WASHINGTON: First lady Melania Trump on Thursday denied having any relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and said she was not one of his victims, putting the Epstein affair back in the spotlight after her husband sought to put it behind him.
She denied online speculation that the disgraced financier and sex offender introduced her to Donald Trump, saying she met her husband at a party in New York in 1998, two years before crossing paths with Epstein at another event she attended with Trump.
She also urged Congress to hold public hearings for Epstein’s victims to tell their stories under oath, raising the prospect of increased public attention on an issue the president wants to leave aside.
“The lies that link me to the shameful Jeffrey Epstein must stop today,” said Melania Trump, reading a statement and refusing to answer questions from journalists.
“I am not Epstein’s victim,” she said, in response to what she considers to be false smears against him.
His extraordinary speech, delivered under the presidential seal in the White House lobby, renewed scrutiny of the Epstein affair that has roiled Donald Trump’s presidency as even some supporters say his administration mishandled disclosures of government records.
Last week, the president fired Attorney General Pam Bondi, who had angered Trump loyalists over the Justice Department’s slow release of millions of records linked to Epstein.
Trump, a former friend of Epstein’s who said he severed ties with the financier in the early 2000s, is among many famous people – celebrities, politicians and intellectuals – named in government filings.
Melania Trump did not explain why she chose to speak out Thursday, resurrecting an issue that had largely escaped headlines amid the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
But Marc Beckman, his senior adviser, said Reuters in a statement: “First Lady Melania Trump has spoken out now because enough is enough. The lies must stop.”
A spokesperson for the first lady said Trump aides were aware of her plans for Thursday’s statement.
“It took guts”
While first ladies have sometimes addressed the nation on political issues, Melania Trump’s statement was exceptional.
“A first lady in contemporary times has not publicly addressed the controversy in this way, and certainly never from the floor of the White House, so it took courage,” said Michael LaRosa, former press secretary to first lady Jill Biden.
“Melania is very intentional and thoughtful about the frequency of her appearances, and I think this event is going to speak so loudly that I don’t think she’ll need to talk about it again,” LaRosa added in an interview.
The first lady said she never had a relationship with Epstein or his convicted associate Ghislaine Maxwell, with whom she said she had only casual correspondence.
Melania Trump said she first “crossed paths” with Epstein in 2000 at an event she attended with Donald Trump, five years before they married.
“At the time, I had never met Epstein and had no knowledge of his criminal activities,” she said.
Epstein, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to two crimes in Florida, including procuring a minor for prostitution, was facing federal charges of sex trafficking of minors in 2019, when he died in prison in what was ruled a suicide.
“I was never friends with Epstein,” Melania Trump said. “Donald and I were invited to the same parties as Epstein from time to time, as overlap in social circles is common in New York and Palm Beach.”
The first lady avoided a question this year about Maxwell’s victims during an event with former Hamas captives in Gaza.
The president has been seeking to move beyond discussions of Epstein for months.
“I think it’s really time for the country to move on, now that nothing has been revealed about me,” Trump said in February.
Release of files
The Trump administration, under pressure from the president’s political base, ordered the U.S. Justice Department to release records related to criminal investigations against Epstein, in accordance with a transparency law passed by Congress.
The files include a 2002 email from Melania Trump to Maxwell about a New York Review article on Epstein.
“Great story about JE in NY magazine. You look great in the photo,” the email read. “Call me when you get back to New York.”
On Thursday, Melania Trump described her email to Maxwell as merely “casual correspondence” and “an insignificant note.”
A Reuters/Ipsos poll in January showed that only 21% of respondents approved of Trump’s handling of the Epstein files.
Another Reuters/Ipsos poll in February showed that three-quarters of Americans – including two-thirds of Republicans – believed the federal government was hiding information about Epstein’s alleged clients.
A dozen Epstein survivors opposed Melania Trump’s proposal for public hearings, saying in a statement that they had already done enough to publicize Epstein’s crimes through testimonies and reports and that it was up to the U.S. Department of Justice to follow through. They also called on the Trump administration to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
