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was able to fool and manipulate the brightest minds in
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the world. US victims didn't stand a chance. I was
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a high school dropout from North Carolina. I was a
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silent body in a chair besides men who started and
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ended wars. I understood completely that if Jeffrey could walk
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into those rooms, he could walk into any room in
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the entire world. He could find me anywhere on Earth.
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He could also control any law enforcement agency. That proof
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came in two thousand and seven. Two FBI agents tried
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to approach me and another young woman in Saint Thomas Airport.
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Jeffrey told us to stay where we were, walked over
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and spoke to the agents himself, came back ten minutes later,
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said let's go, and the agents were gone. Later that
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same year, the United States government placed me into Jeffrey
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Epstein's federal non prosecution agreement as a name co conspirator.
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I was not told this was happening. I was not
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asked about it. No one from law enforcement ever spoke
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with me, heard my side of the story, ever asked
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me a single question. I did not even know my
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name was in that agreement until after it had been
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signed and released to the public. The federal government of
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the United States branded me a criminal and a secret
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deal with my own abuser without ever once speaking to me.
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From the day Jeffrey Epstein found me until July of
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twenty nineteen, no one from the federal government, or any
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government for that matter, ever contacted me about anything, not once.
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I've spent every year since trying to live underneath that
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piece of paper. I finally extricated myself from Jeffrey Epstein's
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grasp in twenty thirteen when I became engaged to a
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man who gave me, for the first time of my life,
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a piece of footing outside of someone else's control. I
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was finally able to leave. The abuse finally stopped, but
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leaving was not the same as escaping. I am almost
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forty seven years old. My entire life since the age
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of twenty two has been dominated by Jeffrey Epstein's abuse
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and manipulation and the aftermath of it. I am here
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today to answer your questions, to dispel rumors and conspiracies,
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and to tell you the truth. I hope and pray
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that I am the only sexual abuse survivor that has
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come before you in this manner. Nobody else who has
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been through the hell that Jeffrey Epstein put us through.
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Should ever have to endure the pain of recounting it
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again publicly, all of us lose more of our lives,
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our health, our privacy, and mental well being each day
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Jeffrey Epstein remains a topic of discussion. I hope this
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brings us one step closer to closure for all of
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us survivors. Thank you for listening. All right, folks, we're
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gonna wrap up right here, and in the next episode
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discussing the topic, We're gonna pick up where we left off.
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All the information that goes with this episode can be
20:33
found in the description box.