First lady Melania Trump’s bombshell statement denying having a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is only the beginning of more fallout for the Trump administration, the Daily Beast’s executive editor predicted.
In a surprise address before reporters at the White House on Thursday, the first lady denied ever having a relationship with Epstein or having any knowledge of his crimes or victims.
“The false smears about me from mean-spirited and politically motivated individuals and entities looking to cause damage to my good name to gain financially and climb politically must stop,” she said.
The Daily Beast’s chief creative and content officer Joanna Coles, and executive editor Hugh Dougherty, believe that her shock statement is just the start of more Epstein scandals for the administration as it relates to the late sex predator.
“This is the story that will not leave Trump alone,” Coles said during a livestream discussion on the Daily Beast’s YouTube channel on Friday.
“The most consequential scandal of this administration has been Epstein,” Dougherty noted.
During her prepared remarks, Melania called upon Congress to schedule a public hearing to allow Epstein victims to testify.
Dougherty said that remark is “the most consequential thing that she said,” as “it would open months and maybe years of Congress acting on this.”
Melania’s call for a public hearing stands in stark contrast to the rhetoric of her husband, President Donald Trump, who has insisted the Epstein files are a “Democrat hoax” and demanded his base stop focusing on the matter.
Trump was reportedly blindsided by her remarks and did not know she was going to make them on Thursday.
“In an unforeseen, you know, gobsmacking development, his wife has drawn attention to the scandal that is dogging her husband and saying, the victims must appear before Congress and tell their truth,” Coles noted.
“She does say now is the time for Congress to act. Epstein was not alone—a really telling line—because we know her husband was Epstein’s best friend for at least 10 years,” Coles noted.
“Several prominent male executives resigned from their powerful positions after this matter became widely politicized, right?” she continued. “So sounds like she’s asking for Congress to talk to her husband.”
The Daily Beast reached out to the White House for comment.
After Melania’s address, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Robert Garcia, said Democrats stood in agreement with her calls for a public hearing.
One key friend of Trump and Epstein’s, Paolo Zampolli, a former modeling agent turned Trump administration official, has said he is willing to testify about his knowledge of Epstein before Congress.
Last month, The New York Times reported that Zampolli reached out to a top official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement to get the mother of his child, who he said is not in the country legally, deported.
The ex, Amanda Ungaro, was placed in ICE custody and eventually deported. The two share a teenage son and had been engaged in a nasty custody battle at the time Zampolli called ICE on her.
Ungaro was close friends with Melania from their modeling days, even sitting with the first lady at her table during Trump’s first inaugural ball, Doughtery noted.
“Paulo Zampolli’s testimony is going to be fascinating,” Dougherty said.
“They are incredibly close friends. He is willing to speak under oath,” he said. “What is he going to say?”
