Randall Hears from Epstein Survivors at West Palm Beach Oversight Field Hearing
“You deserve an apology from your government,” said Randall to Danielle Bensky, a survivor who was first introduced to Epstein at 17 years old
WEST PALM BEACH, FL — Today, U.S. Congresswoman Emily Randall (D, WA-06), heard from survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s trafficking and expert witnesses during a House Committee on Oversight Democratic shadow hearing titled, “Survivors Fight for Justice: Exposing Epstein's Crimes in Palm Beach and Across the World.” Epstein was first criminally investigated in Palm Beach in 2005. The shadow hearing was held by House Oversight Democrats at the City of Palm Beach Administrative Building.
“[The] Department of Justice is engaging in a massive cover-up. 2.5 million documents still unreleased in this Epstein investigation. And yet, they release over and over and over again, thousands of times, the names and personally identifying information of survivors,” said Rep. Randall. “There's nothing else to call that but witness intimidation. Because it cannot be accidental the number of times that co-conspirators and powerful men have their names redacted in the files and survivors' names are unredacted.”
*Video of Congresswoman Randall’s hearing remarks is available HERE, and full transcript HERE. Video of the post-hearing press conference is available HERE, and full transcript HERE.*
During the hearing, Danielle Bensky, who was first introduced to Jeffrey Epstein at 17, shared what it was like to read her own name in the Epstein files after the DOJ failed to redact her identity: “I am public. That's a choice that I made, but never in my life did I expect for anybody to read intimate details of abuse. To me, it's always been about protecting others. And, you know, unfortunately, I have friends in this story. And to see somebody's name out there who has worked so hard to move past this in life is something that sends a shockwave through your body…It hits you sort of like a bullet to the chest where you're like, ‘Oh my God,’ it's that feeling of like, that PTSD is real.”
Rep. Randall responded: “I feel like you deserve an apology from your government. You know, as Democratic members of Congress, we are here to continue to work with you. But I also know that we absolutely have to fight for better. We have to fight to pass Virginia's law.”
Virginia’s Law, introduced by U.S. Representative Teresa Leger Fernández (D, NM-03) would eliminate the statute of limitations to allow adult survivors of sexual abuse and trafficking to file civil claims against their abusers. The bill is named after the late Virginia Roberts Giuffre, a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Giuffre was first targeted by Ghislaine Maxwell when she was working at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago. Giuffre was 16 years old at the time.
As a member of the House Oversight Committee, Randall has been a steadfast advocate for truth and transparency regarding the Epstein files. In September 2025, Randall signed a discharge petition to force a House vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The bill was voted on in the House on November 18, 2025, which passed the House by a vote of 427-1 and shortly after passed in the Senate by unanimous consent. The bill, which was signed into law by President Trump, requires the Attorney General (AG) to release all documents and records in possession of the Department of Justice relating to Jeffrey Epstein.
On March 4, 2026, Randall voted to subpoena then AG Pam Bondi to testify before the House Oversight Committee on her role in the DOJ’s gross mishandling of the files. Even though Trump fired Bondi on April 2nd, Bondi is still subject to the Congressional subpoena. After refusing to comply, Randall joined her Oversight Democrat colleagues in filing contempt charges against the former AG. Shortly after, Bondi agreed to appear for a deposition on May 29th later this month.
In February 2026, Randall invited Sharlene Rochard, an advocate and survivor of Jeffrey Epstein’s ring of trafficking to come to Washington D.C. to be her State of the Union guest. Both Randall and Rochard did not attend the State of the Union and instead participated in Move On’s People’s State of the Union alternative programming.