Sen. Marsha Blackburn says that congress must continue pressing for convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s flight logs and other relevant information from the FBI as close to 200 names associated with the sex predator are set to be unmasked soon.
The list of names had been redacted from a long-settled sex trafficking suit against Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, but a judge recently ruled that they should be released.
Several high-profile individuals have already been named including former President Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew. Others are expected to include well-known public figures and Hollywood stars.
While the fully unsealed document is still likely a few days away, Blackburn told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview that the buzz around the release of the logs is not an issue of ‘celebrity,’ but rather one of ‘criminal wrongdoing.’
And she said although the list is a starting point, there is a lot more Congress can do to achieve accountability and obtain justice for Epstein’s trafficking victims.
The list of names had been redacted from a long-settled sex trafficking suit against Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell
While the fully unsealed document is still a few days away, Blackburn told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview that the buzz around the release of the logs is not an issue of ‘celebrity,’ but rather one of ‘criminal wrongdoing’
‘This is a step, and we have a lot more that needs to be done as we work to fight all of this modern day slavery of human trafficking and sex trafficking.’
This is not ‘all we need,’ Blackburn added, it’s ‘one victim and one set of information.’
Blackburn, who sits on the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee led by Democrat Dick Durbin, has urged the chairman over several months to apply more pressure to obtain more information on the ‘pedophiles and predators’ perpetuating sex crimes.
Blackburn, R-Tenn., told DailyMail.com that Congress must issue additional subpoenas to obtain all of Epstein’s flight logs – including to the FBI. She says victims have told her the agency has dropped the ball in many of their cases.
‘We know that there are other parts that we’re going to need – we need to subpoena these flight logs, we need to subpoena the FBI, we need get Maxwell’s ‘little black book’ so that we see who all was involved with the sex trafficking ring.’
Blackburn said what she’s also heard from some of the victims is that the FBI did not take their charges seriously.
She previously questioned FBI Director Chris Wray about it at a December hearing, and he responded that he had not looked into the case in ‘a while.’
‘Well, the FBI has time for political ventures, but they don’t have time to work on the trafficking of women and children. And we want to see what they have,’ she stated.
‘They have video footage of who was coming and going from the Epstein residences. That is something that we need,’ Blackburn told DailyMail.com.
She also warned against assuming that all the celebrities and ‘public figures’ that will be listed are guilty of crimes.
The list will name individuals that ‘could be accused of wrongdoing or maybe they’re accusing Epstein and Maxwell and others of wrongdoing,’ she said.
Or there could have been ‘witnesses to a crime’ by Epstein’s employees or people that visited his home or flew on his jet.
A total of 15 on the list were accused of ‘serious wrongdoing,’ while 90 are described as having been ‘affiliated’ with Epstein in some way.
The Republican senator sent a letter to Durbin Wednesday, reiterating her requests subpoena additional Epstein flight logs and relevant records.
Blackburn says it should be the committee’s ‘first act’ when returning from recess next week.
‘I hope I can rely on your commitment to work with me to obtain these records so that we can finally bring transparency to the American people and justice to the women and children who Jeffrey Epstein and his associates trafficked and abused,’ writes Blackburn in the letter obtained by DailyMail.com.
The underlining effort by Blackburn is to ensure there is more transparency on Epstein’s sex ring.
Numerous others – including other well-known public figures and ever Hollywood royalty – are now set to be unmasked, thanks to the December ruling from a New York federal judge
An infamous photo of Virginia Roberts, Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell, taken at Maxwell’s home in London’s Belgravia
She said many victims have never come forward due to fear, but the ‘more transparency we get to this, the more it is going to encourage victims to come forward.’
And getting to the bottom of Epstein’s crimes will allow victims to obtain justice.
‘We know that for four decades, powerful people have sought to take advantage of young women. So getting to the bottom of this, getting this information bringing some transparency and thereby some accountability is going to be important.’
Maxwell’s lawyer Arthur Aidala told NewsNation this week that Maxwell has ‘nothing to say’ about Epstein or the list.
She is currently is serving 20 years after being found guilty of sex trafficking and procuring underage girls for Epstein who hung himself in his jail cell in 2019.