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First lady Melania Trump’s call for public hearings for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims is piling fresh pressure on Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who only days earlier signaled the administration wanted to move past the saga even as bipartisan lawmakers and survivors continue demanding more files, testimony and prosecutions.
While the first lady called on Congress to take additional steps to let Epstein “survivors” tell their stories, Epstein victims and members of Congress themselves argued that the onus is with the Trump administration, not Congress.
“First Lady asks Congress to bring Epstein survivors in for testimony. With all due respect, that’s Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche’s job!” Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who has been at odds with the president and his administration over how it has handled the Epstein case, said after the first lady’s remarks. “Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and I already gave brave survivors a chance to tell their horrific stories on Capitol Hill. Pam Bondi wouldn’t even acknowledge them. PROSECUTE!”
“Actually, Congress did act,” added Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., in response to the First Lady’s Thursday night remarks calling on Congress to do more. “But Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche is violating the law and refusing to release the Epstein files as required by law.”
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Meanwhile, in a letter released by over a dozen alleged Epstein victims, survivors also put pressure on the Justice Department to do more.
“First Lady Melania Trump is now shifting the burden onto 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,” a letter allegedly signed by 15 Epstein victims, posted to social media by Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., stated. “It also diverts attention from Pam Bondi, who must answer for withheld files and the exposure of survivors’ identities. Those failures continue to put lives at risk while shielding enablers.”
“Survivors have done their part. Now it’s time for those in power to do theirs,” the letter concluded.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Justice and White House for comment on the first lady’s remarks and remarks from victims and members of Congress calling on the Trump administration to do more, but did not hear back.
However, in a statement to NPR following the first lady’s remarks, the Department of Justice said: “As we have always stated, we encourage any victims of Jeffrey Epstein — who wish to speak — to contact the FBI. Any survivor who has information on an abuser is encouraged to contact federal law enforcement.”
Not long after taking the reins from former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Blanche insisted it was time for the Justice Department to move on from the Epstein case.
“I think that to the extent that the Epstein files was a part of the past year of this Justice Department, it … should not be a part of anything going forward,” Blanche said Thursday in an interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters. He added that the DOJ “has now released all the files with respect to the Epstein saga.”
Still, several members of Congress think there is more to be done on the matter.
Following the first lady’s remarks, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., indicated that House Oversight chairman, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., agreed to call four named co-conspirators to testify.
“And they won’t be the only ones,” the congresswoman added in a post on X.
“There are a number of doctors we also have questions for, and the list continues to grow,” the Florida congresswoman continued. “I am calling on the DOJ to prosecute individuals who took plea deals under civil rights violations, and to consider additional charges where appropriate. If you traffic a young girl(s), you don’t get to pretend to be a victim. There is a massive difference.”
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Meanwhile, Khanna also demanded the first lady come testify in front of Congress, arguing her remarks show she is privy to “relevant” information, while Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., said following the first lady’s Thursday night remarks that he and his colleagues still want to see Bondi testify to Congress.
“Pam Bondi knows more about this cover-up and why the botched release of the files happened the way they did in doxxing survivors and putting their information out there, not protecting their identities. Pam Bondi must testify, that is her legal obligation.”
“I think there’s enough Republicans that also agree — she has been subpoenaed — they had a legal subpoena,” Garcia told CNN. “The DOJ and Todd Blanche continue to cover up for Donald Trump, continue to want this to go away, but we are going to continue to push every single day.”
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