Hunter Biden Reacts to Melania Trump's $1B Epstein Defamation Threat [View all]
Source: Newsweek
By Amanda Castro and Shane Croucher
Hunter Biden dismissed a $1 billion defamation threat over comments he made about first lady Melania Trump's connections to Jeffrey Epstein and declined to apologize as her lawyers had demanded. Nick Clemmens, aide to Melania Trump, told Newsweek via email: "First Lady Melania Trump's attorneys are actively ensuring immediate retractions and apologies by those who spread malicious, defamatory falsehoods. The true account of how the First Lady met President Trump is in her best-selling book, Melania."
(snip)
In a video interview posted to YouTube earlier this month, Biden said that Epstein introduced Melania Trump to Donald Trump, a statement her legal team calls "false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory." The letter, dated August 6, demands a full retraction and apology, or Biden will face a $1 billion lawsuit. The Trumps have long stated they met through modeling agent Paolo Zampolli at a New York Fashion Week party in 1998. This version contradicts Biden's claim and has been consistently repeated by the couple.
Biden responded to the legal team's letter in a follow-up interview released Thursday on Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan, saying, "F*** that, that's not going to happen," and dismissed the legal threat as a distraction.
In the original interview, Biden said, "Epstein introduced Melania to Trump. The connections are, like, so wide and deep," attributing the statement to journalist Michael Wolff. Trump has previously accused Wolff of fabricating stories to sell books. Attorney Alejandro Brito issued a cease-and-desist letter demanding Biden retract the statements and apologize. The letter warns that failure to comply would result in legal action seeking over $1 billion in damages for reputational harm. The letter gave Biden until August 7 to respond. Sources close to the matter told Fox News that Biden did not comply and instead leaked the letter to a journalist, which Melania's team interpreted as a sign of concern over liability.
Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/hunter-biden-melania-trump-defamation-epstein-2113455
= new reply since forum marked as read