STORY: :: Washington, D.C. / April 9, 2026
:: A U.S. lawmaker is urging Melania Trump to testify before Congress over the Epstein probe
:: Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, (D) Virginia
"The fact that Melania is coming out now lends me to believe there could be some news about her in the future. But if not, and if she is truly trying to clear her name, then she should come before the Oversight Committee and testify before us under oath. People will believe her more if she has a story to tell. That would be good for them to tell it. And now we have precedent of other first ladies being forced to testify under penalty of criminal sanctions and that was Hillary Clinton recently."
"She was a former first lady. And so, again, if Melania Trump doesn't agree to testify before a committee and comply with a subpoena, then she would also be subject to the same sanctions. If we're going to follow a precedent."
"What I do know is that Melania Trump clearly has a story to tell. And we know that she was in the files and she wrote very intimate emails with Ghislaine Maxwell, and she's pictured with Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. She denies a close relationship. And that's fine, that's her prerogative. But instead of her trying to put that prerogative on the survivors to come forward and testify publicly, she should be the one testifying publicly."
Melania Trump said on Thursday, "The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today," and denied she had ever been friends with Epstein or that she was one of his victims.
Her extraordinary address, delivered under the presidential seal in the White House foyer, renews scrutiny of the Epstein case that has roiled Donald Trump's presidency as even some supporters say his administration mishandled disclosures from government files.
The Trump administration, under pressure from the president's political base, ordered the U.S. Justice Department to release files tied to criminal probes of Epstein in compliance with a transparency law passed by Congress.
The files include a 2002 email from Melania Trump to Maxwell about a New York Magazine piece on Epstein.
Around a dozen Epstein survivors opposed Melania Trump's proposal for public hearings, saying in a statement they had already done enough to publicize Epstein's crimes through testimony and reports and that it was up to the U.S. Justice Department to follow through. They also called on the Trump administration to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
