Melanie Stansbury: “I rise today to stand with truth and justice, to stand with every survivor of sexual assault, and to demand the release…”

“I rise today to stand with truth and justice, to stand with every survivor of sexual assault, and to demand the release of the Epstein files now. I say to the one man on planet Earth who has the power to do so, Mr. President, it is time to release the files. Today, we vote on a resolution to release these files, but we have already subpoenaed them, and the President has refused to comply, engaged in a monthslong coverup right before our very eyes, threatening and pressuring Members of Congress, and even calling his own allies traitors, and this legislation a hostile act. Well, Mr. President, the irony is not lost on us that such desperate attempts to evade accountability are at the heart of the matter itself, as the Epstein case is, at its core--its dirty, rotten core--about rich and powerful men who abuse the system to avoid accountability and who engaged in unspeakable crimes and believed that they could do anything to any woman or any little girl and get away with it because they knew their friends in powerful places would protect them or they could simply buy their way out of the justice system. Well, we are here today to stand up with the survivors and say: Time is up. We demand accountability.”