A recent statement given by Melania Trump on her connection with Jeffrey Epstein may have just doomed Donald Trump, a political analyst claimed.
The First Lady issued comment on her ties with child abuser Epstein and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell. "To be clear, I never had a relationship with Epstein or his accomplice, [Ghislaine] Maxwell,” Mrs. Trump said.
An email dated to 2002 from a sender identified as "Melania" to a "G. Max" has been shared as part of the Department of Justice's publishing of the Epstein files. Melania's statement has seemingly shocked White House insiders, who were not expecting the topic to be brought up by the First Lady.
It has led to an awkward moment that could sink Trump's presidency, according to The Bulwark's William Kristol. Left unsaid, but not unimplied, was that none of these claims could be made about her husband," he wrote. "He was a pal of Epstein’s.
"He was on Epstein’s plane. His relationship with Epstein, as exemplified for example in his contribution to Epstein’s birthday book, was more than 'casual' or 'trivial'."
"So the Epstein investigation is not, as her husband has asserted, a 'hoax.' Nor is it yet time, as her husband has said, to move on. The truth hasn’t yet been uncovered, and we need to uncover it. And if doing so leads more 'prominent male executives' to resign, so be it. One wonders: Could Melania have one prominent male chief executive in mind?"
Kristol also noted Melania had, while denying her involvement with Epstein's illegal activities, did not speak of Donald Trump's potential engagement with Epstein.
"Melania chose not to include in her statement any assertion of her husband’s innocence of complicity in the Epstein affair," he wrote. "Melania is perhaps not a deep thinker, but she’s no fool.
"Since immigrating to the United States three decades ago, Melania Knauss has done well for herself. She’s shown that she has a shrewd sense of how to operate in her adopted country. She’s risen to the top, while mostly avoiding being directly engulfed in all the scandals that have raged around her."
"And now she seems to think that the man to whom she hitched herself may be going down. She’s trying to arrange not to go down with him."
Materials from the Department of Justice have been released, including emails that feature correspondence between child abuser Epstein and Trump.
Trump is mentioned thousands of times in the files released by the Justice Department, including in emails and correspondence sent by Jeffrey Epstein himself to others.
Due to the sheer volume of Epstein-related materials released by the DOJ, many of the documents contain unverified, uncorroborated allegations that do not constitute evidence and do not establish wrongdoing.