Jeffrey Epstein survivor Sharlene Rochard had an emotional and quietly intense moment on air when she stopped cold for several seconds after MS NOW host Jen Psaki asked whether President Donald Trump knew what was happening at Mar-a-Lago while Epstein brought girls there.
Rochard appeared Tuesday on The Briefing with Jen Psaki, speaking publicly for the first time. She sat alongside family members of the late Virginia Giuffre, sharing parts of her story but choosing her words very carefully.
Psaki began asking about Rochard’s connections to Mar-a-Lago, and Rochard confirmed she had gone there as a teenager. Psaki pressed gently, asking how she ended up there and whether Epstein or someone working for him had sent her.
Rochard explained that the mansion was just one of the places where model parties were held at the time. “Different people would set them up, different magazines, and the limo would come, and you’d jump in the limo and you’d go,” she said. She added that it wasn’t Epstein personally directing her to go, but part of the broader social scene that young models were pushed into.
Psaki then shifted to what she called the unavoidable question. Since Trump owns Mar-a-Lago, she asked whether Rochard believed he was “aware of that arrangement.” Rochard fell silent for a long stretch. Psaki waited before asking again, carefully.
Rochard finally replied, “Um… I don’t know if he was aware. Actually, I can’t answer that. I’m sorry.” The pause made clear how much weight the question carried and how cautious she felt about addressing anything that could escalate into a legal risk.
Psaki reminded viewers that Rochard had been in her teens, emphasizing that the victims in Epstein’s orbit were not adults making free choices but vulnerable girls guided and manipulated by a predator. She then turned to an even more sensitive subject, asking whether Rochard had been trafficked to others.
Rochard hesitated and asked quietly, “What do I can I” before a family member beside her gently stepped in to reassure her. “You can say yes, but you don’t have to name names,” A. Roberts told her.
Psaki jumped in as well, reminding her, “You only share what you want to share. You don’t have to be sorry for anything.” She explained that people like Giuffre had helped the public understand how broad and interconnected Epstein’s network was and that the pressure to name names often terrifies survivors because of threats, legal consequences, and the danger of reopening trauma.
Rochard didn’t name any individuals but made clear her experience went far beyond Epstein. “Terrible things had happened to me during my time dealing with Jeffrey Epstein. I had encounters with people that I would rather not have,” she said. Psaki acknowledged she already knew why Rochard didn’t want to identify anyone publicly, saying survivors often fear litigation, intimidation, or even danger to their families.
The interview marked a rare moment where a survivor described the emotional tightrope she walks when recounting her past. Rochard’s long pause when Trump’s name surfaced showed the complicated reality facing survivors who are still trying to heal while navigating powerful figures, public scrutiny and a system that hasn’t always protected them.