Epstein survivor Jena Lisa Jones says she fears victims may never see justice in the Jeffrey Epstein case, despite previously supporting Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election because of his pledge to release additional records related to the late financier and his network.
Jones spoke about her frustrations in an interview on the Shadow Sessions podcast that aired Thursday, describing how her hopes for transparency and accountability have faded in recent months. She said she voted for Trump largely because he promised to release files connected to Epstein, who died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal charges of sex-trafficking minors.
“I wanted my day in court,” said Jones, who has said she was abused by Epstein when she was 14. “I didn’t get that, and we were so close to it, it really got ripped from us, and then after [Epstein] passed, everything just went into a circus show.”
According to Jones, the campaign rhetoric surrounding the Epstein case reignited hope among survivors that more information would be made public.
“Trump ran his whole freakin’ election on the release of these freakin’ files,” she said. “And it sparked it back all up again, gave us hope, gave me hope at least. “He runs his campaign on this, and he runs it really, really hard to the point that a lot of us voted for him,” she added. But after the election, Jones said she felt the tone had changed.
“As soon as he gets in, we started pushing for the release of the files, and now it’s a ‘Democratic hoax’,” she said, referring to remarks Trump made dismissing some calls to release additional Epstein files as politically motivated. When asked what justice would look like now, Jones said she wants to see meaningful action against predators.
“For me now, is America taking the predators that are here in our country, yes, take them down in every country, but I would like to see some of that, that would give me a little bit more faith and that we’re doing the right thing and that we’re protecting our children.”
Jones also spoke about the personal cost of speaking publicly about her experience. “When you do speak out, they eat you alive – you have a lot of support, but you also have a lot of crazy people that are out there,” she said, adding that she has received “death threats for speaking out”.
Despite the backlash, she said she remains determined to continue telling her story. “Every time I share my story, and a young girl reaches out to me, sends me artwork she’s made, writes me a letter, tells me how important it is that I’m fighting and speaking out, [it] reminds me every freakin’ day exactly why I’m doing this, and will not stop doing this, even after I get whatever justice looks like for me in my case,” she said.
Later in the interview, Jones was asked about her biggest fear regarding the case. “That we’re not going to get justice in all of this and take down the bad people,” she said.
Jones has previously advocated for transparency in the Epstein investigation. In November, she joined other survivors outside the U.S. Capitol, urging lawmakers to pass legislation requiring the Justice Department to release records related to Epstein. At the time, she addressed Trump directly in a speech.
“I voted for you, but your behavior on this issue has been a national embarrassment,” Jones said, calling on him to “stop making this political.” Although the legislation was eventually signed into law and millions of records have since been released, Jones said she has yet to find the files related to her own interactions with investigators.
“I haven’t seen my files in there, and I know that they have files, because I did speak with the FBI,” she said. “I did work with the FBI. I mean, I texted the FBI the day he died.”