Rep. Nancy Mace stormed out of the House Oversight Committee’s closed-door meeting with Jeffrey Epstein victims visibly shaken and in tears, claiming their horror stories gave her a “full blown panic attack.”
Video shows the South Carolina Republican — who’s shared her own experience as a victim of sexual assault — wipe tears from her eyes as she stormed down a hallway full of reporters.
The lawmaker refused to answer questions but later took to X, where she described hyperventilating during the meeting.
“As a recent survivor (not 2 years in), I had a very difficult time listening to their stories. Full blown panic attack. Sweating. Hyperventilating. Shaking. I can’t breathe,” she later posted on X, adding that she was forced to leave the meeting early.
“I feel the immense pain of how hard all victims are fighting for themselves because we know absolutely no one will fight for us. GOD BLESS ALL SURVIVORS,” she added.
Six of Epstein’s accusers met with members of the Oversight Committee, including Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), on Tuesday for two hours as its probe into the federal government’s handling of the Epstein case continues.
House lawmakers said they learned “additional names” of persons of interest who could provide further information about the convicted pedophile, who killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019.
“There was outrage. It was both — I would describe it as heartbreaking and infuriating. That justice has been delayed so long,” Johnson told reporters after the meeting.
Mace made an explosive House speech in February in which she accused her ex-fiancé and three other men of committing “depraved” sexual crimes against her and a dozen other women, including minors.
She came forward with the shocking allegations of rape, voyeurism and other sexual abuse after uncovering a trove of more than 10,000 videos and other photographic evidence contained on the phone of her former husband-to-be Patrick Bryant, who along with the three other men have denied the allegations.
Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) have co-sponsored a discharge petition to have all the government files on Epstein publicly released.
The petition requires 218 signatures to force a House vote on a bill that would require the DOJ to release the files.
Mace is one of four Republicans who have signed the petition, according to The Hill. Other GOP lawmakers who have signed are Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.
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