Survivors of Epstein’s abuse accuse Melania Trump of ‘shifting burden’ on to victims

• 01Melania Trump issued a statement denying she ever had a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell, saying she was not a victim of Epstein, had no knowledge of his crimes, and that Epstein did not introduce her to Donald Trump.
• 02In her statement, Melania Trump called on Congress to hold public hearings and take sworn testimony from survivors of Epstein's crimes.
• 03Melania Trump said 'The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today' and stated that 'numerous fake images and statements about Epstein and me have been calculating [sic] on social media for years now'.
• 04A group of 13 Epstein survivors and relatives of Virginia Giuffre stated that asking survivors to testify further constitutes 'a deflection of responsibility not justice' and accused the first lady of 'shifting the burden' onto survivors.
• 05The survivors' group said Melania Trump 'is now shifting the burden on to survivors under politicized conditions that protect those with power: the Department of Justice, law enforcement, prosecutors, and the Trump administration, which has still not fully complied with the Epstein Files Transparency Act'.
• 06The Department of Justice said Pam Bondi would not comply with a subpoena to appear for a scheduled deposition before the House oversight and government reform committee regarding the justice department's handling of the Epstein investigation.
• 07James Comer, chair of the House oversight committee, said he has 'always planned on having hearings with the victims' and stated that some victims are willing to testify while most are not, with hearings planned once depositions are completed.
• 08Marina Lacerda, a survivor who signed the group statement, posted a video questioning why survivors should testify again when 'we've got names in the files, nobody has done nothing'.

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Melania Trump issued a statement denying connections to Jeffrey Epstein and calling on Congress to hold public hearings with abuse survivors, but more than a dozen survivors responded by accusing her of deflecting responsibility onto them and shifting attention from accountability by those in power. The survivors expressed frustration that they have already testified and provided evidence, while questioning what purpose additional congressional testimony would serve. The dispute comes as the Department of Justice declined to have Pam Bondi comply with a congressional subpoena regarding the government's handling of the Epstein investigation.