Dispatches of alarm and hope, on politics and society, democracy and justice. Because silence is not an option. We may read and write alone, but we drive change together. Coverup, Lies—and Defiance Epstein survivors demand justice, Pete Hegseth boasts about killing 11 Venezuelans, while Trump continues to ignore the law Steven Beschloss Sep 5 “We are not going to be silenced anymore,” survivor Marina Lacerda said at Wednesday’s press conference. (Photo by Andrew Harnik via Getty Images) When a pathological liar and sexual predator leads a fascist regime, those of us who are not cultists—those of us who live in the world of facts and human decency—must remain skeptical and defiant. The need for humane leadership became increasingly obvious in the last several days from two very different events: when dozens of survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse spoke out in front of the Capitol and when news broke that a Venezuelan boat and its reported 11 passengers were killed in international waters. If we were living in a sane world, we could trust that the occupant of the highest office in our land would tell the truth and address each event with honesty, dignity and respect for human life. But in our upside-down world, we are confronted with Donald Trump, whose greatest skills are shameless lying and sociopathic indifference to the pain and suffering of others. The pain of Epstein survivors was on full display yesterday, offering a powerful and poignant reminder that—behind Republicans’ political gamesmanship covering up what’s contained within the sealed documents—there are real people still struggling with the trauma caused by the abuse they experienced. Speaking out required bravery and the deep belief that the truth must be revealed. It also represented, as one survivor put it, the desire “to put the pieces of my life back together.” “Why did the government work so hard to protect Jeffrey Epstein and not me?” asked another survivor, Courtney Wild. “I thought someone was going to kill me,” said Marina Lacerda, another survivor explaining why she hadn’t spoken earlier about the abuse that began when she was just 14 and continued for years. “This is not a hoax—this is real,” she continued. “There are real victims. There are real survivors…We are not going to be silenced any more.” “This is about justice against the rich and powerful who have stolen something from these women…the freedom to live their lives without mental or physical scars,” said Sky Roberts, the brother of Virginia Roberts Giuffre, a vocal survivor who lost her life to suicide earlier this year. The abusers, he added, “should not be allowed to continue their lives with impunity.” And what was the response by Trump soon after from the Oval Office? He repeated his lies and clothed himself in the office of the presidency that he counts on will immunize him from responsibility. “So this is a Democrat hoax that never ends,” he said in response to a reporter’s question, adding in his usual flood of nonsense: You know, it reminds me a little of the Kennedy situation; we gave ’em everything. Over and over again, more and more and more. And nobody’s ever satisfied. From what I understand—I could check—but from what I understand, thousands of pages of documents have been given. But it’s really a Democrat hoax. Because they’re trying to get people to talk about something that’s totally irrelevant to the success that we’ve had as a nation since I’ve been president. Get it? He’s the president. He’s a great success. Don’t question him. A photo shared by Trump on Truth Social. Meanwhile, Trump henchman Pete Hegseth arrogantly boasted about killing boat passengers in international waters off the coast of Venezuela yesterday. “We knew exactly who they were, exactly what they were doing, what they represented and why they were going where they were going,” claimed the Secretary of Defense, punctuating his comments by jabbing his finger in the air. “We smoked a drug boat and there are 11 narco-terrorists at the bottom of the ocean. And when other people try that? They’re going to meet the same fate.” That’s what he said, with the support of both Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio who praised the deadly attack. But what’s the truth? Where’s the proof that the victims were drug traffickers? When has killing alleged dealers of an illegal product become legal? Where is the authorization of Congress to pursue deadly warfare against drug cartels? And, as much as Hegseth’s boss admires former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s murder of thousands of drug suspects, does Trump know Duterte was arrested earlier this year and taken to the Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity? We should call this what it appears to be: cold-blooded murder by a regime that thinks the laws of the United States and international laws do not apply to them. Is it any wonder that these thugs are renaming the department the Department of War? Note how Jeh Johnson, former Homeland Security chief and general counsel at the Pentagon during the Obama administration, put it yesterday after explaining that there is no legal precedent for this. “Here the president appears to be invoking his amorphous constitutional authority to kill low-level drug couriers on the high seas, with no due process, arrest or trial,” he told The New York Times, adding: “Viewed in isolation, labeling drug cartels ‘terrorists’ and invoking the ‘national interests’ to use the U.S. military to summarily kill low-level drug couriers is pretty extreme.” “Pretty extreme,” to say the least. And this follows a week when a federal judge ruled that Trump’s deployment of military troops in Los Angeles was illegal, a federal appeals court rejected his use of the 18th century Alien Enemies Act to justify deporting Venezuelan immigrants, and another appeals court ruled that he did not have the constitutional authority to impose tariffs. Yes, Trump, who obviously thinks following the law is for losers and suckers, intends to appeal these rulings; he’s counting on a compliant Supreme Court to do his bidding. But here’s the thing: We are about to see—beyond the courts—how far the lawlessness of Trump and his regime extends. They behave like they will never face accountability for their illegality—or, for that matter, political consequences. I am encouraged by the determination of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker—one of 23 Democratic governors in America—to resist the invasion of Chicago by National Guard troops from Texas and possibly other red states. I expect there will be senators aggressively opposing the murder of Venezuelans in international waters. I’m also uplifted by three Democratic states—Washington, Oregon and California—joining forces to create their own vaccine policies and health alliance in the face of crackpot Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who is busy firing scientists and tearing apart the infrastructure of our public health system. But I’m most deeply moved by those survivors of Epstein’s abuse, whose brave commitment to the truth was strengthened with collective power. One survivor, Lisa Philips, said Wednesday that she and other survivors are prepared to make their own list of the sexual abusers and rapists who populated the world of Jeffrey Epstein. “We will confidentially compile the names we all know were regularly in the Epstein world,” she said. “It will be done by survivors, and for survivors.” I never expected to offer respect for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, an extreme conspiracist. But she and Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie appeared with the survivors at the Capitol to support their demand for the release of the Epstein files. They’ve both signed the discharge petition seeking the release, even though Trump has threatened that if any Republican signs this it will be seen as a “hostile act against his administration.” “The truth needs to come out and the government holds the truth,” Greene said. “The cases that are sealed hold the truth, Jeffrey Epstein’s estate holds the truth. The FBI, the DOJ and the CIA holds the truth.” And she went further, recognizing the physical and financial danger facing any survivor who names names of the rich and powerful. “It’s a scary thing to name names,” Greene said, adding, “If they want to give me a list, I will walk in that Capitol on the House floor and I’ll say every damn name that abused these women. I can do that for them and I’d be proud to do it.” I don’t doubt that Greene hopes that list will include a variety of high-profile Democrats and exclude Trump. But we are living in times that require us to seek justice and defy this regime’s lawlessness with whomever and in whatever way is necessary so that we can bring this terrible chapter in our nation’s history to a close.