Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Democratic Women’s Caucus (DWC) Chair Teresa Leger Fernández (NM-03) and DWC Dean Marcy Kaptur (OH-09) hosted Wendy Pesante, Marina Lacerda and Jena-Lisa Jones, survivors of Jeffrey Epstein, along with local survivors of sex trafficking Angela Navarro and Marie Fitzpatrick, Executive Director of the Human Trafficking and Social Justice Institute at the University of Toledo Dr. Celia Williamson, and former Ohio State Senator Teresa Fedor in Toledo for a discussion on holding Les Wexner accountable and elevating survivor voices.

Throughout the conversation, Chairwoman Leger Fernández and Kaptur shed light on the close ties and business dealings between Les Wexner, the richest man in Ohio, and Jeffrey Epstein. Together, the members reignited the call to hold Wexner accountable for his part in Epstein’s crimes. Rather than enabling the power of an Epstein co-conspirator, DWC Dean Kaptur and Chairwoman Leger Fernández were determined to reclaim Ohio for survivors by bringing together survivors, experts on human trafficking and Wexner’s culpability, and Ohio-based advocates to elevate survivor voices and demand justice.

DWC Chairwoman Leger Fernández on the outstanding courage of Epstein survivors and how their advocacy has changed the fight against corruption:

“I say it over again because it just struck me that you were told that he [Jeffery Epstein] had the banks, he had the government, and you basically had nothing. That you were powerless.

What you have shown America is that you are not powerless and that you refuse to be silenced. Your courage is indeed courageous because you’ve been willing to stand up against corruption even though it has meant you have had death threats, been attacked, and you fear for your lives, future, and children,” said DWC Chairwoman Leger Fernández.

DWC Chairwoman Leger Fernández and DWC Dean Kaptur on Wexner’s influence in Ohio and how he enabled Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes: 

“Ohio is really important. It was the actual bank for Jeffrey Epstein. I thought, ‘Why aren’t there major stories, why haven’t major stories been done here, and what is going on in our state?’ It was nagging me about why there aren't any investigations about Ohio and New Albany, Ohio,” said DWC Dean Marcy Kaptur. 

“Ohio had something different. You had the money. You had the financing. Without that money and that financing, we would not have had Jeffrey Epstein, and it is important to come back here and talk about that,” said DWC Chair Leger Fernández.

DWC Chairwoman Leger Fernández on the urgent need for Republicans to sign the discharge petition for the Epstein Files Transparency Act II and release the files: 

“Now we’ve had to bring a second petition to bring that [the release of the Epstein files] vote. You [Rep. Kaptur] signed that petition. Have any Republican members of Congress from Ohio signed that petition? Not a single one, even though we’ve had other Republicans sign it,” said Chairwoman Leger Fernández.

“The second law [the Epstein Files Transparency Act II] that we’re talking about would enable the survivors to bring a civil case to demand that the Department of Justice release the files when you’ve been harmed… If the United States Department of Justice will not bring the criminal cases, will not investigate because the President’s name has already been mentioned 38,000 times in what’s been released, let the Attorney General in New Mexico bring the case. Let the Attorney General of Ohio bring the case of what happened in Ohio,” said DWC Chairwoman Leger Fernández.

Epstein survivor Wendy Pesante on how communities, like Toledo, Ohio, have been devastated by trafficking and sexual abuse and the impact funding for survivors can have:

“I’ve been responsible for thousands and thousands of Ohio residents going through treatment and that’s what’s important to me. They see me and they say ‘oh that’s an Epstein survivor’, they don’t know that I am very aware of the trauma that our community goes through because that was my job… I encourage people, if you don’t think these things are going on in our community, to really talk to people because it is.” said Wendy Pesante. 

Epstein survivor Marina Lacerda on how the courage of survivors to come forward and share their stories has been monumental in bringing justice against powerful perpetrators:

“When we come here it is to empower women to break their silence. We would like, we want to know if there are any survivors of Jeffrey Epstein or Les Wexner in this state. We want to be connected… If we find one person that has this abuse by an enabler that is from here, we can take down a lot of powerful people. We need for this Jane Doe to be strong, to be fierce, and come out,” said Marina Lacerda.

Epstein survivor Jena-Lisa Jones on how Les Wexner used his wealth to bankroll Epstein’s criminal network: 

“I want to bring a big light to this that Les Wexner is a billionaire here in Ohio. This is his state. We need to be looking into the fact that he had great ties with Jeffrey Epstein. He allowed Jeffrey Epstein to control his financials and gave him [Jeffrey Epstein] the financial power to do this abuse. I want to remind people that not only is Les Wexner this billionaire who is in your guy’s state right now and has so much powerful influence here, he gave Jeffrey Epstein his mansion in New York to be able to abuse girls,” said Jena-Lisa Jones.

DWC Chairwoman Leger Fernández and DWC Dean Kaptur on how the fight to release the Epstein files will continue to change a culture that has allowed violence against women to continue: 

“We need America to know that this culture of violence against women, this culture of corruption where the rich and powerful control what gets looked at needs to be addressed and that we are going to shine a light on that darkness today. We’re going to hear directly from you all on what you’re doing, what that felt like, and why it’s important to be here today,” said DWC Chair Leger Fernández.

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