First Lady Melania Trump called on Congress to hold a hearing with Jeffrey Epstein survivors, but lawmakers clapped back that while they have been seeking justice, her husband’s administration has refused to do its job.
The first lady warned that the pedophile did not act alone during a shock statement from the White House on Thursday, where she denied ever having a relationship with the convicted sex offender or being a victim.
“Now is the time for Congress to act. Epstein was not alone,” she said. “Several prominent male executives resigned from their powerful positions after this matter became widely politicized.”
She called on Congress to “provide the women who have been victimized by Epstein with a pubic hearing specifically centered around the survivors” and said it would “give these victims their opportunity to testify under oath in front of Congress with the power of sworn testimony.”
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, who championed the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act despite the president’s opposition, fired back that it was the Justice Department that had failed to act.
“First Lady asks Congress to bring Epstein survivors in for testimony. With all due respect, that’s @DAGToddBlanche’s job!" he wrote tagging the now acting attorney general, who was previously Trump’s personal attorney.
"@RepRoKhanna & I already gave brave survivors a chance to tell their horrific stories on Capitol Hill. @PamBondi wouldn’t even acknowledge them. PROSECUTE!" Massie added.
Lawmakers grilled Trump’s recently fired attorney general Pam Bondi on Capitol Hill in February over why the Justice Department had failed to charge anyone else in the Epstein investigation or comply with the law to release all the files.
During that hearing, Bondi was given the chance to acknowledge the survivors standing behind her, but she refused.
Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna also responded on Thursday that he agreed with the first lady’s call for a hearing and challenged close Trump ally Speaker Mike Johnson to act, noting that a bipartisan group of lawmakers had been calling for it for months in the GOP-controlled Congress.
“It should be for all victimized by the Epstein class and there must be investigations and prosecutions,” he wrote. “What say you @SpeakerJohnson?"
The two lawmakers who have been leading the charge to release all the files were not the only ones to seize on the first lady’s comment or press the Justice Department to take action against co-conspirators.
“I am calling on the DOJ to prosecute individuals who took plea deals under civil rights violations, and to consider additional charges where appropriate,” wrote GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna while reposting video of the first lady’s statement.
Survivors of Epstein and their families have been calling for transparency for years and demanding that those who abused women with Epstein be brought to justice.
But after Trump campaigned on releasing the Epstein files, the Justice Department under him last summer said no further charges would be brought against anyone else, sparking national outrage.
The Trump administration then fought to prevent Congress from passing legislation requiring the files to be released, before caving once the bill’s passage appeared inevitable.
Throughout the ongoing Epstein crisis, First Lady Melania said nothing and even ignored questions from reporters as recently as February.
On Thursday, she read her statement aloud and then left the room without explaining why she was speaking out now or answering reporters’ shouted questions.
