Overview
- Melania Trump delivered an unannounced statement at the White House on Thursday, denying any knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes and urging Congress to hold a public hearing where survivors testify under oath.
- She said images and stories linking her to Epstein are misleading, stated she has never been accused of related crimes, and added that she is not an Epstein victim and did not meet President Trump through him.
- A group of 13 women who say Epstein abused them, joined by two relatives of another victim, criticized her remarks as shifting the burden to survivors instead of officials with power.
- Representative Robert Garcia pressed Oversight Chair James Comer to schedule a public hearing, while House Democrats plan a separate survivors’ session in May in Palm Beach, Florida.
- The renewed push follows the Justice Department’s January release of more than three million case files, which included an October 23, 2022 email from Melania to Ghislaine Maxwell, with outlets noting that names in the archive alone do not show wrongdoing.