Ranking Oversight Committee member Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) criticized first lady Melania Trump’s surprise press event Thursday — where she distanced herself from convicted sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein — by suggesting what she can do if she wants to aid the investigation.
“I think the first lady just clearly created distance between the position of her husband and his administration and herself,” Garcia said on MS Now on Saturday. “If Melania Trump actually wants to help in this investigation, she can look at her husband and tell him to release all the rest of the Epstein files, she could ensure that Pam Bondi actually testifies.”
The first lady received mixed reactions towards her sudden press event on Thursday, where she called for a congressional hearing for Epstein’s victims and addressed speculations over her ties to the convicted sex abuser and his imprisoned accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Despite Trump’s attempt to distance herself from the circle of Epstein, Garcia said he doesn’t believe “the facts actually bear that out.” A 2002 email exchange between Trump (then Knauss) and Maxwell, made public this year, reveals a friendlier relationship between the two.
“So there’s certainly a lot more questions. Now we’re all kind of wondering ’What, why did she do this? I mean, is she actually trying to preempt information coming out? So we’re looking at this right now,” Garcia said.
Multiple survivors labeled the first lady’s address “shifting the burden onto survivors under politicized conditions that protect those with power.”
“So look, I’m glad she created, I think, an opportunity for folks to talk about this more, because her husband is trying to sweep this away, but at the end of the day, the files need to be released, and that’s where the first lady can help,” Garcia said.
The California Democrat called the press event “really bizarre,” noting how the first lady’s husband, President Donald Trump, had previously watered down the scandal as a “hoax” and that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche had stated that the files “will not be a part of anything going forward” in the DOJ.
Garcia said he’s “absolutely interested” in hearing from the first lady.
“We’ve said it before. I’ll say it again. We absolutely would like to talk to the first lady, if she has information, anyone has information about Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell and their horrific crimes against women and children. We want to hear from them,” Garcia continued.
