NEW: Dems’ Anti-Trump SOTU Stunt Backfires After Guest Is Revealed As Ex-‘Recruiter’ For Epstein

Rep. Ro Khanna caused an uproar on Tuesday after he announced his guest for the State of the Union on X.

The California Democrat announced Haley Robson as his guest for President Trump’s address, a selection already fueling chatter on Capitol Hill. Robson has publicly described herself as a former teenage “recruiter” for Jeffrey Epstein and later shared her story in Netflix’s “Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich.”

Robson was among several survivors featured in the four-part series examining how Epstein used his fortune and connections to exploit underage girls.

Epstein, who faced federal charges tied to the sexual abuse of minors, was found dead in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019. He was 66. Authorities said he was discovered with a bedsheet around his neck. His death came weeks after he had been placed on suicide watch and less than 24 hours after thousands of pages of court records were unsealed. The city’s medical examiner ruled the death a suicide.

Robson has said she was 16 and attending high school in West Palm Beach, Fla., when she first encountered Epstein in 2004.

“I was just a normal teenager,” she told People magazine. “I played football, I did equestrian.”

According to published accounts, a classmate told Robson she could make $200 by visiting Epstein’s mansion and giving him a massage.

“I was giving him a massage, the first and only time, and he did try to touch me,” she said. “A part of me was scared that he was going to rape me or hurt me. I don’t know if it was God intervening or what… but he didn’t force himself on me.”

Robson said Epstein later suggested she return with other girls and offered to pay her for each one. In the Netflix series, she estimated she recruited about two dozen teens and said she tried to be honest about what they might encounter.

She told People she accepted Epstein’s proposal while coping with trauma.

“I was just a 16-year-old girl doing what this man had asked me to do,” she explained. “As a [teenager], you don’t really stop to think about the bigger picture; you’re not mature enough.”

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Federal investigators later examined Epstein’s network, including associates accused of arranging massages that led to abuse. Reviews of police reports, FBI files, and court records documented allegations that Epstein hired girls as young as 14 or 15.

Robson said the scrutiny reshaped her life.

“I’ve had reporters come by my house nonstop,” she explained. “I’ve had reporters call my parents. I’ve had the FBI show up at my job. I have been served subpoenas.”

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA)

Khanna’s invitation lands as Epstein’s name again ricochets through Washington. Khanna and Rep. Thomas Massie have backed renewed efforts to force the release of additional Epstein-related records. Supporters call it transparency, while critics call it another round of an evidence-free dragnet that keeps pulling President Donald Trump into the conversation despite no proof of wrongdoing.

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Robson, now an adult, said revisiting the past was painful.

“[Participating in the docuseries] was obviously very emotional for me,” she said. “I’m hoping people can open their hearts and their minds, try to be mindful of what we went through.”

Khanna framed the guest choice as a spotlight on survivors. Others saw a made-for-TV moment certain to ignite debate long before the president reaches the podium.

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