There was a moment in the press conference held on Wednesday by the women accusing Jeffrey Epstein and accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell of years of abuse where the roar of fighter jets performing a White House-ordered flyover interrupted one of the speakers.

"This woman abused children," Anouska De Georgiou tried to say about Maxwell before she was drowned out by the planes growing louder as they approached. 

But then she continued her speech, on the steps of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., surrounded by other women giving their own testimony in turns.

"I was abused by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell for over 10 years. Ghislaine Maxwell was present for some of my abuse at the hand of Jeffrey Epstein. She was present, she was complicit, she was enabling."

The interruption was an apt metaphor for how Epstein and Maxwell's victims say they are still struggling to be heard, amid the disruption and trauma they say was inflicted by the billionaire predator and his accomplice on their lives.

'Transparency is justice'

But the accusers say the full release of the Epstein files would help them do exactly that — be heard.

"Congress must choose, will you continue to protect predators, or will you finally protect survivors? Transparency is justice," said Lisa Philipps, another survivor. "Release the files, end the secrecy and stand with us in declaring that no one, no billionaires, no politicians, not world leaders, is above the law."

The press conference with the accusers of Epstein was organized by US House representatives Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY), amid their push to force a House vote on what they have called the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the bill demanding the full release of Justice Department documents relating to Epstein. A first batch of documents totaling more than 33,000 pages related to Epstein and Maxwell, was released by the House Oversight Committee — the House's chief investigative panel — on Tuesday. But critics say that the majority of the documents had already been made public before and were heavily redacted.

Speaking to DW, Teresa Helm said that she hoped the release of the files would lead to a further reckoning – and expose guilt and responsibility.

 "If there's further investigation and there are further charges on individuals that should be charged with crimes, then that's going to be hugely significant for all the survivors," said Helm.

Helm said that she was groomed by Maxwell and sexually abused by Epstein in 2002, when she was 22.

"I was systematically recruited, trafficked across this great nation, groomed and assaulted," she said.

Today, she works as the Survivor Services Coordinator at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation.

"The aftermath of trauma is a lifelong journey. It's been over two decades for me, and I work with survivors. That's part of my healing," she told DW. "None of that will erase what happened, and I will continue to work on that forever and hopefully, more than anything, prevent so many others from going through what I've gone through."

But achieving that goal which to her mind would be helped by having the Epstein files released, is an uphill climb, made steeper by resistance from the top levels of government.

Trump dismisses files case as a 'hoax' 

Asked about the Epstein files again in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump once again referred to the demand for more files as a hoax and expressed frustration at what he felt was an effort to turn the spotlight away from his achievements.

"I think we should talk about the greatness of our country and the success that we're having. I think we're probably having…we're having the most successful eight months of any president ever, and that's what I want to talk about. That's what we should be talking about, not the Epstein hoax," he said.

The Epstein saga has dogged the Trump White House persistently in a way few issues have. Trump's campaign pledge to release a so-called client list backfired when Attorney General Pam Bondi reversed course on whether such a list even exists — triggering backlash from Trump's own supporters and giving Democrats an opening to go on the attack.

For her part, Helm said she did not think the politicization of the debate was helpful, but that accountability was a nationwide responsibility.

"This is not political warfare. It's a shame to take it to the political arena or keep it a political back-and-forth, because we've seen so many administrations come and go that have yet to do something about it," Helm said. "So it's not left versus right, blue or red. It is an American thing. We all need to come together."

Indeed, the accusers making their case for allowing all the documents to be publicized are framing the issue as a test — who is allowed to do what to whom in America, and get away with it? The answer, they say, should be no one.

Edited by: Andreas Illmer