United States First Lady Melania Trump has denied any connection to disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in a rare speech delivered from the White House.During the brief address on Thursday, Melania referenced years-long speculation over her connection with Epstein, as she called for Congress to hold a hearing for Epstein survivors.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listShe maintained that she was not a “victim” of Epstein, who died in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was later ruled a suicide.The first lady also denied having a friendship with Epstein’s girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of child sex trafficking in 2021, after a 2002 email between the pair resurfaced.“To be clear, I never had a relationship with Epstein or his accomplice, Maxwell. My email reply to Maxwell cannot be categorised as anything more than casual correspondence,” she said.That email, which was partially redacted, was released this year by the Department of Justice alongside millions of files related to the agency’s investigation into Epstein.The release was compelled by a law passed by Congress last November, amid ongoing speculation about Epstein’s influential social circle, which included President Donald Trump.President Trump has acknowledged a past friendship with Epstein but has denied any knowledge or involvement in criminal activity. His name appears thousands of times in the released documents.During Thursday’s statement, the first lady focused heavily on reports and rumours that she had met Trump on Epstein’s private plane in 2000. Adver …
