WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Melania Trump is denying ties to Jeffrey Epstein and knowledge of his crimes, saying Thursday that the “stories are completely false” and calling online accusations that she was somehow involved with the millionaire financier’s sexual abuse of young girls and his interactions with rich and powerful people “smears about me.”
“The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today," Trump said. “The individuals lying about me are devoid of ethical standards, humility and respect. I do not object to their ignorance, but rather I reject their mean-spirited attempts to defame my reputation.”
Reading an extraordinary statement at the White House, Trump denied any association with Epstein and said, “My attorneys and I have fought these unfounded and baseless lies with success.”
The first lady also called on Congress to hold a public hearing centered on survivors of Epstein’s crimes, with a chance to testify before lawmakers and have their stories entered into the congressional record.
“Each and every woman should have her day to tell her story in public if she wishes,” she said. “Then, and only then, we will have the truth.”
Her out-of-the-blue message caught the White House — and indeed, all of Washington's political world — by surprise. It came just as her husband, President Donald Trump, and his administration had finally appeared successful in moving beyond the Epstein controversy, which had dominated the spotlight for weeks.
Epstein, the case against him and the release of files associated with it had begun to be overshadowed by the war in Iran and other major issues — at least until the first lady's comments.
Trump said she was not friends with Epstein or his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, but was in overlapping social circles in New York and Florida. She described an email reply she sent to Maxwell as “casual correspondence” without elaborating.
“My polite reply to her email doesn’t amount to anything more than a trifle,” she said.
Her calls for the issue to go back to Congress were also surprising given that they came after federal authorities released millions of pages of documents under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the law enacted after months of public and political pressure that requires the government to open its files on the late financier and his confidant and onetime girlfriend, Maxwell.
Lawmakers complained when the Justice Department made only a limited release last month, but officials said more time was needed to review additional documents that were discovered and to ensure no sensitive information about victims was released.
Among the documents released by the Justice Department was a brief email from 2002 with the sender and recipient blacked out. It begins, “Dear G!” and ends “Love, Melania,” and compliments the recipient on a magazine article about “JE.”
“I know you are very busy flying all over the world,” it says. “How was Palm Beach? I cannot wait to go down. Give me a call when you are back in NY.”
The first lady mentioned her husband several times in her statement. She said Epstein did not introduce her to Trump, clarifying that she met her husband at a New York City party in 1998.
“The first time I crossed paths with Epstein was in the year 2000, at an event Donald and I attended together,” she said. “At the time, I had never met Epstein and had no knowledge of his criminal undertakings.”
Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee that is investigating Epstein, said on social media that he agreed with the first lady’s calls for a congressional hearing. He called on the Republican chair of the committee, Rep. James Comer, to schedule a public hearing “immediately.”
