In April, when First Lady Melania Trump gave a speech about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and the Trump family’s ties to the late sex criminal, the move surprised Washington. The first lady was publicly siding with victims, and by implication, a bipartisan rebellion in Congress against the Trump administration, which had spent months resisting the release of the full Epstein files.

Now, a top adviser to the first lady has more details on what motivated her move to speak out.

“It was about going on the record to talk about the fact that she wasn’t connected with, is not connected with, Jeffrey Epstein at all,” Marc Beckman, a senior adviser to the first lady, told Politico. “She wanted to be a champion, a leader for the victims, and then finally she called on Congress to give the victims the ability to go on the congressional record, sit in front of Congress if they want, and go on the record.”

During the April speech, Trump said she had never been friends with Epstein, had never been a victim of his and had never witnessed or participated in any of his crimes. She also denied claims Epstein had introduced her to Donald Trump, and she called on Congress to hear from victims directly in a public hearing.

“Give these victims their opportunity to testify under oath in front of Congress, with the power of sworn testimony,” the first lady said. “Each and every woman should have her day to tell her story in public.”

Trump’s speech earned a mix of surprise, praise and criticism.

A group of Epstein survivors in a statement that month accused her of putting the onus on victims to advance their cause, rather than the Justice Department, which in 2025 was forced by Congress to begin releasing the Epstein files over the objections of the president.

“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,” they wrote.

Others praised Melania Trump’s public stance.

“As a survivor, this isn’t political, it’s personal and when the First Lady of the United States stands up and demands justice for Epstein’s victims, it is truly momentous,” Rep. Nancy Mace, who has been open about her own experiences with sexual abuse, wrote on X after the speech. “These women deserve to be heard. Today, they were.”

President Trump said he was aware the first lady was going to make a statement but didn’t know its contents.

“It doesn’t bother me,” Trump told The New York Times after the speech. “I didn’t know what the statement was, but I knew she was going to make a statement.”

The Justice Department continues to refuse to hand over certain redacted information from investigative files connected to Jeffrey Epstein, despite an order from a federal judge to either release the documents or explain why they were withheld.

The materials include interview notes from investigators who spoke to a woman who made unsubstantiated assault claims about President Trump.

The president has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing tied to Epstein.