Republicans are potentially looking at historic losses in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate in November, much of that due, no doubt, to the war in Iran that President Donald Trump said he wouldn't start and the high prices he promised to end.

But how much is also due to Congress' handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and the beleaguered saga that's endured under GOP control of Congress?

Trump has put himself directly on the ballot this midterm cycle — after campaigning aggressively in 2024 on releasing the Epstein files.

But in June, Reuters reported that just 10% of respondents believed the Trump administration had helped efforts to hold people connected to Epstein accountable. In the same poll, only 21% of Republicans said the administration had helped deliver justice in these cases.And while the issue is no longer in the news every day, survivors of Epstein's abuse are still waiting for justice.

Sharlene Rochard was 17 years old when she met Jeffrey Epstein. She had been modeling since she was 13. Over time, she traveled with him to New York, his private island and Florida.

For years, she didn't tell her story publicly. That changed in November 2025, after she saw another Epstein survivor speaking at a press conference. A longtime friend who knew Rochard’s history sent her the video.

“This is exactly like you,” the friend told her.

For years, Rochard did not even understand what had happened to her, she told me in Warren on Sept. 26, at the Trump-Epstein Bookmobile alongside 10th Congressional District Democratic candidate Christina Hines.

“Not a clue,” she said when I asked whether she realized at the time that she was being victimized.

But Rochard has since advocated, alongside her daughter, for the full, transparent release of the files.

"The fact that my name was not protected after my lawyer gave them my name before the files were released has been devastating," Rochard said. "It has actually turned my whole world upside down. My trauma has been passed down to my children. Their friends at school ask them about what has happened to me."

The Justice Department says it has released nearly 3.5 million pages under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Yet survivors continue to demand a complete accounting of what investigators knew, what they did with that information and why so much remains in dispute — including why the names of people in Epstein's orbit are redacted while survivors' names are not.

"By bringing the files to America, we're bringing humanity to it. We're real people in here," Rochard said, pointing to the van.

Now, Rochard has been advocating for the Epstein Transparency Act II, which would allow states and Epstein victims to sue the government over withheld or redacted Epstein materials and would mandate that unredacted files relevant to investigations be made available to them.

That's the kind of transparency women from Epstein's orbit are seeking.

"I'd like to see (Trump) brought in and questioned," Rochard said.

Her desire doesn't establish wrongdoing on the part of the president, who has not been charged with anything related to Epstein. But he is in the files, and he doesn't have any particular immunity protecting him on this issue.

It is fair to wonder why anyone mentioned in the files should be above questions about their involvement.

Had Trump's administration and congressional Republicans been less cagey about the Epstein files, things may look different for Republicans heading into November.

They'll know for sure electorally in a few weeks. But how much longer will Epstein survivors have to wait for the justice they were promised?

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