After first lady Melania Trump denied having a friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and called on his survivors to testify publicly, one survivor of the late disgraced sex offender urged Americans not to be distracted and to “focus on the most pressing issues at hand,” including the Trump administration’s handling of the release of material related to Epstein.
Annie Farmer, who has accused Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, of sexual abuse, told MS NOW’s “The Weeknight” that she and her fellow survivors were caught off guard by the first lady’s remarks on Thursday.
“It was a surprise for all of us,” she said. “I don’t want to speculate about her motivations for doing so. I think that there certainly are some survivors that would be interested in that kind of public hearing, but also I think it’s hard at this point for us to trust the motivations coming out of the federal government.”
Farmer said the first lady’s comments could be seen as shifting the responsibility from the government onto those Epstein abused.
“We shouldn’t have this burden,” she said. “There’s been a lot of emphasis on ‘name names’ and really, we’ve said over and over again, so many survivors have spoken with the government, have named names. Now we’re asking them to do their jobs, to do the investigations, and to give us the transparency and accountability that we have repeatedly asked for.”
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Farmer told MS NOW she doesn’t want the first lady’s remarks on Thursday to “distract from some of the most pressing issues at hand.” Among these, she said, is ensuring that former Attorney General Pam Bondi complies with a congressional subpoena to testify in a closed-door hearing. The Justice Department has argued that Bondi is not required to appear in front of the House Oversight Committee next week since she is no longer attorney general.
“What we care the most — right now at this moment — about is having her testify under oath,” Farmer said.
“The fact is, she was in charge of the DOJ when this release happened, and there were countless failures,” Farmer continued, noting that the DOJ exposed the identities of several survivors while redacting the names of powerful figures.
“I think that frustration is maybe an understatement for what we’re feeling, with one more delay in terms of getting answers to these questions,” Farmer said.
You can watch Farmer’s full interview in the clip at the top of the page.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW. She was previously a segment producer for “AYMAN” and “The Mehdi Hasan Show.”