Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / The Financial Cost of Surviving Jeffrey Epstein (9/22/26)

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The Financial Cost of Surviving Jeffrey Epstein (9/22/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up everyone and welcome to another episode of the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. One of the biggest misnomers when talking about
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Epstein survivors and the payouts that they received is that
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: they got the Brinks truck backed up to their front
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: lawn where a bunch of money was just dumped out. Meanwhile,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: the vast majority of these survivors didn't receive that much
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: money when you're talking about the context that we're talking about.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: And a lot of them are still struggling financially. And
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: if you remember back to when the Virgin Islands was
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: suing the estate and going after a bunch of money
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: from Jeffrey Epstein in general and people that were allegedly
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: involved with Epstein, I told you that it was just
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: going to take food off the plate of the survivors.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: And that's exactly what happened. The USVI, the Virgin Islands,
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: they ended up with more money than all the survivors combined.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Now tell me how that's okay. Tell me how that's fair.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: And people can bitch and moan all they want about
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: the fact that people got paid out here. But what
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: else are they supposed to do? What other restitution is
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: there for them? What other justice is there for them?
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: When the Department of Justice refuses to do anything and
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  Speaker 1: hold anybody accountable, then you have to find other ways.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: And for a lot of these women, up until that
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: compensation fund was put into place, there was no for
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: them to use to go after people like Jeffrey Epstein
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  Speaker 1: or his buddies. And then once that compensation fund was
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: put into place, they were able to manage the fallout, right?
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: They were able to manage how much money people were getting.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: And that was the whole point. But if anybody thinks
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: that these survivors are driving around in Bentleys and living
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: it up, they're crazy. Now, of course, there are some
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: survivors that got more money than others. But the vast
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: majority of people who applied... and got compensation, they certainly
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: didn't become rich. Hell, some of them weren't even made whole.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: Do you know how much it costs to get medical
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: treatment if you don't have insurance? Or psychological treatment? Well,
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: let me tell you, a lot of money. And when
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: you're already dealing with all kinds of other issues, due
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: to your abuse, makes it pretty difficult, right? So I
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: think that the legislation that's been put forward by the
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: House Democrats and is actually pretty good legislation. And it
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: helps survivors with financial and medical burdens. And I think
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: that's something that we should certainly address. If we have
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: money for all this other dumb shit, then we certainly
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: have money for this. Today's article is from The Guardian
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  Speaker 1: and the headline, Epstein's survivors struggle financially as they continue
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: to heal their wounds. It doesn't just go away. This
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  Speaker 1: article was authored by Victoria Bekempis. Danielle Bensky wants a
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  Speaker 1: typical life. I would just love to own a house
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  Speaker 1: one day and have a dog, said Bensky, who is
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: among the Jeffrey Epstein survivors advocating for accountability. I think
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: that's the dream. Literally, just to have a normal existence
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: where we're not trying to fight the government and constantly
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: be facing our own abuse. And I can't imagine living
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  Speaker 1: like that, honestly. Imagine being abused by somebody like Epstein
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  Speaker 1: and then running into a goddamn wall when you try
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  Speaker 1: to get justice or help. For Bensky and many other
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: survivors of the convicted sex trafficker, the simple dream enjoyed
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  Speaker 1: by so many Americans remain out of reach. In addition
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: to the psychological and physical toll of sexual trauma, some
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  Speaker 1: Epstein victims face extreme financial pressure related to their pursuit
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: of justice for the well-connected predator. Right now, I'm uninsured,
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  Speaker 1: Bensky said. Bensky has received coverage for mental health treatment
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: because of a settlement between an investment bank and the U.S.
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  Speaker 1: Virgin Islands authorities that led to the creation of a
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: mental health fund. But there are many other costs associated
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  Speaker 1: with healing, she said. Physical therapy for post-traumatic injury costs
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: approximately $ 200 per visit, she said. Bensky knows she should
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: go more than twice per month, but I can't afford it,
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  Speaker 1: she said. The yoga that helps keep Bensky centered comes
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: to about $ 250 monthly. Look, all this stuff adds up.
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  Speaker 1: And if you're somebody that's financially secure, great. I'm happy
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  Speaker 1: for you. But when you have to worry about each
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  Speaker 1: and every bill going out, when you have to worry
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  Speaker 1: about how you're going to get treatment or eat food, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I have a problem with that. And I think that
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  Speaker 1: there needs to be some kind of mechanism for people
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  Speaker 1: that have been wronged by the government, right? And these
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: survivors most certainly have been wronged by the government. And frankly,
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  Speaker 1: I think that there should be a lawsuit, and I
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  Speaker 1: think the lawsuit should mirror the one that Nassar had.
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  Speaker 1: I think that's the road to victory, and I think
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  Speaker 1: that they should get a gigantic fat bag of money
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  Speaker 1: from the federal government. Now, if that's going to happen
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  Speaker 1: or not, that's a whole different question, but that's what
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  Speaker 1: should happen. I've been doing all this advocacy for the year,
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  Speaker 1: and I've had to take time off from work, Bensky said,
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: explaining how she now hit roadblocks in securing work due
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: to our advocacy. There are certain places that won't even
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: hire some of us now because they're saying that we're
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: too political. Imagine that shit. So crazy to think about.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: Too political? By demanding justice? By demanding accountability? I guess
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: that's too political these days. Congressional Democrats Ayanna Pressley, Teresa
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  Speaker 1: Leger Fernandez, and Deborah Ross this week introduced legislation to
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: address survivors' financial burdens. This proposed legislation seeks to launch
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: a restitution fund in the judicial branch for survivors of
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: sexual violence whose rights were violated by the federal government,
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  Speaker 1: including all survivors of abuse by Jeffrey Epstein and Glenn Maxwell. Yo,
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  Speaker 1: that's a good bill, and I don't care who sponsored it.
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  Speaker 1: If the federal government is culpable, then the federal government
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  Speaker 1: should be paying. Oh, they have no problem having a
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: hush fund for congressmen and senators, right? That you fund,
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: by the way, so they can pay off their accusers.
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  Speaker 1: But God forbid we hold people that were wronged by
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  Speaker 1: the government. And before you say they weren't wronged, just
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: take a look at the CVRA and look at what
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  Speaker 1: the judge said. Though it often goes overlooked or ignored,
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  Speaker 1: the deep financial burden that survivors of sexual violence carry,
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  Speaker 1: coupled with mental and physical trauma, can be debilitating. Navigating
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  Speaker 1: such harm can lead The time away from work or
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  Speaker 1: the need to leave a job entirely resulting in a
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  Speaker 1: loss of income while rent is due, daily needs to
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  Speaker 1: have been met, and medical expenses to address physical injury
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  Speaker 1: and mental health support pile up, Presley said in a statement.
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  Speaker 1: The Survivor Rights Restitution Act shines a light on this
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  Speaker 1: critical gap in support for survivors and would force the
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  Speaker 1: government to bring the meaningful accountability and compensation that survivors
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  Speaker 1: are owed. And now to be clear, this is for
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  Speaker 1: survivors who have been wronged by the government. And I
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  Speaker 1: would say that every single one of these Epstein survivors
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: has that beef. Many survivors support the initiative, but the
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  Speaker 1: likelihood of it passing both chambers of Congress and securing
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: Donald Trump's signature seems unlikely in the near future, given
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: heightened partisanship and geopolitical distractions. As a result, an initiative
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: for steadier financial footing is poised more to be a
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: long-term prospect rather than immediate relief. Well, just getting the
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: bill out there and getting the conversation started is important.
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  Speaker 1: And I think that it's a good first step. Jess
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: Michael said that her financial future was derailed after Epstein
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: assaulted her. She'd flourished as a professional dancer, but the
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: attack left her unable to pursue work. I would go
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: into auditions and I'd lose my nerve, Michael said. I
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: would be unable to finish an audition and I would
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: be unable to go to auditions because I would be
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: stuck in bed, frozen or crying. And that lasted throughout
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  Speaker 1: my 20s. Yeah, that's PTSD, right? A whole lot of
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  Speaker 1: PTSD and anxiety. And all of it brought on by
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  Speaker 1: Jeffrey Epstein's bullshit. The career that I had worked for collapsed.
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  Speaker 1: What does that end up costing someone? Michael said. She
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  Speaker 1: noted that for much of the time, it meant I
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  Speaker 1: didn't even have insurance. Sexual harm is an injury that
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  Speaker 1: demands first aid care, just like any other injury. Before
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  Speaker 1: it's a crime demanding an interrogation, Michael said. She said
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  Speaker 1: that she has for years been dealing with physical ailments
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  Speaker 1: related to nervous system harm. That's why I'm someone that
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: deals with gastrointestinal issues, cardiovascular issues, immune system issues, endocrine issues,
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  Speaker 1: and endocrine system issues, she said. There's something that happens
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  Speaker 1: when you have PTSD for a long period of time.
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  Speaker 1: It doesn't just go away. You know, when you've dealt
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  Speaker 1: with trauma and you've tried to manage it on your
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  Speaker 1: own and it hasn't worked out, it just keeps building
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  Speaker 1: and building and building. And eventually that PTSD becomes crippling.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, look what PTSD does to people and look
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  Speaker 1: what it drives people to do. So it's certainly no joke.
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  Speaker 1: And it's certainly something that a lot of these survivors, unfortunately,
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  Speaker 1: are dealing with. If the bill passes, Michaels wants to
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  Speaker 1: spend money on her health, which she said had deteriorated
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  Speaker 1: over the past year amid the stresses of advocacy. Even
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  Speaker 1: though Michaels has health insurance, a functional medicine doctor that
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  Speaker 1: actually understands what I'm going through is expensive, and it's
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  Speaker 1: often not covered. by insurance. Right now, I can't afford
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  Speaker 1: to get the type of doctor that I really need.
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  Speaker 1: She said I have to wing it with AI, my
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: primary care provider, my insurance company, and I'm navigating all
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: of those things, which is exhausting all on its own. Well, look,
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  Speaker 1: there's no doubt you have all this other stuff going on,
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  Speaker 1: And then you have to worry about your finances. You
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  Speaker 1: have to worry about your health and all the regular
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: issues that the rest of us are dealing with. And
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: think about how burdened you are sometimes, right? Stressed out, overmatched,
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  Speaker 1: stuff going on at work, at home, whatever it might be.
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  Speaker 1: Now think about all of that with the PTSD stacked
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  Speaker 1: on top of it. And then think about the burden.
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  Speaker 1: Certainly not something I'd ever want to deal with. Annie Farmer,
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  Speaker 1: an outspoken Epstein survivor who testified against his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell,
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  Speaker 1: at the British Socialites 2021 trial, is now able to
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  Speaker 1: receive money for therapy from the Virgin Islands Mental Health Fund.
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  Speaker 1: But from 2019 until the near present, Farmer spent many
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: thousands of dollars on therapy. Farmer said that she has
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  Speaker 1: not been working this year because her advocacy has taken
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: over my life. That's obviously a choice I made. I
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  Speaker 1: could have kept working and and not really been so
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: involved in all the advocacy, but I think it would
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  Speaker 1: have been hard to do both in the way, at
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  Speaker 1: the level, that I've been involved, Farmer said. I couldn't
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  Speaker 1: work full-time, certainly, so there's a cost to that. Farmer
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  Speaker 1: felt as if she had the flexibility to make that
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  Speaker 1: choice because she received funds from the Epstein compensation and
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  Speaker 1: mental health funds, but said some others are not in
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  Speaker 1: that position. I've been able to do this and still
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  Speaker 1: be okay and be comfortable. But I think for people
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  Speaker 1: that either haven't received those funds or received significantly less,
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  Speaker 1: it is that much more stressful. Look, when you don't
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  Speaker 1: have money in general, you know how bad it sucks.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not preaching to the choir out there. I know
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  Speaker 1: I'm not talking to a bunch of Elon Musks and
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: Jeff Bezos. I know that all of you folks, for
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: the most part, have been there. Not two fucking nickels
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  Speaker 1: to rub together, wondering how you're going to fucking rob
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: Peter to pay Paul. And then you have all the
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: stress and emotions and PTSD on top of it? Survivors
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: praised World Without Exploitation, an organization dedicated to ending commercial
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: sexual exploitation, for financial assistance with advocacy. But they said
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: the cost of participating in advocacy remains steep, even with assistance.
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  Speaker 1: I've paid a lot of money to be able to
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: advocate this year, Bensky said. I paid to get myself
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: to the State of the Union address. I paid yesterday
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: to go and speak at Ayanna Pressley's press conference. The
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: advocacy component of this is so important, and it feels
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: very crucial to many of us, Bensky said. So, we
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: will always pay to get ourselves there in the name
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  Speaker 1: of trying to make it safer and make change. Michaels
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: said there are costs associated with advocacy, even when her
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: travel expenses are covered in full. Outside costs, such as
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: dog sitting, could add up to $ 175 to $ 200 per day.
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  Speaker 1: And those are all the little things people don't think about.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: But just because these women are survivors, and, you know,
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: advocating against Epstein, doesn't mean the rest of their life stops.
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  Speaker 1: People go, oh, you choose to do it. But who's
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: going to do it for us, Michael said. Nobody's going
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: to do it for us, and nobody can really do
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: it for us. Some victims received very little, while others
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: received a lot. The amount of money received depended on
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: the severity of the abuse and how the abuse affected
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: the survivor. Spencer Coven, chief legal officer at Goldlaw, who
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: represented multiple Epstein survivors, some survivors received tens of thousands
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: while others received millions. Michaels disabused any potential skeptics who
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: might think that participation in the fund automatically meant lifelong windfall.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: Similar sexual assault cases that didn't relate to Epstein, Michaels'
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: attorney said, might result in settlements up to $ 2. 5 million.
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: I got a fraction of a fraction of that. And
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: that's true. And that's why I was kind of worried
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: about the compensation fund from the jump. Now, it was
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: a quick way to access money right away, basically. But
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: you weren't going to get what you deserved. And I
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: saw that play out time and time again. Julie Roginski,
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: who pursued a sexual harassment claim against the former Fox
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: News CEO, Roger Nails, and co-launched the non-profit Lift Our Voices,
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: said that many do not understand the long-term ramifications for survivors,
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: even those who have been lauded for their bravery. Yeah,
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: it's rough. You know, these are real people. They're not just,
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: you know, people on the internet or people in a
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: news article. They're real people who have real lives, real emotions,
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: and they're dealing with a lot of shit. After the
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: applause dies down, you're lying in bed at night at
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: 2 o'clock in the morning, looking at the ceiling and wondering,
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: what the hell just happened to my life? It's been
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: completely turned upside down, Roginski said. In a high-profile case
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: such as with Epstein, barriers to work are not atypical.
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: That is incredibly debilitating, to know that you did the
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: right thing, you spoke up for yourself and for other women,
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: and it's following you for the rest of your life?
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: Not just because of what happened to you, but also
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: because people now refuse to give you a chance, professionally,
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: she added. When survivors come to Roginski or her colleagues
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: with questions about coming forward, She always tells them that
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: it's a personal decision because there are ramifications that can
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: be brutal. I absolutely encourage people to come forward for
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: themselves and to hold their perpetrators accountable and to help others.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: But at the same time, there's a huge cost to that,
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: Roginski said. And there is no doubt about that. You know,
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: it's a risk, right? You come forward, you tell your story,
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: and then you have to deal with the nonsense. And
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: when you have a DOJ that refuses to step up,
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: and do the right thing, it's even more daunting. And
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: as far as the bill goes, we'll have to see
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: where it all ends up and how many votes it
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: ends up getting. And then of course would be the
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: final hurdle, getting the president to sign it. So we'll
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: keep an eye on this one too. And when we
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: have some developments one way or the other, we'll get
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: those added to the catalog. All the information that goes
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: with this episode can be found in the description box.