Hi there, everyone. It's 4 o'clock in New York. It has been more than 40 days since we've led this broadcast with news about Donald Trump's ties to Jeffrey Epstein or, for that matter, the Trump administration's refusal to release the Epstein files with any alacrity or consideration for the victims of sexual abuse and child sex trafficking.

Melania Trump changed that today seemingly on purpose.

She summoned the White House press pool and at 2.30 p.m. today, she said this.

The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today.

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.

I 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 and Palm Beach. To be clear, I never had a relationship with Epstein or his accomplice, Maxwell.

My email reply to Maxwell cannot be catarized as anything more than casual correspondence.

My polite reply to her email doesn't amount to anything more than a tribal note.

I am not Epstein's victim.

Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump.

I met my husband by chance at the New York City Party in 1998.

To be clear, none of those things, nothing about Melania Trump, was the Epstein headline that was dogging Donald Trump in the days immediately leading up to the start of the war he began with

Iran. In those days, it was news of a woman who alleged sexual and physical assault by Donald Trump

when she was a child. That story was all over the news, including in right-wing outlets.

Importantly, it's a story that Donald Trump denies. But today, for reasons that aren't completely

clear, Melania Trump grabbed the Kleglites and thrust

them back not just to Donald Trump's ties to Jeffrey Epstein, but her own with this.

Be cautious about what you believe.

These images and stories are completely false.

I'm not a witness or a name witness in connection with any of Epstein's crimes.

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