{"id":59665,"date":"2026-04-10T02:35:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T22:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/?p=59665"},"modified":"2026-04-10T02:27:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T22:27:50","slug":"melania-trump-denies-epstein-ties-congress-survivors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/melania-trump-denies-epstein-ties-congress-survivors\/","title":{"rendered":"Melania Trump Denies Epstein Ties, Urges Congress to Hear Survivors"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"background: #f7fafc; padding: 15px;\">\n<p><strong>Quick Read<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>First Lady Melania Trump has issued a rare public statement denying any relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.<\/li>\n<li>She called on Congress to hold public hearings for Epstein survivors to testify under oath.<\/li>\n<li>Her statement comes amid the ongoing release of documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><b>WASHINGTON (Azat TV) \u2013<\/b> First Lady Melania Trump issued a rare and forceful public statement on Thursday, unequivocally denying any personal relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein or his associate Ghislaine Maxwell. The statement, delivered from the White House, also included a direct call to Congress to convene public hearings for Epstein survivors to share their testimony.<\/p>\n<h2>Melania Trump Addresses Epstein Allegations<\/h2>\n<p>In her statement, Melania Trump described the circulating stories linking her to Epstein as &#8220;completely false&#8221; and &#8220;smears.&#8221; She asserted that she had never had any knowledge of Epstein&#8217;s abuse and was not involved in any capacity. &#8220;The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today,&#8221; she stated. Her senior adviser, Marc Beckman, added that the first lady decided to speak out because \u201cenough is enough\u201d and \u201cthe lies must stop.\u201d The first lady noted that while she and Epstein moved in overlapping social circles in New York and Florida, she only &#8220;crossed paths&#8221; with him once in 2000 at an event she and President Donald Trump attended. She also specifically denied that Epstein introduced her to her husband, a claim that has appeared in some documents related to the Epstein investigation.<\/p>\n<h2>Call for Congressional Hearings for Survivors<\/h2>\n<p>Beyond her personal denials, Melania Trump urged lawmakers to provide a platform for survivors. &#8220;Each and every woman should have her day to tell her story in public if she wishes,&#8221; she said, advocating for sworn testimony before Congress. This call was echoed by Democrats, with Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, immediately urging Chairman James Comer to schedule a public hearing. The timing of the first lady&#8217;s statement comes as federal authorities continue to release documents related to Epstein under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a law enacted after significant public and political pressure. Lawmakers have expressed frustration over the pace and completeness of these releases.<\/p>\n<h2>Context of the Epstein Files and Past Denials<\/h2>\n<p>Melania Trump&#8217;s statement addresses rumors that have persisted for years, particularly amplified by the ongoing release of Epstein-related documents. She referred to a 2002 email to Ghislaine Maxwell, released as part of the Epstein files, as merely &#8220;casual correspondence&#8221; and a &#8220;polite reply,&#8221; downplaying its significance. The email, which appears to be addressed to Maxwell, compliments her appearance in a New York Magazine story featuring Epstein and discusses plans for Palm Beach. While Melania Trump denied any significant connection, the email exchange highlights social proximity. President Trump himself has also faced scrutiny over his past friendship with Epstein, though he has similarly denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of Epstein&#8217;s crimes. The first lady did not take questions from reporters following her statement.<\/p>\n<p><em>The first lady&#8217;s decision to issue a direct, on-camera denial, coupled with her call for congressional action, signifies a strategic effort to control the narrative surrounding her name amidst the ongoing Epstein document releases, potentially aiming to preempt further speculation and shift focus to legislative action for survivors.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>First Lady Melania Trump issued a rare public statement denying any relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and called for congressional hearings for survivors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":-1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAow5Nm1DA:productID":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3347,15016,15615,54740,5286],"class_list":["post-59665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-congress","tag-jeffrey-epstein","tag-melania-trump","tag-survivor-testimony","tag-white-house"],"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/melania-trump-white-house.jpg","_embedded":{"wp:featuredmedia":[{"id":-1,"source_url":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/melania-trump-white-house.jpg","media_type":"image","mime_type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59665"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59666,"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59665\/revisions\/59666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}