LETTER: Blaming the victim

Published 1:30 am Saturday, April 18, 2026

It’s all over the Internet that the speech Melania Trump delivered April 9 defended the Epstein survivors.

It did not. It demanded they be put on trial.

In rape trials I covered long ago as a reporter, a common defense was to blame the victim, not as a legal ploy but to appeal to a jury in the court of public opinion.

I worry that under oath before Congress, survivors would be attacked by Trump’s minions, their morals and motives heavily questioned in an attempt to convince the public that this was not rape and these are not victims; that there is nothing to see here.

Personally, I doubt Melania Trump wrote that speech or that it surprised the Trump regime.

It was well-choreographed and delivered from behind the presidential seal, a symbol of the power of the president of the United States.

I suspect Trump knew full well what she would say and perhaps had even convinced her to say it by allowing her to defend herself first.

In 2008, the first time he was charged, Epstein pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of soliciting prostitution from a minor.

This shifted blame to the victim, termed a child prostitute.

Are we seeing the same tactic now?

The survivors of Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and unindicted co-conspirators already have told their stories, both to police and in public forums.

They should not be forced to expose themselves to defense attorney-style grilling.

That’s not justice.

It is continued harassment.

Leah Leach

Port Angeles