The family of the most prominent survivor of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse was left stunned by President Donald Trump's remarks about her.
The president told reporters aboard Air Force One that his relationship with Epstein ended when he "stole" his Mar-a-Lago employees, and Virginia Giuffre's family told The Atlantic that his comments suggested he knew more about the disgraced financier's sex crimes than he had previously acknowledged.
“It makes us ask if he was aware of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal actions, especially given his statement two years later that his good friend Jeffrey ‘likes women on the younger side … no doubt about it,’” Giuffre’s two brothers and her sisters-in-law told the publication.
“We and the public are asking for answers; survivors deserve this," the family added in their first public response to the president.
Giuffre, who alleged that she was recruited by Maxwell while working at Trump's resort as a high schooler, took her own life in late April at her home in Australia.
Her family said her work at Mar-a-Lago was meant to be a fun summertime job, but instead resulted her in being sex trafficked. Before her death, Giuffre alleged that she was sexually abused between 1999 and 2002 by Epstein, Maxwell and various prominent men.
Epstein died in jail in June 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges, and Maxwell was convicted in 2021 for sex trafficking and other crimes and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, the president's former criminal defense attorney, met with Maxwell twice last week in prison to discuss the Epstein case, which has erupted into a full-blown scandal after the Department of Justice announced earlier this month it would release no further information about the sex trafficking network.
Trump has suggested he's willing to pardon Maxwell, who is appealing her conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court and has said she's willing to testify before Congress if provided with the questions in advance.
“If our sister could speak today, she would be most angered by the fact that the government is listening to a known perjurer, a woman who repeatedly lied under oath and will continue to do so as long as it benefits her position,” Giuffre’s family wrote, referring to Maxwell.
“The government and the President should never consider giving Ghislaine Maxwell any leniency,” they added. “Maxwell destroyed many young lives, and she was convicted for only a fraction of the crimes she actually committed.”
Trump's own supporters have been angered by the administration putting a lid on the case, which has set off years of conspiracy theories about the president's enemies.
“Virginia cooperated with the authorities,” Giuffre's family said in their statement. “She endured death threats, threats against the lives of her children and family, financial ruin, and her physical and mental well-being were destroyed. She never backed down; she hoped that her strength would inspire other survivors to find the courage to come forward.”