Melania Trump’s Epstein remarks turn up the heat on DOJ, Acting AG Todd Blanche to do more

By Fox News · Fox News

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." WHY MELANIA TRUMP IS DENYING ALLEGED SMEARS RELATED TO JEFFREY EPSTEIN–AND WANTS VICTIMS TO TESTIFY 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 atte…