Jeffrey Epstein accuser Alicia Arden urged lawmakers Monday in the House to vote in favor of releasing Justice Department documents collected on the late billionaire financier and convicted sex offender.
Arden and attorney Gloria Allred spoke at a news conference Monday in Los Angeles. They responded to President Trump’s call on House Republicans to vote to release the files and his urging of the Department of Justice to investigate high-level Democrats associated with Epstein.
“Speaking as a victim, I beg you to release these files, once and for all,” Arden said Monday. “There is no valid reason not to do so. This should be a really easy bi-partisan issue. Why would there be a single “No” vote?”
“Vote to release these files so we can finally see who else helped Jeffrey Epstein.”
Arden was a 27-year-old model and aspiring actress when Epstein assaulted her in 1997 at a hotel in Santa Monica, she told NBC News in July. She said Epstein identified himself as a talent scout for Victoria’s Secret.
Epstein was a top adviser to former Victoria’s Secret CEO Les Wexner, but was not a talent scout. Arden, who lives in Santa Monica, said she filed a police report after the assault.
At Monday’s news conference, Arden said Epstein asked her to sit closer when they were in his hotel room, then started touching her and said, “Let me manhandle you.”
“It was becoming apparent I would be involved in a situation I didn’t want to be in,” she said. “He was touching me and groping me and taking my clothes off.”
Allred, who represents more than two dozen Epstein accusers, also called on lawmakers to vote in favor of releasing the DOJ documents.
“In all my years involved in this case and discussion with many survivors of Jeffrey Epstein, not once has anyone said to me, ‘Is the person who abused me a Democrat or a Republican?” Allred said. “Now, we’re just involved in this political bloodbath trying to get answers. When the fog of political war clears, I certainly hope the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein will have more answers and information than they have now.
“Survivors have made it clear… they want transparency and they want truth.”
The House appeared on a path to vote on a bill to force the Justice Department to release the case files it has collected on Epstein. The latest push by lawmakers for more disclosure in the years-old sex trafficking investigation into Epstein has gained momentum since the government reopened after the shutdown.
Trump previously fought the proposal, but reversed his position Sunday as it became apparent the bill would likely pass the House with GOP backing. The president said in a social media post that House Republicans should vote to release the files.
The bill would force the Justice Department to release all files and communications related to Epstein, and any information about the investigation into his death in federal prison.
Its future in the Senate remains uncertain.
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