“I am not Epstein’s victim. Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump,” Melania Trump said.
She said “fake images and statements about Epstein and me” had been circulating on social media “for years now. Be cautious about what you believe: These images and stories are completely false.”
The first lady also urged Congress to hold a public hearing for survivors of Epstein’s abuse to “give these victims their opportunity to testify under oath.”
Epstein died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges involving minors, but the scandal has repeatedly overshadowed Trump’s second presidency.
‘Epstein’s abuse’
The US Justice Department has over the past year released huge tranches of files related to Epstein. Trump, 79, has also denied any link to Epstein’s crimes.
One widely-seen picture in the files showed Donald and Melania Trump at their Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida along with Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
“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,” Melania Trump said.
“I have never been legally accused or convinced of a crime in connection with Epstein sex trafficking, abuse of minors and other repulsive behaviour.”
Speculation ran riot on social media about why the US first lady had decided to put the Epstein scandal back in the headlines after weeks of relative quiet.
It comes just two days after her husband announced a ceasefire in the US-Israeli war on Iran, which critics say has left the crucial Strait of Hormuz still largely shuttered by Tehran.
But Melania Trump has long been an elusive and often mysterious presence at the White House, who only rarely gives public remarks of the kind she delivered on Thursday.
The last time she was seen with her husband was at an Easter Egg Roll with hundreds of children on Monday.
-Agence France-Presse
