Epstein Victim Tells CNN She’s ‘Quite Proud’ of Melania Trump After Public Address

A victim of convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein praised First Lady Melania Trump and her surprise speech this week addressing her connections to Epstein.

Actress Alicia Arden joined CNN’s Kate Bolduan on Friday morning and offered praise for the first lady’s call for Epstein victims to testify before Congress. In her address, the first lady acknowledged a “casual correspondence” with longtime Epstein associated Ghislaine Maxwell, now serving 20 years for sex trafficking, but denied any significant relationship with Epstein.

The address shocked the political world and has reignited interest in the Epstein case following the Department of Justice repeatedly insisting there is nothing left to investigate or release when it comes to Epstein.

Arden said:

I am really happy and really quite proud of Melania to call for a hearing, call for Congress to have a hearing, so then that if we want to — if I want to testify before Congress about what Jeffrey Epstein did to me, the other victims can come with me. They can come and testify with me. I’m very happy that Melania is wanting to ask Congress for a hearing for us. So I would be very, very happy to testify before Congress. And I think it’s really great that she’s wanting to do that for us.

Arden is an actress who said she was assaulted by Epstein during a 1997 meeting in California.

Others have not been as enthused about the first lady’s speech. Arden’s lawyer, Gloria Allred, appeared before her on CNN and blasted the DOJ for not initially redacting some victims’ names in their release of Epstein files. She also called for Melania Trump herself to testify before Congress before any victims.

Danielle Benksy, who said she was assaulted by Epstein when she was 17, also told MS NOW on Friday that she felt Melania Trump was victim-blaming in her remarks and her call for victims to testify.

“I heard blame be placed on survivors in this,” she said. “I think that it feels like the burden has been now placed on survivors to come forward and speak in front of Congress when in reality, we’ve been asking for proper investigations and for trials to move through this the right way from the very beginning.”

Watch above via CNN.

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