First Lady Melania Trump has denied any connection to Jeffrey Epstein or knowledge of his abuse in a remarkable address from the White House.
The first lady condemned “unfounded and baseless lies” and “false smears” against her from “politically motivated individuals and entities” who have sought to “gain financially and climb politically.”
Such statements “must stop,” she said.
It was not immediately clear what prompted the first lady to deliver a rare address, but her five-minute public statement on Thursday follows growing bipartisan scrutiny into the notorious sex offender and his relationships to powerful and well-connected figures, including President Donald Trump.
The first lady’s remarks also follow the release of millions of documents stemming from federal investigations into Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for trafficking, while the Department of Justice and Trump administration officials endure parallel investigations from members of Congress into the government’s handling of the probes.
Under legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by Trump last November, the Justice Department was ordered to publicly release all files connected to investigations into Epstein by December 19. The Justice Department has since published millions of documents and images connected to the predator, despite missing deadlines for the full disclosure of all materials in the possession of federal law enforcement, which has developed into a political liability for the president and his allies.
The first lady said Thursday that she was never a victim of Epstein and denied knowledge of his abuse of young women and girls.
She said she “never had a relationship with Epstein or his accomplice Maxwell.”
“I have never been friends with Epstein. Donald and I were invited to the same parties as Epstein from time to time, since overlapping in social circles is common in New York City and Palm Beach,” she said.
“I am not a witness or a named witness in connection with any of Epstein’s crimes. My name has never appeared in court documents, depositions, victim statements or FBI interviews surrounding the Epstein matter,” she added.
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“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,” the first lady continued.
Epstein did not introduce her to her husband, the first lady said. That meeting, which she said was chronicled in her book, was in 1998 at the Kit Kat Club while she was a model who had been discovered by Paolo Zampolli, who then introduced her to Trump. Zampolli’s connections to New York’s modeling scene put him in close connection with Epstein, and Zampolli’s name appears several times in the massive tranche of documents released by the the Justice Department.
Melania Trump said she has “never been legally accused or convicted of a crime in connection with Epstein’s sex trafficking, abuse of minors and other repulsive behavior.”
But attributed “false smears” about her to “mean-spirited and politically motivated individuals and entities looking to cause damage to my good name to gain financially and climb politically must stop.”
“My attorneys and I have fought these unfounded and baseless lies with success and will continue to maintain my sound reputation without hesitation,” she added.
She specifically named The Daily Beast, political strategist and commentator James Carville and the publisher Harper Collins UK, from which she had previously received retractions and apologies.
The president’s name appears thousands of times in the so-called Epstein files. The president socialized with Epstein throughout the 1990s and 2000s, and Epstein once described himself as the president’s “closest friend.” Being named in the files is not evidence of wrongdoing.
Documents also show the first lady emailing Maxwell in 2002 in a message signed “Love, Melania.”
Her message “cannot be categorized as anything more than casual correspondence,” according to the first lady.
“The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today,” she said.
“Now is the time for Congress to act. Epstein was not alone,” she said. “I call on Congress to provide the women who have been victimized by Epstein with a public hearing. ... 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.”
Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee investigating the government’s handling of Epstein cases, urged Republican chair James Comer to “schedule a public hearing immediately.”
“Now is the time for Congress to act,” added Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, another committee member.
“Epstein was not alone,” she said. “Several prominent male executives resigned from their powerful positions after this matter became widely politicized. Of course, this doesn’t amount to guilt, but we still must work openly and transparently to uncover the truth.”
But the first lady’s remarks appeared to catch survivors off guard. Survivors and their advocates were not aware she had planned to address them.
“We can’t speak for other survivors, but what we want is accountability, transparency and justice,” Maria and Annie Farmer said in a statement.
“If the federal government is truly committed to supporting survivors, it would ask us what we want and should follow the facts wherever they may lead,” they said.
The president has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and insists he cut ties with Epstein years before the wealthy pedophile — who died by suicide in a New York City jail cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges — was under investigation.
Trump has characterized efforts to release the full files as a “hoax” perpetuated by Democratic officials to distract from his agenda, and Trump has sued The Wall Street Journal over the publication of an alleged letter to Epstein, a story he labeled “false, malicious and defamatory.”
Neither Trump nor the first lady have been accused of criminal wrongdoing, and one’s appearance in the Epstein files does not suggest otherwise.
The first lady’s statement also follows the departure of now-former Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was fired by the president weeks after her combative testimony in defense of the federal government’s handling of the Epstein files and lack of prosecutions against his co-conspirators.
A much-anticipated release of Epstein documents handed out to far-right influencers at the White House last year contained mostly public information, and by the summer, the Justice Department and FBI declared there was “no basis” to release any more Epstein-related documents, sparking allegations of a government-wide cover up to protect powerful public figures who exploited and abused young girls.
On Wednesday, the Justice Department — now under the direction of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche — stated that Bondi will not comply with a subpoena for her testimony about Epstein to the House Oversight Committee now that she is no longer working for the administration.
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