00:00I was at a dinner with embattled Kentucky Republican Thomas Massey when I saw a man
00:05pull him aside and tell the lawmaker something deeply personal. He said he was from Miami
00:10and a victim of childhood sexual abuse. I blocked off the memory of what happened to me
00:16when I was a young boy. One night I woke up in the middle of the night and I broke
00:22down
00:22and I realized something I had suppressed for a while. Massey told me the moment wasn't unusual.
00:27He had co-sponsored the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which forced the Justice Department to release
00:33the files on the case. Almost at every event, without fail, somebody comes up to me and thanks
00:38me. Not because they were a victim of Jeffrey Epstein, but because they're a survivor of
00:44sexual abuse. I love the message that Congressman Massey's doing and that's why I flew over there.
00:49I got my night diverted. I had nothing to do in Kentucky outside of going there. Massey says
00:54getting justice for Epstein's victims is important for all survivors of abuse.
00:59If we don't care in Washington, D.C., why will they care back home?
01:02The Republican congressman's latest battle has been about preventing a pardon for Ghislaine
01:07Maxwell, Epstein's co-conspirator. Some lawmakers argue it could lead to her assistance with the
01:13investigation, but that would be a mistake and it's opposed by both survivors and advocates.
01:18People in positions of power failing survivors is nothing new. Just look at Pam Bondi, who used to
01:24advocate for abuse survivors. She was the one who withheld the Epstein Files in the first place.
01:30Congress shouldn't mess with these abuse survivors. They may be quiet, but they are a powerful
01:35constituency that cuts across the political spectrum and is larger than anyone is comfortable
01:41talking about. Their calls for justice deserve to be heard, and that starts in Washington.
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