'We will not go away': Epstein survivors invited to Trump's State of the Union as group demand criminal probes
The group was joined by Democrats when announcing that they would be attending the President's address in to both houses of Congress and the US Supreme Court
Survivors of the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein will view Donald Trump's State of the Union speech from Congress as pressure grows on the President to launch investigations into the sex trafficker's crimes.
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The group of more than a dozen survivors and their families was joined by Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Judiciary Committee member Representative Jamie Raskin, who held a press conference hours before Trump's speech.
Representative Jayapal told reporters that the group would watch Trump's address to the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the Supreme Court from the House gallery on Tuesday night.
She said that the group of outspoken survivors are "shaking the world with their strength".
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"Today, the world will see Donald Trump have to face these survivors right there in the House gallery and answer why ambassadors and princes have been arrested in other countries, but here in America, not a single investigation has been announced into the paedophiles and the predators of Epstein's horrific sex trafficking ring."
Amanda Roberts, the sister-in-law of the late Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre, declared that the survivors and members of Congress are "not moving on" from the Epstein scandal.
She said: "Today is monumental. Today, we say to this administration and to the nation that survivors deserve to be seen.
"We will not be moved, we will not be silenced, and we will not go away."
She added: "The President will speak about his agenda. He may say it's time to move on from this Epstein thing.
"Mr President, today we are saying we will not move on, and the world is not moving on."
Rep Raskin said the recently-released Epstein Files have led to the public "learning a lot", but said the revelations from the cache of documents are "a bit like finding a needle in a haystack".
"The issue of the Epstein survivors is not going away because there are millions of people across America who have suffered the same kinds of abuse, rape, trafficking and exploitation that they did," he said.
"That is the social basis for this movement, and why Donald Trump is not going to be able to sweep it under the rug. This is why, despite, all of her stone cold indifference, Pam Bondi is not going to be able to make this go away.
"We have an entire country of survivors and people who are allied with the survivors, and we are going to insist that the truth come out, that justice be done and the perpetrators be held accountable in every single case."
Trump's State of the Union will take place in Washington DC at 9pm EST (2am on Wednesday GMT).