WASHINGTON — First lady Melania Trump, in a stunning public announcement on Thursday, denounced “lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein” and called on Congress to hold a public hearing for his victims.
“I am not Epstein’s victim,” the first lady said in a brief statement at the White House.
It’s unclear why the first lady chose to hold the press event at a time when the White House is trying to move on from the Epstein saga that has been a drag on her husband’s second term.
President Trump has tried to distance himself from the case, accusing Democrats of digging up his old friendship with Epstein to hurt him politically.
The president and Epstein were friends until the mid-2000s. And the commander-in-chief has always denied he knew anything about Epstein’s sex crimes.
The first lady’s office pointed to her statement when asked why the announcement was today — as speculation swirled online that she was getting ahead of a looming news story. She declined to answer questions from reporters, including whether she will meet with the Epstein victims.
“First Lady Melania Trump spoke out now because enough is enough,” said her senior adviser Marc Beckman. “The lies must stop. It is time for the public and media to focus on her incredible achievements as First Lady, the lives she has positively impacted, and her commitment to our nation.”
Melania Trump was a model and was dating Trump during his friendship with Epstein, then a wealthy financier.
In her statement, she pushed back against claims from author Michael Wolff that the notorious pedophile introduced her to the future president.
“Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump,” she said.
In her memoir, Trump said the first couple met at a fashion party in the 1990s and were introduced by a mutual friend who was at the event.
She also criticized what she said were fake images and bogus stories swirling online.
“I have never had any knowledge of Epstein’s abuse of his victims, I was never involved in any capacity. I was not a participant, was never on Epstein’s plane, and never visited his private island,” she said.
There is ongoing court litigation.
Wolff countersued the first lady after she threatened a $1 billion lawsuit against him for his reporting on her and Epstein.
He was pushing to depose Melania in court. But the first lady has been just as aggressive in her legal fights, winning retractions and apologies from the Daily Beast and James Carville, who reported on her and Epstein.
Melania was pictured with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at several events together in the 1990s and early 2000s — including a party at Mar-a-Lago where Prince Andrew attended — as they were part of the same social scene.
“Donald and I were invited to the same parties as Epstein from time to time, since we were in overlapping in social circles in New York City and in Palm Beach. To be clear, I never had a relationship with Epstein or his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell,” she said.
Maxwell is the only person convicted in the Epstein case. She has denied charges that she helped recruit young women for his sex trafficking case.
But the Justice Department files released in January revealed correspondence between the two women, which the first lady characterized as “polite” and “trivial.”
She described her 2002 email with Ghislaine Maxwell as a “polite reply” and a “trivial note” — denying they were friends while admitting the correspondence was authentic.
“My email reply to Maxwell cannot be categorized as anything more than casual correspondence. My polite reply to her email doesn’t amount to anything more than a trivial note,” she said.
The email in question read: “Dear GI How are you? Nice story about JE in NY mag. You look great on the picture,” she wrote. “I know you are very busy flying all over the world. How was Palm Beach? I cannot wait to go down. Give me a call when you are back in NY. Have a great time! Love, Melania.”
Maxwell responded, calling Melania “sweet pea.
The first lady ended Thursday’s statement by boldly calling on Congress to hold public hearings featuring Epstein’s victims — brushing aside the concerns of some of her husband’s allies about the distracting force of the scandal surrounding the late sex trafficker.
“I call on Congress to provide the women who have been victimized by Epstein with a public hearing specifically centered around the survivors,” she said.
“Give these victims their opportunity to testify under oath in front of Congress with the power of sworn testimony. Each and every woman should have her day to tell her story in public if she wishes. And then her testimony should be permanently entered into the Congressional Record. Then, and only then we will have the truth.”
Congress last year passed legislation mandating the release of FBI files pertaining to Epstein, after President Trump called the push part of a Democratic “hoax” to smear him.
