Name: Survivors push for transparency in Epstein case
Uploaded: 2025-11-17T18:11:36.400Z
Duration: 4 min 35 s
Description: Cathryn Lavery, Department of Criminal Justice and Security Chair, at Pace University, gives insight on Tuesday expected vote by congress to release unclassified files held by the government.

Cathryn Lavery, Department of Criminal Justice and Security Chair, at Pace University, gives insight on Tuesday expected vote by congress to release unclassified files held by the government.

San Francisco

Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have released a public service announcement urging Congress to make thousands of documents from Epstein's criminal case public. The House of Representatives is set to vote on whether to release these files, with the proposed Epstein Transparency Files Act expected to be considered in early December. President Trump, who previously opposed releasing the documents, has now expressed support for making them public, a shift attributed to increased pressure from voters and members of his own party.

Katherine Lavery, chair of the Department of Criminal Justice and Security at Pace University, explained that releasing the files through Congress would ensure greater transparency and reduce the risk of coverups. She noted that the president cannot alter the documents if Congress mandates their release, though some details may be specified by lawmakers. The upcoming vote and subsequent actions are being closely watched as calls for transparency continue to grow.

Survivors push for transparency in Epstein case

This was me when I met Jeffrey Epstein. It's time to bring the secrets out of the shadows. It's time to shine a light into the darkness. Well, survivors of Jeffrey Epstein are out with a new PSA calling on Congress to unshackle the archives. It comes as the House of Representatives is gearing up for a high-stakes vote on whether to release thousands of documents tied to Epstein's criminal case. President Trump also reversed course, declaring his support for releasing the files. To break down what will unfold this week on Capitol Hill, we're joined by Katherine Lavery, chair of the Department of Criminal Justice and Security at Pace University. Thank you so much for joining us this morning. Thank you for having me. All right, so tell us, the president now says he can release these files, or he wants the House to release them, but he can release them himself, right? Is that my understanding? He can, but it would do better for the vote to occur and then for it to be done through Congress and not handled through the executive branch. Just because of issues of potential coverups or things that could be removed. With Congress, it needs to be released as is. All right, so what would happen next here in this process for that to happen? It goes before the House, they vote to release it, then how does it work its way through the process? So what's going to happen is they already have the numbers for the vote, so the vote will be done, I believe, tomorrow officially. Then it's going to move to be an act. So it's going to be, I believe, entitled the Epstein Transparency Files Act. That will be voted on in early December, and then that will be when everything will be released. And then the president, I'm sorry, and then the president has to sign off on the release of this? Correct. Can he make any changes before it's released to the public? No, if it's going to be released, it's got to be released. I mean, it's possible Congress may set certain details to it, how many pages, that kind of thing, but I really don't think they're in a place right now to do that. I think right now the voters are demanding transparency, and we've seen the U-turn with President Trump. Now he wants everything released. So I think they're just getting ready for what's about to come out. Did that surprise you that the president had this about face when he posted on True Social that he said, hey, go ahead, release these files? Yes, I do. I was very shocked by it, but I also see the reason being. I think with Marjorie Taylor Greene, that was looked to be a distraction or a deflection, but that did not do well. And I think now that they've released some emails with Steve Bannon and Michael Wolff, it's now really pointing to more of the inner core of people who have worked with the president. So I think this was the best course for him to do. So you might remember several months ago, he was shutting this whole thing down when people were calling for it, but then we had even people in his own party, Marjorie Taylor Greene being one of them, but there are other Republicans in the party that have been pushing for this to be released. It's one of the cornerstones of his campaign. So now that it's this close, do you think that he's saying, okay, release it, because there's either he's asked for the DOJ to look into Democrats into this, or that he just doesn't think there's anything that will affect him? I think he believes, and of course I'm just surmising this, he believes that nothing will come back to touch him. I think one of the primary issues are the midterms. And you are seeing now Republicans getting scared if they don't side with what voters want, which is the release. I think they feel like there's no other alternative. And the fact that we've seen the deflection with Marjorie Taylor Greene, also the call to investigate Democrats, the call to investigate celebrities, it just appeared like everything was piling up as a way of not stepping up to the plate with this. So by him allowing this, he at least is looking at he is stepping up to the plate. So this is strategy. Yeah, I believe it's strategy, absolutely. I think what we've been seeing is something called elite complicity. You see these people in power with wealth and money trying to make something work their way, but they know this can be very damaging. And so they have to make a decision which way to pivot. And I think for President Trump, this is the only way for him to pivot right now. All right, there could be a vote coming up tomorrow in the House. Catherine Lavery from Pace University, thank you for your insight into this. And we'll see if it plays out and how it plays out in the coming days and weeks. I appreciate it. Yes, we will. Thank you so much for having me. Sure.

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Breakdown