More than a dozen survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse have accused Melania Trump of “shifting the burden” on to them after she called on Congress to hold public hearings with victims of Epstein’s abuse.

“Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have already shown extraordinary courage by coming forward, filing reports, and giving testimony,” said a group of 13 people and the brother and sister of the late Virginia Giuffre, who was one of the most vocal Epstein accusers, in a statement. “Asking more of them now is a deflection of responsibility not justice.”

Their response came after the first lady delivered a surprise statement in which she denied she ever had a relationship with Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. She also said that she was not a victim of Epstein, had no knowledge of his crimes, and that the late convicted sex offender did not introduce her to her husband, Donald Trump.

“The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today,” she said, adding that “numerous fake images and statements about Epstein and me have been calculating [sic] on social media for years now”.

It remains unclear what specific accusations prompted her remarks. Her senior adviser, Marc Beckman, told Reuters that she “spoke out now because enough is enough. The lies must stop.”

In an interview with the New York Times on Friday, the president said he hadn’t known what the first lady was planning to speak about in her statement, but said that she had wanted to address questions about her connections with Epstein. “I didn’t know what the statement was,” he said, adding “she had a right to talk about it”.

During her statement, the first lady also urged Congress to hold public hearings and take sworn testimony from survivors of Epstein’s crimes.

In their statement on Thursday evening, the group of Epstein survivors said the first lady “is now shifting the burden on to 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”.

“It also diverts attention from Pam Bondi, who must answer for withheld files and the exposure of survivors’ identities,” they said. “Those failures continue to put lives at risk while shielding enablers.

“Survivors have done their part,” the statement concluded. “Now it’s time for those in power to do theirs.”

Earlier this week, the Department of Justice said that Bondi, the former US attorney general, would not comply with a subpoena to appear next week for a scheduled deposition before the House oversight and government reform committee to answer questions about the justice department’s handling of the investigation into Epstein and its release of the Epstein files.

In a separate statement on Thursday, Maria and Annie Farmer, two survivors of Epstein’s abuse, said that “we can’t speak for other survivors, but what we want is accountability, transparency, and justice”.

“The federal government has long mismanaged the Epstein investigation by repeatedly ignoring survivors, violating their privacy, and refusing to release the remaining records held by the Department of Justice – including my complete FBI records from 1996,” they said. “If the federal government is truly committed to supporting survivors, it would ask us what we want and should follow the facts wherever they may lead.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment in response to the survivors’ statements.

Marina Lacerda, one of the survivors who signed Thursday’s group statement, also posted a video on social media, where she said: “We’re supposed to testify in front of Congress under oath? For what? Please tell us the reason why. Will it change anything? Will people be held accountable?

“We had the transparency act passed, we had the files dropped, we’ve got names in the files, nobody has done nothing,” she said. “But yet, you want to re-traumatize us and ask us to go in front of Congress to tell them our story, which we have told some of them already, so now you want us to tell them again … and then do absolutely nothing.”

Lisa Phillips, another Epstein survivor, also weighed in on the first lady’s remarks, and told Sky News on Thursday that she believed that the purpose of the remarks was the first lady “trying to let the public know that you’ve got it all wrong about me, separating myself from my husband”.

When asked about the proposal for congressional hearings, Phillips said she understood other survivors’ concerns, but added: “What I look at is the biggest picture. I would call her bluff and be like: ‘OK, show us what you can do. What’s next?’”

Asked if she would like the first lady to get in touch with her and her fellow survivors to find out their thoughts and feelings about what would be the next step “on the road for justice”, Phillips answered: “Yeah, wouldn’t that be the next step for her? Why would you make a statement like that and then not do anything?”

Phillips urged the first lady to “take the next step”, adding: “If you want to see justice or accountability, and so do all the survivors and the American people, what’s the next step there?”

In an interview on Fox News on Friday, James Comer, the Republican US representative who chairs the House oversight committee, said that he has “always planned on having hearings with the victims”, adding: “My attorneys on the oversight committee have been communicating on a constant basis for months with the attorneys representing Epstein victims. There are some victims who are willing to come in. Most victims aren’t and I completely understand that.”

“But we have always planned on having a hearing with Epstein victims, once the depositions have been completed,” he said.