Good morning. I’m still offline, but I don’t want you to miss an interview I recorded this week with Jess Michaels, a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein’s—and a woman whose voice refuses to be sidelined.
This is not my first conversation with Jess. But it comes at a critical moment. While Washington spirals over a government shutdown, another story—one with profound consequences for accountability and for survivors—is slipping out of the headlines: the long-promised release of the Epstein files. To many of us, it feels less like drift and more like design.
I won’t let that happen. Survivors deserve closure. The public deserves clarity. And those responsible—whoever they are—deserve scrutiny. That’s why this morning’s report matters. Subscribe to support my work. The White House wants to silence us because we keep talking about Epstein. I refuse to stay silent.
Today is Day 2 of President Donald Trump’s government shutdown, which also happens to be Day 255 of his second term, and the connection to the Epstein files is impossible to ignore.
Newly elected Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, who won Arizona’s 7th District with a commanding 68.9% of the vote, was in Washington on Sept. 30 to be sworn in. That was the same day Congress faced its deadline to fund the government or shut it down. Yet House Speaker Mike Johnson refused to allow her swearing-in, even as Democrats packed the chamber chanting “swear her in.”
By denying Grijalva her seat, Johnson also denied representation to the people of her district.
The timing raises urgent questions. Grijalva has confirmed that she would be the 218th and decisive signature on a discharge petition to force a House vote on bipartisan legislation directing the Department of Justice to release the Epstein files. Without her, the effort stalls.
Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican who co-sponsored the petition with Democrat Ro Khanna, has urged Speaker Johnson to follow precedent and seat Grijalva immediately. But Johnson, a loyal Trump ally, has kept her oath of office on ice.
Jess Michaels sees all this as another way power protects itself. Survivors like her are still waiting for answers, still waiting for the files that could shed light on who enabled Epstein’s crimes. She points out that silence from leaders, especially this White House, is not a neutral act—it is a choice to ignore the survivors’ stories. She stresses that process is being weaponized. Each delay has human costs. Survivors are asked to wait, while the powerful maneuver behind closed doors.
Are the shutdown and the stonewall over the Epstein files connected? At the very least, the incentives are clear. Blocking Grijalva’s swearing-in prevents a critical vote. A government shutdown helps bury uncomfortable debates. At best, the optics are troubling; at worst, they reveal an intentional cover-up.
What’s at stake here is more than procedure. For survivors, it’s about long-denied justice. For Congress, it’s about whether leaders will honor the will of voters or bend to partisan manipulation. And for the country, it’s about whether we accept that some truths are too dangerous to be revealed.
The path forward is clear. Grijalva must be sworn in immediately. The discharge petition must be honored. Survivors must be heard. And the Epstein files, with appropriate redactions where necessary, must finally be released. Anything less undermines democracy itself.
I promised Jess—and every survivor who has shared their story—that I would not look away. I will keep asking the same question until we have an answer, the one that those in power most fear: Where are the Epstein files?
