First Lady Melania Trump has threatened to sue Hunter Biden for more than $1 billion after he claimed she was introduced to her husband by sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. His claim was deemed “false, disparaging, defamatory, and inflammatory” by lawyers representing the first lady, who married President Donald Trump in 2005. Biden, the son of former US President Joe Biden, made the statements during an interview this month. On Thursday, he supported them and appeared unwilling to back down in the face of the legal threat. Donald Trump was Epstein’s friend, but the two fell out in the early 2000s after the financier snatched employees from Trump’s Florida golf club’s spa.
A letter from the first lady’s lawyers issued to Hunter Biden’s attorney asks that he renounce the claim and apologise, or face legal action for “over $1 billion in damages.” According to the report, the first lady has suffered “overwhelming financial and reputational harm” as a result of his repeated claim. It also accuses the youngest Biden son of having a “vast history of trading on the names of others” and repeating the claim “to draw attention to yourself”. During a wide-ranging interview with filmmaker Andrew Callaghan published earlier this month, Hunter Biden stated that unpublished Epstein documents will “implicate” President Trump.
He elaborated: “Epstein introduced Melania to Trump – the connections are so wide and deep.” The first lady’s court letter states that the accusation was partially ascribed to Michael Wolff, a writer who wrote a negative biography of the president. Wolff stated in a recent interview with the Daily Beast that the first lady knew an Epstein and Trump acquaintance when she met her now-husband. The outlet then removed the story after receiving a letter from the first lady’s attorney challenging its content and framing. Biden declared “not going to happen” when asked if he would apologise during an interview with Andrew Callaghan on the YouTube show Channel 5.
Biden stated in an interview published on Thursday that he does not believe “these threats of a lawsuit add up to anything other than a designed distraction”. However, he stated that if the lawsuit was filed, he would be able to obtain testimony from both Trumps through depositions and was “more than happy to provide them the platform.” There is no indication that the Trumps were introduced by Epstein, who committed suicide in prison while awaiting trial in 2019. Hunter Biden is accused of relying on a since-removed article as the basis of his assertions, which the first lady described as “false and defamatory” in her court letter.
The archived version of the Daily Beast web story includes a response from First Lady Melania Trump’s attorney disputing the article’s headline and framing. After examining the situation, the Beast removed the story and apologised for any confusion or misunderstanding.” When asked about the legal threat, the first lady’s lawyer, Alejandro Brito, cited a statement released by her aide, Nick Clemens. The message said: “First Lady Melania Trump’s attorneys are actively ensuring immediate retractions and apologies by those who spread malicious, defamatory falsehoods.”
According to a Harper’s Bazaar profile published in January 2016, the first lady met her husband in November 1998 at a party held by the founder of a modelling agency. Melania Trump, 55, told the publication that she refused to give him her phone number because he was “with a date”. According to the profile, Trump recently separated from his second wife, Marla Maples, whom he divorced in 1999. He was previously married to Ivana Trump from 1977 to 1990. The BBC has contacted Hunter Biden’s lawyer. The legal letter comes after weeks of pressure on the White House to reveal the so-called Epstein papers, which are previously unpublished records related to the criminal investigation into the convicted paedophile.
Before being re-elected, Trump promised to reveal the information if he returned to office, but the FBI and Justice Department claimed in July that there was no “incriminating” client list of Epstein connections.
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