The verified Epstein files exposed horrific crimes against girls. It’s easy for people to forget the actual ages of the survivors at the time of the heinous crimes. The survivors understand this and often have photos of themselves at the ages when they were trafficked and assaulted when they gather publicly to demand justice. The files reveal that some of the girls were as young as nine years old.

The deviant duo of Epstein and Maxwell recruited and groomed large numbers of girls who were drugged, sexually assaulted and abused — their young bodies treated as a playground for wealthy elites. Although many details of the crimes remain unclear, common sense suggests the victims endured lasting physical and emotional harm.

Many entities are combing through Epstein-related records because the public wants to know who may have been accomplices to the crimes over the last thirty years and to hold them accountable. We’ve seen people be fired, resign or lose titles as a result. Yet many believe criminal accountability has been limited.

NPR was one of the media outlets investigating the Epstein files and reported that some pages appeared to be missing. NPR’s investigation found dozens of pages that were cataloged by the Justice Department but had not been included in the public database of Epstein-related records. Some of those documents included FBI interview summaries involving a woman who accused Donald Trump of sexually abusing her when she was a minor. The allegation has not been corroborated and Trump has denied wrongdoing.

Authoritarian movements often fail to see others as human or citizens deserving of rights. Their abuse of power can dehumanize society and normalize conditions such as homelessness, hunger, mass incarceration and state violence. Nazism and Zionism provide vivid examples of how quickly inhumanity can be normalized on a mass scale.

For those who prefer to avoid politics altogether, the actions of this administration make it clear that those who believe in freedom cannot remain disengaged. The president and his allies are not simply political figures to laugh at — they are dangerous.