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Melania Trump blasts 'lies' linking her to Epstein and calls on Congress to hold hearing for victims
She rejected claims of an Epstein relationship and urged Congress to hear survivors under oath, after Justice Department files renewed scrutiny of the case.
- On Thursday, April 9, 2026, First Lady Melania Trump delivered a White House statement denying any friendship or relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, rejecting circulating claims as "lies."
- The unannounced address followed federal authorities releasing millions of pages of documents under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which included a 2002 email exchange with Maxwell that Trump dismissed as "casual correspondence."
- Trump denied that Epstein introduced her to President Donald Trump, stating she met her husband by chance at a New York City party in 1998 and only attended the same parties occasionally due to overlapping social circles.
- During her remarks, Trump called on Congress to hold public hearings for survivors to testify under oath, a request that Rep. Robert Garcia of the House Oversight Committee immediately supported.
- Garcia urged Chairman James Comer to schedule hearings immediately, creating pressure on the committee to secure survivors' accounts for the congressional record regarding the Epstein files.
641 Articles
641 Articles
The Oregonian
Melania Trump denied ties to Jeffrey Epstein. The question remains: Why now?
WASHINGTON — First lady Melania Trump’s seemingly out-of-the-blue statement Thursday denying affiliation with disgraced sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein left people still wondering Friday what prompted the public declaration at a time when the case had receded from the spotlight.
Melania Trump makes surprise Epstein statement
The US president reportedly did not know about the first lady's plan to speak about the convicted sex offender. US First Lady Melania Trump has made a surprise public statement about Jeffrey Epstein, denying that she had any meaningful relationship with the late financier and convicted sex offender, and insisting that he did not introduce her to Donald Trump. In remarks released by the White House on April 9, Melania said she had "never been fri…
Donald Trump actually wanted to pay as little attention as possible to the scandal surrounding Jeffrey Epstein. Now, his wife of all places the affair back into the media spotlight.
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