US first lady Melania Trump denied having any relationship with disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in an unusual speech from the White House.
In a short speech Thursday, first lady Melania Trump addressed years of speculation about her relationship with Epstein and called on Congress to hold hearings for Epstein’s survivors.
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She insisted she was not a “victim” of Epstein, who died in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was later determined to be a suicide.
The first lady also denied being friends with Epstein’s girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of child sex trafficking in 2021 after 2002 emails resurfaced.
“To be clear, I have no relationship whatsoever with Epstein or his accomplice Maxwell. My email responses to Maxwell cannot be classified as anything more than simple correspondence,” she said.
The email, partially redacted, was released by the Justice Department this year along with millions of other files related to the agency’s investigation into Epstein.
The release was forced by a law passed by Congress last November amid continued speculation about Epstein’s influential social circles, including President Donald Trump.
President Trump has admitted to having been friends with Epstein in the past, but denies any knowledge or involvement in his criminal activities. His name appears thousands of times in published documents.
In a statement Thursday, the first lady focused on reports and rumors that she met Trump on Epstein’s private plane in 2000.
That included a report by The Daily Beast that cited interviews with former Epstein assistants and the FBI that were released as part of the Epstein files.
First lady Melania Trump said she met Mr. Trump at a party in 1998, two years before meeting Mr. Epstein at an event with Mr. Trump.
“My name has never appeared in any court documents, depositions, victim statements or FBI interviews surrounding the Epstein matter,” she said.
“I had no knowledge of Epstein’s abuse of his victims. I was never involved in any capacity. I was not a participant. I never flew on Epstein’s plane or visited his private island.”
The first lady added that she and her lawyers “have successfully fought these baseless lies.”
Democratic political strategist James Carville and publisher HarperCollins UK apologized last year for comments about Melania Trump’s relationship with Epstein.
Author Michael Wolff sued the first lady last year, saying he was at risk of legal action over her work related to her relationship with Epstein.
timing is unclear
It was not immediately clear why first lady Melania Trump chose to make an unusual public statement Thursday.
Some lawmakers have repeatedly accused the Justice Department of not releasing all of Epstein’s files, but public attention has been largely distracted by the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran. Still, members of Congress continue to investigate Epstein’s crimes.
Last week, President Trump abruptly fired Attorney General Pam Bondi, in what some saw as an effort to move past the scandal.
First lady Melania Trump did not point to any inciting events that motivated her remarks, saying only that “the lies linking me to the disgraced Jeffrey Epstein must end today.”
After speaking, Melania joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers calling for Congressional hearings for Epstein’s survivors. The US House and Senate are still controlled by President Trump’s Republicans.
To date, no one other than Epstein and Maxwell has been indicted in the United States for crimes related to the sex trafficking ring they led.
“I call on Congress to provide survivor-centered hearings specifically for the women affected by Epstein. Give these victims the opportunity to testify under oath before Congress using their sworn testimony privileges,” Melania said.
“Every woman should be given the day to tell her story in public if she wishes, and her testimony should be permanently recorded in the Congressional Record. Only then will we know the truth.”
