‘The View’ Cohosts React to New Epstein Victim Tell-All, Call on Trump to Release the Files

The cohosts of The View reacted to the release of the new tell-all from Virginia Giuffre, an alleged victim of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislane Maxwell’s child sex trafficking ring, on Friday’s (October 24) edition of the show.

First, Joy Behar introduced footage of Giuffre’s coauthor, Amy Wallace, claiming in a TV interview that “the list of [client] names exists… in the FBI files” and that Maxwell physically abused victims in addition to aiding Epstein’s abuse so a pardon would be “unthinkable.” The panelists also reviewed a clip of Donald Trump talking about Maxwell and saying he will or will not consider a pardon for her before weighing in.

“Do you think this book will finally compel Republicans to release the damn files?” Behar wondered.

Ana Navarro spoke up first and said that the first course of action for the Republicans should be for House Speaker Mike Johnson to finally swear in the Arizona representative-elect, who promised to be the deciding vote on releasing the files. “One of the things we have to do is tell Mike Johnson, it’s time. It was time a month ago to swear her in. Do it. Now.”

Sara Haines pointed to the decision by the British royal family to strip Prince Andrew of his Duke of York title, saying, “The accusations floating around, surrounding Epstein and Prince Andrew, I find this to mean that the fire must be getting hot because people are doing things.” She also gave praise to the publishers for going forward with the release of Giuffre’s memoir, despite the fact that she reportedly died by suicide in April of this year.

Haines also reacted to Trump’s statements on Maxwell, saying, “I would say that the more President Trump says, ‘I don’t know who that is’  and the Republicans turn on whether they’re going to release them or not, they’re absolutely doing the opposite of what they’re trying to do. They are not killing the topic. They are making it all the more interesting, and at some point, we will learn the names that have been complicit in hiding these pedophiles.”

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“They are pedophiles,” Sunny Hostin agreed. She then reviewed the more shocking allegations contained in excerpts from Giuffre’s book about her alleged abuses by Prince Andrew and said, “I think that says a lot about how the royal family is handling it and says a lot about how we aren’t handling it here in the United States.”

Alyssa Farah Griffin then said, “The system just completely failed Virginia,” and noted that it’s a shame that her death preceded this bit of accountability for Prince Andrew. “She never got to see the full weight of him, his collaborators, and those who helped him do this for years come down, and people get accountability,” the cohost lamented.

She also pointed to the book’s details about how Epstein used camera evidence from his house to create blackmail against his visitors and that the list included several high-profile figures who weren’t directly named. “These were people who were wealthy, who were powerful and connected, and people knew what was happening, and nobody spoke up, and he knew how to keep people silent through blackmail and through extortion. I just hope that something breaks through and people realize these people deserve justice.”

The cohosts also made note of the fact that Giuffre did not implicate Trump in the assaults she experienced at Epstein’s island.

“Ms. Wallace, the woman who wrote the book with her, also says that Virginia Giuffre was a huge Trump fan because she believed Trump would use his second term to release the Epstein file, validating her claim. But then he didn’t, but she never talked about Trump in any sense that he was involved in any of this.” Behar noted. “The question is, why doesn’t he [release them]? If he’s not in it, what does he care?”

“I think if it’s not him, then it’s wealthy and powerful, politically connected people,” Griffin guessed.

“There are billionaires in there,” Hostin added.

“Yeah, but he’s protecting them to his own detriment because everybody thinks he’s probably on it,” Behar responded.

“I would hope that’s what people around him would tell him,” Griffin agreed.

The View, weekdays, 11a/10c, ABC