PORTLAND, ME (WGME) – A mobile reading room packed with thousands of documents tied to the Jeffrey Epstein case is traveling through Maine this weekend, with stops planned from Lewiston to Biddeford.
The Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Bookmobile, organized by the Institute for Primary Facts and Defiance.org, is touring Maine as part of an effort organizers say is aimed at “continued public pressure, transparency, and accountability,” including demands for the full release of remaining Epstein-related files.
Organizers say the bookmobile contains Epstein files that have been micro-printed into a single truck. The collection includes 440 volumes of files at about 800 pages each, totaling about 2,500 pounds of paper.
“So, it feels like the fight is even stronger now,” said Dani Bensky, an Epstein survivor.
Bensky said the tour is intended to keep the focus on accountability and the treatment of survivors.
“I keep saying that it feels kind of strange to take this around the country and just basically campaign for basic human decency because it’s never been political for us. So I hope people walk away with the sense of humanity at the end of it all,” Bensky said.
Bensky also said, “There’s just so much work to be done within our system and make sure that our institutions are functioning the way that they should and not protecting power and silencing survivors.”
“I think survivors are not backing down. And I think the rest of this country has really banded together. And you’re seeing something play out that’s really extraordinary. And its democracy in a much bigger way where the partisan lines really don’t matter,” she said.
Matt Dunlap, the Democratic nominee for U.S. House in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, also made a stop at the bookmobile. Dunlap said the van represents how public officials can abuse trust and the need to demand accountability.
“It’s just an extraordinary story of how simple authority that we derive from the electorate as public officials can be abused and depowered over people, change their lives, traumatize them and kept anonymous, kept quiet. And it shouldn’t be quiet,” Dunlap said. “This is something, it’s a terrible violation of the public trust that we’ve seen in this van. And I think there’s a lot of work that we’re going to have to do once the Congress reconvenes in January and start to address these miscarriages and bring some justice to the victims.”
We reached out to the Republican nominee in the race, former Gov. Paul LePage, he emailed us a statement and wrote, “As a father, the Epstein files should be released. I am a survivor of domestic abuse. Crimes against children are despicable and leave a stain on society. The public deserves answers. If there is something to be learned, they should be released while protecting the victims and their families. We must also recognize that the survivors deserve dignity, and they should not be re-traumatized by the institutions that failed them,” LePage said. “President Trump did the right thing directing his administration to ask a federal judge to unseal records. While the initial answer was no, they should keep pushing. What can be released without the courts should be released.”
The bookmobile is scheduled to stop in Biddeford Sunday before continuing its tour around the United States.
