News

‘We’re not going away’: Epstein survivors send message to pedo-protector POTUS at State of the Union

February 26, 2026

Annie Farmer, who was one of roughly a dozen Epstein survivors to attend the State of the Union address Tuesday, has a message: “We’re not going away.”

Farmer and her sister Maria were both abused by Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell in the 1990s.

“We were there as a reminder that transparency hasn’t happened and we’re still demanding it,” Farmer told the California Post.

Maria, who was hired by Epstein to help purchase art, urged the FBI to investigate him for child pornography back in 1996 — but the feds allegedly did nothing.

She also said she was sexually assaulted by Epstein and Maxwell.

Maria filed a lawsuit in May accusing the justice department, US Attorney’s Offices and the FBI for negligence and emotional distress.

Annie publicly testified at Maxwell’s trial in 2021 that she visited Epstein’s ranch in New Mexico at the age of 16, where Maxwell gave her a nude massage and groped her. Epstein later went into bed with her to “cuddle,” according to Farmer.

She told the Post that all the remaining files pertaining to Epstein should be released.

“I would hope that people would follow up on these investigative leads so that we could get true accountability and also just a sense of connecting the dots and understanding for ourselves, what happened here, what went wrong, why was this allowed to go on for so long,” Annie said.

A sentiment echoed by Lauren Hersh, the co-founder of World Without Exploitation, the largest anti-trafficking coalition in the country that worked with victims to push lawmakers for the release of the Epstein Files.

“The DOJ said that there was six million files and only about three million of them have been released,” Hersh said. “So, we want the last half or so of the files to be released.”

Hersh said she was hoping Trump would acknowledge the victims who were in attendance during his record-breaking speech the lasted nearly two hours, but underscored the intention was to keep the pressure up and get accountability.

“We have not seen any sort of meaningful investigation into the leads that currently exist in the Epstein Files that have been released, and it seems to me that there are a number of places to initiate investigation,” Hersh said.

In recent days, several high-profile figures overseas — including disgraced ex-Prince Andrew and former British Ambassador to the US Lord Peter Mandelson — were arrested in connection to Epstein.

In the United States, however, the fallout has largely taken the form of resignations and public apologies.

Former Harvard president Larry Summers announced he would fully resign as a professor over his past ties to Epstein, and billionaire Bill Gates apologized for his association with the financier, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“We have to be critical of what type of accountability they are really receiving,” she said. “They may be stepping down from one position but still in a position of power, still in the company, still receiving a large salary.”

However, Farmer underscored that the “story isn’t going away.”