This Changes Everything! New Questions Emerge After Melania Epstein Claims — Who Else Could Be Named in the Secret Dossier?
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…
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.
Melania’s speech reportedly blindsided White House staff, and even her own husband.Evan Vucci/REUTERS
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.
Donald Trump with his then-girlfriend (and now wife), Melania Knauss, Jeffrey Epstein, and Ghislaine Maxwell.Davidoff Studios/Getty Images
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.
Epstein is believed to have abused more than 1,000 victims over several decades.Jonathan Ernst/REUTERS
“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.
Trump shared a friendship with Epstein for over two decades, before it ended sometime in the 2000s.Davidoff Studios Photography/Getty Images
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.
Paolo Zampolli/Instagram
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?”
Nearly 150,000 California Mail Ballots Rejected In Primary
California election officials are examining why nearly 150,000 mail-in ballots were rejected during the state’s June primary, with late-arriving ballots accounting for most of the increase.
The higher rejection rate comes despite years of election law changes designed to make voting more accessible and ensure more ballots are ultimately counted.
According to data compiled by the California Secretary of State’s office, 148,241 mail-in ballots were rejected during the June primary, representing 1.73% of all mail ballots returned.
That marks an increase from the 2024 primary, when 108,982 ballots were rejected, or 1.56% of all mail ballots cast.
The largest reason for rejection was ballots arriving too late to qualify under California law.
State data shows that 93,479 ballots were rejected because they failed to meet the state’s deadline requirements.
California allows mail ballots to arrive up to seven days after Election Day, provided they are postmarked on or before Election Day.
Voting experts believe many of the rejected ballots received postmarks dated after Election Day, making them ineligible to be counted even if they arrived within the seven-day grace period.
Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation, said the timing of postal processing appears to be a significant concern.
“Ballots rejected due to lateness are caused primarily to being postmarked too late to count, not because they arrived too late to count,” Alexander said.
Election experts have questioned whether recent operational changes within the U.S. Postal Service may be contributing to delayed postmarks.
Earlier this year, a group of mostly Democratic U.S. senators wrote to the Postal Service expressing concern that mail-processing changes could affect ballot handling during federal elections.
Updated Postal Service procedures mean postmarks may reflect when mail is processed at regional facilities rather than when it first enters the mail system.
Because processing centers have been consolidated in some areas, election officials have warned that postmark timing could be affected.
Before the June primary, California election officials encouraged voters to mail ballots as early as possible because of potential postal delays.
The June election also featured a highly competitive race for governor, which some experts believe encouraged many voters to wait until the final days before casting ballots.
In addition to late-arriving ballots, approximately 44,000 ballots were rejected because election officials determined the voter’s signature did not match the signature on file.
Another 8,300 ballots were rejected because the return envelope did not contain a signature.
State records also show that 743 ballots were rejected because those voters had already cast another ballot.
Other rejected ballots involved missing ballots inside return envelopes or multiple ballots submitted in a single envelope.
The highest rejection rate in the state occurred in Tulare County, where 3.52% of returned mail ballots were rejected.
Alpine County and Merced County followed closely, each recording rejection rates of 3.36%.
California has frequently faced criticism for taking weeks to complete vote counting after major elections, largely because state law permits ballots meeting certain requirements to continue arriving after Election Day.
Following the June primary, President Donald Trump again criticized California’s election system, while the Department of Justice opened an investigation into election administration in Los Angeles County.
Election experts emphasize that the increase in rejected ballots should not be interpreted as evidence of widespread voter fraud.
A 2025 report by the Brookings Institution found documented cases of mail ballot fraud remained extremely rare, estimating roughly four cases for every 10 million mail ballots cast, The Associated Press reported.
State officials have not identified evidence of widespread fraud connected to the June primary, but the increase in rejected ballots is expected to receive additional scrutiny as election administrators evaluate whether changes in postal operations, voter behavior or election procedures contributed to the higher rejection rate.
