Daily Beast pulls story alleging Melania-Epstein connection after lawyers dispute framing
The Daily Beast has pulled an article detailing allegations by journalist Michael Wolff that Melania Trump was introduced to her husband Donald Trump via a modeling agent connected to Jeffrey Epstein, after a challenge from the first lady’s lawyers.
"Editor’s Note. After this story was published, The Beast received a letter from First Lady Melania Trump’s attorney challenging the headline and framing of the article. After reviewing the matter, the Beast has taken down the article and apologizes for any confusion or misunderstanding," The Daily Beast posted in place of the article. The hyperlink to the article appears to have been amended to : https://www.thedailybeast.com/epstein-this-story-has-been-removed/.
Wolff initially made the scandalous allegations in an interview with Daily Beast chief content officer Joanna Coles for The Daily Beast Podcast, Saturday. The two were discussing Trump’s alleged connections with the disgraced New York financier. The two were friends for many years, but ultimately had a falling out. The president claimed Tuesday that Epstein had been stealing staff from his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan prison while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking of minors charges. Wolff claimed Melania was "very involved in this Epstein relationship."
JEFFREY EPSTEIN THROWN OUT OF MAR-A-LAGO FOR HIRING THE HELP: TRUMP
"[Melania] was very involved in this Epstein relationship. There is this model thing, and she’s introduced by a model agent, both of whom Trump and Epstein are involved with. She’s introduced to Trump that way, Epstein knows her well," Wolff alleged.
President Trump has been dogged by demands by his MAGA base to release the so-called "Epstein files" after a series of missteps by his Attorney General, Pam Bondi. Bondi had distributed binders labeled "Epstein Files: Phase One" to a handful of conservative influencers in February. The binders failed to include any heretofore unknown details surrounding the case – which has been a magnet for unfounded conspiracy theories alleging that Epstein was an intelligence agent sexually blackmailing America’s most powerful figures whose death wasn’t actually a suicide – which caused an outcry among the president’s most online supporters.
Bondi subsequently made comments that some interpreted to mean an Epstein client list was "sitting" on her desk, though she later clarified in June that she was referring to the Epstein file, not a "client list." The DOJ ultimately released a two-page memo that denied a "client list" existed and claimed there was no "credible evidence" Epstein had blackmailed other individuals via his sex trafficking activities. The DOJ memo failed to quell the furor in Trump’s base for greater transparency in the Epstein case, prompting Trump’s ire.
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Trump has disavowed his supporters who remain fixated on the Epstein scandal, labeling them "weaklings" who are buying into a "hoax" orchestrated by the Democrats.
"Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bullshit,’ hook, line, and sinker, they haven’t learned their lesson, and probably never will, even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long years," Trump wrote on TruthSocial.
Wolff’s credibility in the journalism industry has faced scrutiny. In 2018, the journalist told Bill Maher he had evidence that President Trump was having an affair and claimed that a clue to his mistress’ identity could be found at the end of his White House tell-all "Fire and Fury." Readers identified passages that seemed to implicate then-UN Ambassador Nikki Haley. Haley called the insinuation "disgusting" and "highly offensive."
In a subsequent interview on "Morning Joe," Wolff denied that he ever insinuated Haley was having an affair with Trump, but then said he "found it puzzling that she would deny something she was not accused of," prompting co-host Mika Brzezinski to accuse him of "having fun… slurring a woman" and end the interview abruptly. Multiple figures in Trump’s orbit also denied having made quotes attributed to them in "Fire and Fury."
"The scenes in his columns aren’t recreated so much as created — springing from Wolff’s imagination rather than from actual knowledge of events," Michell Cottle wrote of Wolff’s reporting style in a profile in the New Republic.
Michael Wolff told Fox News Digital that he had nothing to do with the article.
The Daily Beast and the White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.