First lady Melania Trump denied that she had close ties with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in a surprise public statement Thursday, calling suggestions to the contrary “lies.”
“I have never been friends with Jeffrey Epstein,” she said to reporters gathered at the White House. She also denied any friendly relations with Epstein’s co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell. She said she had “casual” email correspondence with Maxwell and suggested any association was a result of their inhabiting the same New York social scene.
The first lady said she has “never had any knowledge of Epstein abuse of his victims.” She observed the existence of what she called “fake” images and statements on social media about alleged links with the sex offender. It was not immediately clear what images or statements she meant.
The first lady did not respond to shouted questions from reporters about why she chose to discuss these matters at this moment in time.
She also noted that she and President Donald Trump met “by chance” and said that Epstein did not introduce them.
Melania Trump then called on Congress to hold a “public hearing specifically centered around the survivors” where they would be allowed to testify.
“Give these victims the opportunity to testify under oath in front of Congress with the power of sworn testimony, each and every woman should have a 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, you will have the truth.”
