Donald Trump's wife Melania denied ever having been friends with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
https://p.dw.com/p/5BwX3President Donald Trump's wife, Melania, made a rare White House address in which she slammed what she described as 'lies' linking her to late sex offender Jeffrey EpsteinImage: Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo/dpa/picture allianceAdvertisementThe United States' first lady, Melania Trump, on Thursday denied having ever maintained a friendship with deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
"The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today," she read from a prepared statement in an address from the White House.
"The individuals lying about me are devoid of ethical standards, humility and respect. I do not object to their ignorance, but rather I reject their mean-spirited attempts to defame my reputation." she said.
Donald Trump has said that his association with Epstein ended in the mid-2000s and he was not aware of any wrongdoing.
Epstein was convicted of soliciting sex from a minor in 2008 and died in prison in 2019 while awaiting sex trafficking charges in what was ruled a suicide.
Melania Trump said that she only came into contact with Epstein from having overlapping social circles.
"I have never been friends with Epstein. Donald and I were invited to the same parties as Epstein from time to time, since overlapping in social circles is common in New York City," she said.
She also denied having had any relationship with Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.
"To be clear, I never had a relationship with Epstein or his accomplice, Maxwell."
Melania Trump said that she met her husband before coming into contact with Epstein.
"I am not Epstein’s victim. Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump. I met my husband, by chance, at a New York City party in 1998," she said.
Arrests and resignations: Fallout from the Epstein filesTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
The late financier's ties to prominent figures has caused increased fallout in the United States and other countries such as Norway and the United Kingdom over the past year after new details about his dealings came to light in documents released in November and January.
On April 1, Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi after she faced criticism over her handling of the documents, which have come to be known as the "Epstein files."
In March, former President Bill Clinton denied any knowledge of Epstein's sex crimes in comments made to a committee in Congress.
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