MONUMENT HILL, Colo. (KOAA) — A digital billboard at the top of Monument Hill might be turning heads for those driving northbound on I-25 this month.
As the digital ads cycle through, one in particular stands out, saying “Courage is Contagious. Release ALL the Epstein Files.”
The group behind the billboard, World Without Exploitation, said they launched their nationwide campaign in Colorado Springs and picked that specific location for very deliberate reasons.
“We put that billboard in your region to make sure not only that members of Congress hear that survivors want to release all the files, but that constituents see it and hopefully call members of Congress to urge them to release all the files,” said Lauren Hersh, National Director of World Without Exploitation.
Hersh said the proximity to Republican Representatives Lauren Boebert and Jeff Crank’s district influenced the location decision.
“Importantly, Colorado Springs is the home of Virginia Giuffre’s family, and she has truly been such an inspiration to survivors across the country,” said Hersh. “Her family has really carried the torch of her memory and her legacy. So we started in Colorado Springs deliberately for all of those reasons.”
Giuffre was one of Jeffrey Epstein’s most outspoken survivors. She died by suicide earlier this year.
Her brother and sister-in-law live in El Paso County. They held a rally outside of Rep. Crank’s Colorado Springs office in September, calling for the release of the Epstein files.
“It’s a simple, straightforward question of whether you stand with survivors or not,” said Sky and Amanda Roberts, brother and sister-in-law of Virginia Giuffre in a press release. “As constituents of Congressman Crank, we implore him to do the right thing and join the call for the release of the Epstein Files.”
Epstein, the deceased financier and accused sex trafficker, has become a hot-button issue this year after President Trump and other prominent Republicans in his administration previously campaigned and called for the release of his files and so-called client list.
But over the summer, Trump and his associates began backtracking and called the Epstein list a hoax.
"It's all been a big hoax. It's perpetrated by the Democrats and some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into the net,” Trump said in July.
But the Epstein list has continued to dominate the headlines as Democrats and some Republicans continue pushing for the full documents to be released.
Now, even through the government shutdown, Hersh said survivors are going “to make sure that their voices are heard” and are not forgotten in the news cycle.
One call to action from many demanding the release of the files is through what’s called a discharge petition.
In the House, 218 representatives need to sign the discharge petition, which would immediately release the files without a vote.
The petition currently has 217 signatures, including Rep. Lauren Boebert. She’s one of only four Republicans who’ve signed on. The others are Representatives Thomas Massie (Kentucky), Nancy Mace (South Carolina), and Marjorie Taylor Greene (Georgia).
All of Colorado’s Democratic reps have signed on in addition to Boebert.
Crank, who’s a target of the Monument Hill billboard, didn’t shy away from the topic when asked in an interview last week.
“Not only do I want them released, I wanted them released when Joe Biden had control of them, which I strangely noticed that many of these groups that are out there calling for the release of the Epstein files were very, very quiet when Joe Biden had control of the Epstein files. It was only when Donald Trump got them,” Crank said.
“I talked about it on the campaign trail that I wanted the Epstein files released. Every piece of them with the exception of victims and the victims' names. And that's really the crux of this in some regard,” he said.
Crank said he doesn’t want victims to suffer through harm all over again and doesn’t want the files released until all of their information is redacted.
He said there are Democrats and Republicans currently moving through the redaction process of possibly over 1000 women who were victims of Epstein and his associates through thousands of pages.
And Crank, who has been an ardent Trump supporter, said he wouldn’t try to suppress them even if the president was listed in the files.
“There are some people who I believe for political purposes are trying to use this to say ‘Well you know, what if Donald Trump's name is in there?’” Crank said. “Well, if anybody's name is in there, the president or anybody else, it should be released.”
Crank said he never signs onto a discharge petition, despite the public pressure for him to do so.
“I don't sign discharge petitions on anything. I've never signed one. And I won't say I'll never do it, but it would take a lot to get me to sign one,” he said. “Because essentially a discharge petition hands control of Congress to the minority party. When you're in the majority party, you don't hand that to them.”
Lauren Hersh and World Without Exploitation agree with Rep. Crank that victim names should be redacted. She called it “very simple” and said all identifying victim information should be redacted while still including the names of people who harmed the women.
“I think that if [Rep. Crank] truly wants to support these survivors, he will sign this discharge petition, support the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and make sure that not some of the files get released, but that all of the files get released,” Hersh said. “That's what survivors want, and that is the only way that we're going to get to justice.”
The Colorado Springs billboard is set to expire next Monday. The nationwide campaign has already moved elsewhere with similar billboards popping up in other congressional districts, urging the respective representatives to commit to releasing the Epstein files.
Email Senior Reporter Brett Forrest at brett.forrest@koaa.com. Follow @brettforrestTV on X and Brett Forrest News on Facebook.
Brett can also communicate via encrypted apps like Signal. Due to the sensitive nature of ongoing reporting from federal actions, he is willing to take steps to protect identities.
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