She called rumours that Epstein introduced her to Donald Trump "mean-spirited attempts to defame my reputation".

Beyond her laughable attempt to overcome years of her own history with Jeffrey Epstein – thoroughly documented both privately and in the media – by simply ordering discussion of it to stop, Mrs. Trump has called for a hearing not for the perpetrators, nor for Epstein’s co-conspirators, but a hearing in which the survivors testify.

I wish I were joking, but no. The linked BBC article, which focuses more on Mrs. Trump’s well-established, undeniable ties to both Epstein and Maxwell, also has information on this proposed hearing:

In a surprise announcement on Thursday, the first lady called for congressional hearings for survivors of Epstein’s sex trafficking.

Melania Trump on Thursday additionally called on lawmakers to “give these victims their opportunity to testify under oath in front of Congress with the power of sworn testimony”.

“Each and every woman should have her day to tell her story in public if she wishes, and then her testimony should be permanently entered into the congressional record,” she said. “Then, and only then, we will have the truth.”

Family of Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre, Sky and Amanda Roberts, and other survivors told BBC Newsnight that they "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 in a statement. They accused the first lady of protecting “those with power”, including members of her husband’s administration who they said still have not released all of the investigative files related to Epstein.

“Survivors have done their part,” they said. “Now it’s time for those in power to do theirs.”

  • ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    4·
    3 days ago

    I did not know this when I posted the above, but apparently the press conference itself was both unexpected and highly unusual, or as Heather Cox Richardson put it more than once this evening, “bizarre.”

    Apparently Melania walked out of the White House, stood behind the presidential seal – in itself a huge breach of White House protocol and tradition, not that they care – and spoke for several minutes in the place of the president, who was possibly unaware that she was even doing this, and made her statement direct to camera before walking back in without another word to any of the reporters assembled for it.

    Meanwhile, no one has any real idea why she did this, nor why today, nor what denying the mountains of proof of her interactions with both Epstein and Maxwell was meant to accomplish. From the NYT: (archive link)

    In remarks that lasted just under six minutes, she said she wanted to clear “my good name.” She addressed rumors about the origin story of how she met her husband, the president of the United States. And she called on Congress to give a hearing to victims of Mr. Epstein’s crimes. “The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today,” Mrs. Trump said. She talked about “numerous fake images and statements about Epstein and me” that “have been percolating on social media for years now.”

    It was not clear why she chose to speak out now, or to what reports she was referring.

    A spokesperson for Mrs. Trump said the president knew that the first lady planned to make a statement, but later said it was not clear if Mr. Trump was aware of the topic of her remarks. In a phone call with an MS Now reporter, Mr. Trump said he had no prior knowledge of what she had planned to say.

    The White House did not respond to questions about what the president knew on the matter and when.

    Another pundit, George Conway, believes it is possible that she did it because she knows something that is about to come out, but no one has any real idea. Even the NYT is flummoxed, ending their article with,

    And then she turned on her stiletto heels and stalked out as the dazed reporters started shouting after her: “Why now!? Why now!?”

    No one knows. So if anyone can bring a cloud of confusion to a duststorm of conflicting reports and call it a job done, that’s apparently what she has accomplished today.

    Note: I am aware there are problems with archive.world, but it has the content. If you have a better alternative, feel free to post it.

    • kingofras@lemmy.worldMEnglish
      3·
      3 days ago

      The answer to the why now is either a hit piece coming out, or she’s been warned she’s in the datasets that have been queued for release for a month now by the DOJ is one of the more final sets where she is one of the people who will be ‘unredacted’ now.