Melania Trump delivers statement at the White House denying knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes
WASHINGTON (AP) — First Lady Melania Trump He denies his ties jeffrey epstein He opened up about his sex crimes on Thursday, saying “the stories are completely false” and calling accusations that he was somehow involved “a smear against me.”
Reading an extraordinary statement at the White House, Melania Trump said she and her lawyers were fighting “baseless and baseless lies” about her connections to the late financier, a convicted sex offender who used his connections with the rich, powerful and famous to recruit his victims and cover up his crimes.
“The lies that tie me to the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein must end today,” he said. “People who lie about me lack ethical standards, humility and respect. I do not object to their ignorance, but rather reject their malicious attempts to tarnish my reputation.”
The sudden message came to her husband, the President. Donald Trumpand his administration appeared to finally put more than a year of controversy surrounding Epstein behind them, especially as the Iran war became all-consuming in Washington.
The First Lady’s comments will almost certainly bring the story back into the political spotlight, even as the president urges the public and the media to withdraw from the case.
Nick Clemens, a spokesman for the first lady, said the West Wing was aware in advance that she had made a statement. But he left it to the West Wing to decide whether the content of what Melania Trump planned to say was known. The White House press office did not respond to requests for comment.
Call for congressional hearings for Epstein victims
The First Lady spoke for about 5 minutes and walked away without taking questions after reading her statement in the Grand Foyer. He did not go into detail about the accusations against him, but said they came from “individuals and organizations that want to damage my good name.”
He added that they acted with financial and political motivation.
Melania Trump also called on Congress to hold a public hearing on survivors of Epstein’s crimes, with a chance to testify before lawmakers and have their stories entered into the congressional record.
“Every woman should have a day when she can tell her story publicly, if she so chooses,” she said. “Then and only then will we have the truth.”
Two of Epstein’s accusers, Maria and Annie Farmer, later said in a statement: “What we want is accountability, transparency and justice.”
Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican and onetime fierce supporter of Trump who resigned from Congress after a public falling out with the president, shared on X: “I am grateful to the First Lady for the bold statement she made today about Epstein and his victims.”
Democrats, meanwhile, jumped on Melania Trump’s comments and said they agreed with her call for a congressional hearing. Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee investigating Epstein, called on the committee’s Republican chairman, Rep. James Comer, to schedule a public hearing “immediately” in a social media post.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who sponsored a bill encouraging the release of millions of Epstein documents, turned the spotlight back on the Justice Department, saying it was the attorney general’s job to bring in survivors for testimony. Massie, who has been pushing for more arrests in the Epstein case, wrote the social media post “Prosecute!” He concluded with his call.
Questions about Epstein’s access loomed over the administration and divided Republicans; It’s a blow to Trump’s MAGA base as some pressure the government to release more dossiers and prosecute people linked to the financier.
The issue has dogged Trump and broken some of his alliances, including his one with Greene. Trump called the issue a “hoax for Democrats” but later signed a bill calling for the release of files from Epstein’s case.
It was unclear what prompted the first lady to bring up the issue again. He noted that many people and organizations have had to apologize for their “lies about me.” The most recent example he gave occurred in October.
In this case the book publisher HarperCollins UK He apologized to the First Lady and retracted passages from a book that suggested Epstein played a role in promoting her and Donald Trump.
Melania Trump mentioned her husband several times in her comments. She said Epstein did not introduce her to Trump and that she met her future husband at a party in New York in 1998.
Email sent to Maxwell was ‘junk’
The first lady brought Epstein back to the spotlight months after federal authorities released millions of pages of documents. Epstein Files Transparency Actlaw passed after Months of public and political pressure which requires the government to do this open your files about the late financier and his confidant and one-time girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Lawmakers complained that the Justice Department made only a limited disclosure last month, but officials said more time was needed to review additional documents discovered and ensure no sensitive information about victims was released.
Melania Trump said Thursday that she was not friends with Epstein or Maxwell but that they were in overlapping social circles in New York and Florida. He described an email response to Maxwell as “casual correspondence” without going into much detail.
“My polite response to his email amounted to nothing more than a minor note,” he said.
Among the documents released by the Department of Justice was a short email from 2002 in which sender and recipient information was hidden. “Dear G!” It begins: and ends “Love, Melania” and compliments the recipient on a magazine article about “JE.”
“I know you’re very busy flying all over the world,” he says. “How was Palm Beach? I can’t wait to go down. Call me when you get back to New York.”
The email was sent the same month that New York Magazine published an article in which Trump called Epstein “an amazing guy.”
Other documents released included an image from Epstein’s home showing a series of photographs throughout the closet and in drawers. In that image, there was a photo of Trump with Epstein, Melania Trump and Maxwell in a drawer among other photos.
epstein he killed himself While awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in New York in 2019. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of enticing young girls to be sexually abused by Epstein and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
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Associated Press writers Stephen Groves in Washington and Michael R. Sisak and Larry Neumeister in New York contributed to this report.
