Melania Trump stages bizarre announcement denying links to Jeffrey Epstein despite evidence

[0:00] But I just have to start with something absolutely mind-blowingly bananas that happened today. [0:06] I mean, you probably didn't know that Melania Trump was scheduled to deliver a rare public [0:11] statement today. But even if you did know, you probably didn't guess she was going to [0:16] single-handedly reignite the whole Epstein scandal in the process. And when she reached [0:23] the podium today, in a very self-important way, she cut right to the chase. [0:28] Good afternoon. The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today. [0:41] Well, good afternoon to you, Melania Trump. I mean, I was watching that in my office. First [0:47] of all, it popped up on the screen. I was like, what is happening here? And I was thinking, [0:52] am I hallucinating? What the hell is going on? Whose idea was this? I had lots of questions. [0:59] I mean, I guess one possibility is that it's a sign the war really is going that badly. [1:04] Certainly going to talk to John Kerry about that. Another is that they are trying to get [1:08] ahead of a story that a reporter is working on. I guess we'll learn if that's the case [1:12] soon enough. Who knows? Now, during her remarks, the First Lady went on to denounce what she [1:18] described as false smears against her, citing numerous fake images and statements on social [1:23] media and saying she said that she wanted to clear her good name. From what exactly? Because [1:31] again, the unavoidable question on everyone's mind was, why now? Why at all? Why ever? I mean, [1:38] most people hearing her remarks probably had never even heard any of the so-called lies she was [1:43] responding to. According to MSNOW, lots of White House staffers were caught off guard. And Trump [1:48] himself claimed, claimed he knew nothing about her statement, though that seems a little hard to [1:54] believe, especially when you consider that Melania's own spokesperson told the New York Times that the [2:00] president knew beforehand that she was going to make a statement. But I mean, regardless of who knew what [2:05] and when they knew it inside the White House, nobody on the outside was betting that the First Lady [2:09] would give a surprise speech on Jeffrey Epstein. And when I say nobody was betting on, I mean, [2:15] literally, literally nobody. Because ahead of the speech, the prediction market, Kalshi, took [2:21] wagers on what Melania would say during her remarks. Now, the anticipated topics range from education to [2:27] peace and security to AI. They must have seen the robot. Who knows? But nobody put their money on a [2:34] random denial of her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. The few lucky gamblers did manage to make a few [2:40] bucks betting that she would mention children or minors. So I guess there's that. The whole thing was [2:46] even more bizarre, given that the First Lady seemed to formally stage her remarks to match the visuals [2:54] of the president's primetime address to the nation on Iran last week. And having worked in multiple [3:01] White Houses and been a part of preparing for many of these formal speeches, I can tell you where you [3:07] give a speech is basically a signal of how important you think it is. And let me just tell you, [3:13] Melania was exuding self-importance this afternoon. So now that Melania Trump has put Epstein back in [3:21] the news, congratulations, Melania. Let's just take a look at how she described their relationship. [3:28] I never had a relationship with Epstein or his accomplice, Maxwell. [3:36] Well, a relationship can be a flexible term, I suppose. But we do know, of course, [3:41] that Melania Trump has been photographed with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell over a number of [3:45] years. I mean, there's the picture of Melania with her future husband and the two of them at a [3:49] February 2000 party. And another of her with her husband and Ghislaine at a fashion show in September [3:55] of that year. You can see it right there on the screen. And the Epstein files include an email dated [3:59] October 23rd, 2002, addressed to G. You can also see that email. The sender asked, how is Palm Beach? [4:06] I cannot wait to go down. Give me a call when you're back in New York. Have a great time. [4:10] And ends, love Melania. Well, here's how Melania Trump described that email today. [4:19] My email reply to Maxwell cannot be catarized as anything more than casual correspondence. [4:30] Casual correspondence, I suppose, maybe. Although in her response to Melania, Ghislaine addresses her as, [4:37] quote, sweet pea, an apparent nickname that seems a little more intimate than the casual [4:42] correspondence the first lady described. And to be clear, Melania's initial email to Maxwell doesn't [4:47] seem to be a reply at all, which is how she described it today. It looks like she initiated [4:52] that outreach herself. And just about two and a half weeks after that exchange, Melania and Maxwell [4:57] appeared to have connected again at an event in New York, according to this photograph of them, [5:02] accompanied by Donald Trump and supermodel Naomi Campbell. So definitely looks like the two had [5:08] something of a relationship. The files also offer another detail relating to some other things that [5:14] the first lady said earlier today. Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump. My name has never [5:22] appeared in court documents, the positions, victim statements, or FBI in interviews surrounding [5:31] the Epstein matter. It appears that second part about Melania's name is decidedly not true. In fact, [5:40] Melania's name does appear in at least one FBI interview with an unidentified witness, a witness [5:45] who told the agents that, quote, Epstein introduced Melania Trump to Donald Trump. Of course, we don't [5:51] know if or how that witness would know that, but it would appear to contradict what Melania and her [5:56] former modeling agent have been saying about how she and Trump met for years. So the first lady talked [6:02] a lot about herself. And in her own la-la land, she also tried to present herself, the spouse of the [6:09] man withholding the Epstein files, as some sort of a defender of survivors. [6:14] Now is the time for Congress to act. Epstein was not alone. I call on Congress to provide the women [6:25] who have been victimized by Epstein with a public hearing specifically centered around the survivors. [6:33] Okay. First of all, I don't know if she's been living under a rock, but Democrats have tried to [6:50] hold hearings. They have brought survivors to Congress to speak and tell their stories at [6:54] high-profile events. But there have been no hearings because Republicans have not let that happen. [6:59] And there's no way Melania's own husband has wanted them to happen either. After all, [7:04] his Justice Department spent months defying a congressional subpoena for the Epstein files. [7:09] So given all of that, it's not surprising that Melania Trump's bizarre self-involved public [7:13] statement also did not sit well with survivors. I mean, in response to the first lady's remarks, [7:18] a group of 15 survivors and family members of victims said in a statement, [7:22] First Lady Melania Trump is now shifting the burden onto survivors under politicized conditions [7:27] that protect those with power. The statement calls out the Justice Department, law enforcement, [7:32] prosecutors, and the Trump administration, which is still not fully complied with the Epstein files [7:37] transparency act. And they add that it also diverts attention from Pam Bondi, who must answer for [7:42] withheld files and the exposure of survivors identities. And they issued a call to action saying [7:48] survivors have done their part. Now it's time for those in power to do theirs. Maybe the first lady can [7:55] just saunter over, cross the hallway in the residence and ask her own husband to release the remaining [8:01] Epstein files. That would be far more powerful than her performance this morning.