A key witness in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case has broken her silence to publicly call on the Donald Trump administration to release investigative files pertaining to the late financier’s crimes.
Marina Lacerda, 37, told ABC News she was speaking out for the victims and revealed details of how Epstein raped her.
Lacerda’s shocking comments come as the Trump administration faces a fresh fight over whether the Epstein files are released.
“I would like for them to give all the victims transparency, right, to what happened and release the files,” Lacerda, 37, said. “It’s also not only for the victims, but for the American people.”
Prosecutors first made contact with her in 2008. Lacerda is understood to have said she first met Epstein in 2002, when she was 14 years old, and that a visit to his New York home to provide massage services eventually led to years of sexual abuse, ABC reports.
“He forced me to have sex with him. Basically. I really had no choice,” she said. “If he was in New York, he had his week prepped to see as many girls as possible. I would say he was seeing about 5 to maybe 8 women, maybe even more, maybe up to 10 women a day.”
Over a period of 3 years, Lacerda says she became part of a growing network of girls who were recruited by Epstein. She also recalls Epstein having photos of politicians and celebrities at his home.
“We need to have transparency. We need the Epstein files to be out,” she said. “Today I spoke about it. I want to have my files so that I can begin to heal.”
The Epstein files are the heart of a Trump-fueled MAGA conspiracy theory that the disgraced financier was part of an international pedophile ring killed in 2019 as part of a cover-up to protect his uber-wealthy accomplices. All official investigations have ruled his death a suicide.
Congress is back in session, with Democratic California Representative Ro Khanna and Republican Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie leading a bipartisan attempt to force a vote on having the Justice Department release investigative documents related to the case.
Trump has lately found his own relationship with the sex trafficker subject to renewed public scrutiny, after defying his own campaign pledges to release fresh documents on the case.
Trump has faced fierce backlash since the Justice Department and FBI confirmed in June that, not only did Epstein die by suicide, but he also kept no “client list” of co-conspirators, despite Attorney General Pam Bondi’s earlier insistence the list was “sitting on my desk” for review.
On Wednesday afternoon, Khanna and Massie will hold what’s been billed as an “explosive” news conference on the steps of the Capitol Building, featuring testimony from survivors of Epstein’s sex trafficking conspiracy, as part of their efforts to force the release of fresh findings on the case.
It is not yet clear whether Lacerda, who’s reportedly identified in Epstein’s 2019 indictment as ‘Minor-Victim 1’, will be in attendance.
