Draft Bill Seeks to Reveal Officials’ Epstein Ties

Feb. 24, 2026  | KACU 89.5 FM

Preview and full event coverage

Feb. 25, 2026 | West Texas Tribune

On Sunday, Feb. 22, Defend Democracy Abilene gathered with community members at Oscar Rose Park Amphitheater to demand that action be taken against government officials suspected of being connected to sex trafficking crimes involving Jeffrey Epstein. 

One of the event organizers, Riley Rodriquez, is running for Texas Senate District 28. Rodriquez said when it comes to the Epstein files, “people are reporting on it, and people are like, ‘Oh no,’ but like, nobody’s doing anything. And somebody’s got to do something.”

Rodriquez drafted a bill that would amend the US Constitution. It says that every government official who has been involved with an individual convicted of committing a federal crime will be required to sit for a public hearing where they are questioned.  If there’s evidence of criminal conduct, the government official would be held to the same legal standards as any other US citizen. 

The Texas Legislature will need to get on board with the bill, and then 37 other state legislatures will need to approve the bill for it to be implemented.

“I understand that it’s a Herculean-like task to get 38 states to agree with it, but regardless of how this ends up, you will have a much clearer view on who it is that is sitting behind your government desks and who they actually support,” Rodriquez said. 

Rodriquez printed 300 letters that lay out the contents of the drafted bill. People who attended the gathering printed their names and signatures on the letters. Rodriquez said he will mail each letter to Governor Abbott in its own envelope. 

“There’s nothing’s more annoying than getting 300 separate letters. And that is what you have to do. You have to be a thorn in their side until it festers and they have to do something with it,” Rodriquez said. 

Chellby Taylor, a trafficking survivor from Abilene, spoke at the gathering. Taylor said that victims are usually trafficked by somebody they know. Taylor was trafficked in exchange for drugs that her mother needed for mental health issues. 

Taylor said the lack of action taken to investigate who is in the Epstein files sends the message that anyone can hurt children without accountability or consequence. 

“These babies are being sold and raped and murdered for somebody’s sick fetish. And so it’s important to me that these victims and these survivors see justice, because every single time an allegation goes without investigation, it props up the perpetrator and it invalidates the survivor,” Taylor said.

Taylor said she wants people to stop questioning the stories of victims and survivors and to stop thinking that they are looking for attention or exaggerating.

“I’m begging people to listen to survivors, just sit and listen. You don’t have to talk back. You don’t have to fix it. You don’t have to do any of that. But if you sit with them and listen to their lived experience, it does more for us than anything else,” Taylor said.

Both Taylor and Rodriquez said that this issue goes beyond political beliefs. 

“It should be pretty cut and dry. You know, this is not cool. This is not a red and blue issue. This is a soul of America issue. Is this really what we are going to be built on, is protecting pedophiles?” Rodriquez said.

Rodriquez said he plans to spend a lot of time lobbying at the Capitol to push the draft forward.

Organizers are also looking for more individuals to join the effort, by sending their own letters of support. An online petition and copy of the group’s prewritten letter are available on Defend Democracy Abilene’s Facebook page.