第一夫人梅兰妮·特朗普周四否认对这位已故的性侵犯者有任何了解杰弗里·爱泼斯坦他说，“把我和可耻的杰弗里·爱泼斯坦联系在一起的谎言必须在今天结束。”
当被问及是什么促使她公开时，第一夫人办公室和白宫没有立即回应ABC新闻大声说出这个问题。
据一名MS Now记者称，唐纳德·特朗普总统表示，他不知道第一夫人今天会就爱泼斯坦发表声明。这名记者称，她与总统进行了简短的电话采访。
美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)要求第一夫人的发言人澄清，任何有关特朗普总统对她声明的了解的问题都应提交给白宫西翼，白宫西翼表示，任何与声明有关的问题都应来自她的办公室。
美国广播公司新闻问白宫，总统是否同意第一夫人的观点，即爱泼斯坦的受害者应该在国会作证，但没有得到回应。
在她的评论开始时，梅兰妮·特朗普说，“那些对我撒谎的人缺乏道德标准、谦逊和尊重。”她没有详细说明这些人是谁。
她接着说，她从未与爱泼斯坦或吉斯莱恩·麦克斯韦尔发生过关系，后者是爱泼斯坦的同谋，曾被判犯有性交易罪。
“我从未与爱泼斯坦或他的同谋麦克斯韦尔有过关系。我给马克斯韦尔的电子邮件回复只能被归类为普通信件。她说:“我礼貌地回复了她的邮件，不过是一张小纸条。
“我不是爱泼斯坦的受害者。爱泼斯坦没有把我介绍给唐纳德·特朗普。1998年，我在纽约的一次聚会上偶然遇见了我的丈夫。我的书《梅拉尼娅》详细记录了我与丈夫的初次相遇，”她补充道。
“我和爱泼斯坦第一次相遇是在2000年，当时我和唐纳德一起参加了一个活动。当时，我从未见过爱泼斯坦，也不知道他的犯罪行为，”她说。
第一夫人说，关于她和爱泼斯坦的虚假图像和故事已经流传多年，促使她站出来解决这些问题。
“对你的信仰保持谨慎，”她说。“这些图像和故事完全是假的。”
第一夫人她还说，她从未因与爱泼斯坦的任何罪行而受到法律指控，她也没有出现在任何与爱泼斯坦有关的法庭文件、证词或受害者陈述中。
“我从未因与爱泼斯坦有关的罪行受到法律指控或定罪，”她说。
梅兰妮·特朗普说一些个人和公司被迫撤回对她和爱泼斯坦的指控。
第一夫人呼吁对爱泼斯坦的争议举行公开听证会，并允许幸存者在国会作证。
“现在是国会采取行动的时候了。爱泼斯坦并不孤单。在此事被广泛政治化后，几名杰出的男性高管辞去了他们的重要职位。当然，这并不等于有罪，但我们仍然必须公开透明地揭露真相，”她说。
“给这些受害者在国会面前宣誓作证的机会，每一个女人应该有机会讲述自己的故事如果她愿意的话，可以公开，然后她的证词将被永久记录在国会记录中，”她说。“然后，只有然后我们将有真相。
周四晚些时候，13名爱泼斯坦幸存者和另一名幸存者的兄弟姐妹指责第一夫人“将负担转移到幸存者身上”，而不是推动问责。
“杰弗里·爱泼斯坦的幸存者已经表现出非凡的勇气，站出来提交报告，并提供证词。现在对他们要求更多是推卸责任，而不是伸张正义，”他们说。“第一夫人梅兰妮·特朗普现在正在政治化的条件下将负担转移到幸存者身上，这些条件保护了那些有权力的人:司法部、执法部门、检察官和特朗普政府，特朗普政府仍然没有完全遵守《爱泼斯坦文件透明法》。”
声明还说，梅兰妮·特朗普的讲话“转移了人们对(前司法部长)帕姆·邦迪的注意力，邦迪必须对被扣留的文件和幸存者身份的曝光负责。"
“幸存者已经尽了自己的责任。现在是当权者做他们该做的事情的时候了，”他们说。
今年2月，众议院监督和政府改革委员会(House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform)的资深民主党众议员罗伯特·加西亚(Robert Garcia)在美国有线电视新闻网(CNN)上表示，如果民主党在11月获得多数席位，唐纳德·川普总统和梅兰妮·特朗普(Donald Trump)将被传唤在委员会面前就他们与爱泼斯坦的关系作证——类似于前总统比尔·克林顿(Bill Clinton)和前第一夫人希拉里·克林顿(Hillary Clinton)的情况。克林顿夫妇二月份在监督委员会作证。
当被问及委员会是否会让梅兰妮·特朗普出庭时，加西亚说:“我们将有一个很长的名单，任何我们认为与杰弗里·爱泼斯坦有关系的人——第一天就会收到我们委员会的传票。”
在第一夫人周四宣布之后，加西亚回应了举行公开听证会的呼吁。
“我们同意第一夫人梅兰妮·特朗普的呼吁，与杰弗里·爱泼斯坦的幸存者举行一次公开听证会。我们鼓励主席(詹姆斯)卡莫回应第一夫人的要求，立即安排一次公开听证会，”他在一份声明中说在X上发布.
监督民主党人定于5月在佛罗里达州棕榈滩与爱泼斯坦幸存者举行“影子”听证会，总统的Mar-a-Lago俱乐部就在那里。
Melania Trump declares 'I am not Epstein's victim'
First lady Melania Trump on Thursday denied having any knowledge of the late sex offenderJeffrey Epstein's crimes, saying, "The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today."
The first lady's office and the White House did not immediately respond to ABC News when asked what prompted her to publiclyspeak out about the issue.
President Donald Trump said he did not know the first lady was going to make a statement today about Epstein, according to an MS Now reporter who said she had a brief phone interview with the president.
Asked by ABC News for clarification, a spokesperson for the first lady directed any questions about President Trump’s knowledge about her statement to the West Wing, which said any questions related to the statement should come from her office.
ABC News asked the White House if the president agrees with the first lady that Epstein's victims should testify before Congress but has not gotten a response.
At the beginning of her remarks, Melania Trump said, "The individuals lying about me are devoid of ethical standards, humility and respect." She did not elaborate who those individuals were.
She went on to say that she never had a relationship with Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's co-conspirator who was convicted of sex trafficking.
"I never had a relationship with Epstein or his accomplice, Maxwell. My email reply to Maxwell cannot be categorized as anything more than casual correspondence. My polite reply to her email doesn't amount to anything more than a trivial note," she said.
"I am not Epstein's victim. Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump. I met my husband by chance at a New York City party in 1998. This initial encounter with my husband is documented in detail in my book 'Melania,'" she added.
"The first time I crossed paths with Epstein was in the year 2000 at an event Donald and I attended together. At the time, I had never met Epstein and had no knowledge of his criminal undertakings," she said.
The first lady said that fake images and stories about her and Epstein have circulated for years, prompting her to come out and address them.
"Be cautious about what you believe," she said. "These images and stories are completely false."
The first ladyalso said that she had never been legally accused of any crimes with Epstein and that she is not featured in any of court documents, depositions or victim statements related to Epstein.
"I have never been legally accused or convicted of a crime in connection with Epstein," she said.
Melania Trumpsaidthat several individuals and companies have been forced to retract claims about her and Epstein.
The first lady called for public hearings into the Epstein controversy and to allow survivors to testify before Congress.
"Now is the time for Congress to act. Epstein was not alone. Several prominent male executives resigned from their powerful positions after this matter became widely politicized. Of course, this doesn't amount to guilt, but we still must work openly and transparently to uncover the truth," she said.
"Give these victims their opportunity to testify under oath in front of Congress with the power of sworn testimony,each and everywoman should have her day to tell her story inpublic, if she wishes, and then her testimony should be permanently entered into the Congressional Record," she said."Then, and only thenwe willhave the truth.
Later Thursday, a group of 13 Epstein survivors and the brother and sister of another accused the first lady of “shifting the burden onto survivors,” rather than pushing for accountability.
“Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have already shown extraordinary courage by coming forward filing reports, and giving testimony. Asking more of them now is a deflection of responsibility not justice,” they said. “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.”
The statement also said Melania Trump’s speech “diverts attention from [former Attorney General] Pam Bondi, who must answer for withheld files and the exposure of survivors’ identities.”
“Survivors have done their part. Now it’s time for those in power to do theirs,” they said.
In February, Rep. Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, indicated on CNN that President Donald Trump and Melania Trump would be subpoenaed to testify in front of the committee about their ties to Epstein if Democrats take the majority in November -- similar to how former President Bill Clinton and former first lady Hillary Clinton were.The Clintons testified before the Oversight Committee in February.
Pressed on whether the committee would bring in Melania Trump, Garcia said: "We're going to have a very long list of people, anyone that we believe had a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein -- on Day One will have a subpoena from our committee."
Following the first lady's announcement on Thursday, Garcia echoed the call for a public hearing.
"We agree with First Lady Melania Trump's call for a public hearing with the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein. We encourage Chairman [James] Comer to respond to the First Lady's request and schedule a public hearing immediately," he said in apost on X.
Oversight Democrats have a "shadow" hearing scheduled for May with Epstein survivors in Palm Beach, Florida, where the president's Mar-a-Lago club is located.
