One reporter dedicated to the story of Jeffrey Epstein and the investigation around an alleged trafficking ring of underage girls revealed that the survivors thought that MAGA followers were dedicated to accountability for Epstein and those like him.
Speaking to MSNBC on Wednesday, Tara Palmeri told Nicolle Wallace that the survivors, who came forward for the Wednesday press conference, are largely Republicans. They trusted that conservatives would fight to ensure they and others like them got justice.
Instead, they felt betrayed.
"Before she died, Virginia Giuffre told me that she believed that President [Donald] Trump would release the files," Palmeri said. "That, you know, she believed that because he arrested Jeffrey Epstein in 2019, this would happen in his administration, as was promised, right?"
She also revealed that tech billionaire Elon Musk promised her over direct message that he would release the Epstein files.
"A lot of these survivors, they are Republicans. They were hopeful that this administration, after listening to so many MAGA influencers saying that they wanted this out there, they wanted this cabal of, at the time, Democratic elites to be revealed, that this would happen."
Wallace noted that it has transcended politics, and part of what the survivors did on Wednesday was return the matter to the criminal discussion rather than a political one.
"So, these aren't — they're not out there saying, you know, we want the head of the president," said Palmeri.
She cited lawyer Brad Edwards, who told the press that he spoke to Trump in 2009 and that he cooperated with the probe.
"Trump gave him leads, although he did leave him with a very creepy anecdote about going to Epstein's house and seeing young girls in the pool area. And he told Brad that he asked Epstein about it, and Brad told him that it was a Big Brother, Big Sister program, which obviously is very creepy. But the point is that Brad said at the conference, I'm ready to work with you [Trump] again. We did this before in 2009. Trump, I'm here," said Palmeri.
Meanwhile, Trump was speaking from the Oval Office, calling the Epstein matter nothing more than a "Democrat hoax."
See the clip below or at the link here.