House Oversight Chairman James Comer pledged to hold hearings following First Lady Melania Trump’s call for congressional testimony from Jeffrey Epstein survivors.
He added, however, that victim hearings would only take place after the committee completes depositions from several high-profile individuals connected to Epstein. “We have always planned on having a hearing with Epstein victims once the depositions have been completed,” he said.
The commitment from Comer came after Melania Trump delivered a surprise statement from the White House Grand Foyer on Thursday, April 9, 2026, addressing allegations linking her to the late convicted sex offender. Jimmy Kimmel seized on the moment during his late-night show, displaying a photograph and questioning why she would revive the scandal just days after President Donald Trump secured a ceasefire in Iran.
Members of Congress from both parties rallied behind the first lady’s call to action, with California Rep. Robert Garcia calling on Chairman Comer to “schedule a public hearing immediately.”
The committee had subpoenaed former Attorney General Pam Bondi to appear for a closed-door deposition on April 14, but the session was canceled after the Department of Justice (DOJ) argued she was subpoenaed in her capacity as attorney general — a role she no longer holds following her firing by President Trump on April 2. Democrats threatened contempt charges if she fails to appear, while Rep. Nancy Mace argued the subpoena remained valid because it named Bondi personally, not by title. The committee said it would contact Bondi’s personal counsel to schedule a new date. Separately, the panel has also scheduled depositions with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, billionaire Ted Waitt, and federal jail guard Tova Noel.
The ABC comedian mocked the timing and substance of the first lady’s roughly five-minute address. “He spent the past six weeks trying to bomb this Epstein story out of the headlines. Two days after the ceasefire, she puts it right back on top,” Kimmel said. “She must really hate him.”
During her statement, Melania Trump forcefully denied any connection to Epstein beyond occasionally attending the same social events in New York City and Palm Beach. She called for public hearings where survivors could testify under oath, with their testimony “permanently entered into the congressional record.” The first lady insisted she had never been friends with Epstein, never flown on his plane, and never visited his private island.
Epstein survivor Alicia Arden told NPR she wants to testify and said, “I’m willing to testify before Congress about what Jeffrey Epstein did to me.”
But Kimmel displayed a photograph showing Melania and Donald Trump posing with Epstein, a picture found displayed in Epstein’s Manhattan mansion among documents the Justice Department released in December. “By the way, while you’re explaining how much you didn’t know Epstein, any particular reason you can think of that he had a picture of you guys on display at his house? Maybe this is the photo that came with the frame,” Kimmel quipped.
The photograph was taken at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in February 2000 and the image cropped out Ghislaine Maxwell.
A group of 13 Epstein survivors accused the first lady of “shifting the burden onto survivors,” stating, “Survivors have done their part. Now it’s time for those in power to do theirs.” Survivor Marina Lacerda, identified as Minor-Victim 1 in a 2019 Epstein indictment, posted a video questioning whether a hearing would produce results, asking why survivors should be forced to recount their stories to Congress only for officials to “do absolutely nothing.” Sisters Maria and Annie Farmer called for “accountability, transparency, and justice,” while attorney Gloria Allred, who represents 27 survivors, including Alicia Arden, supported a hearing but said no survivor should be subpoenaed to testify.
President Trump told MS NOW correspondent Jacqueline Alemany that he had no prior knowledge of his wife’s statement, though a person familiar with the matter told CNN that Trump was in fact aware she planned to speak. Kimmel used this revelation to mock apparent dysfunction within the White House. “He didn’t know she was going to do it before she did it, which shows you just how smoothly things are running over there,” Kimmel said. “For whatever reason, she didn’t ask. She didn’t give him a heads-up. She just went right out in front of the cameras and fired away.”
The comedian also noted that Melania’s call for congressional hearings is “something Donald most definitely does not want to happen,” given the potential for sworn testimony to surface uncomfortable revelations.
Melania Trump dismissed what she called “fake images and statements” circulating on social media, urging the public to “be cautious about what you believe.”
The Justice Department ultimately released approximately 3 million pages of Epstein-related documents out of more than 6 million pages reviewed, with officials citing survivor privacy concerns and active federal investigation risks as grounds for withholding the remainder. Melania Trump’s relationship with the Epstein narrative intensified in January, when DOJ documents released on Jan. 30 included a 2002 email exchange between the first lady and Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime associate and convicted accomplice. Maxwell addressed Melania as “sweet pea” in her reply. The release coincided with the premiere of the Amazon documentary “Melania,” which Kimmel previously criticized as a “$75 million bribe” that was “dreadfully dull.”
According to YouGov/Economist polling from April 8, Trump’s approval rating sits at 37%, with 56% disapproving and 7% unsure. Multiple aggregators place his average approval in the low 40s. Kimmel quipped that the president’s popularity is “somewhere between Bill Cosby and strangers clipping their toenails in public right now.”
Kimmel also addressed Trump’s recent social media posts about Iran, where the president has been teasing a “grand reopening” and possible business partnership following weeks of military conflict. Vice President JD Vance, Jared Kushner, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff departed April 10 for peace negotiations in Pakistan (returning on April 12 with no agreement), prompting Kimmel to joke that “Trump sent Jared so he could have some alone time with Ivanka over the weekend.”
Both Donald and Melania Trump have consistently denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein. Neither has been accused of crimes by law enforcement nor identified as subjects of investigation.
The first lady’s unexpected statement arrived at a particularly turbulent moment for the Trump White House, with ongoing international conflicts, sinking poll numbers, and renewed attention to decades-old associations with one of America’s most notorious criminals. Whether her call for congressional hearings will gain traction is unclear, but she succeeded in doing what Kimmel found most perplexing: putting Jeffrey Epstein back at the center of the national conversation.