First Lady Melania Trump has threatened to sue Hunter Biden for more than $1 billion (£736.5m) in damages unless he retracts comments linking her to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and apologises publicly.
The legal threat comes after Mr Biden, son of former President Joe Biden, alleged in a YouTube interview earlier this month that Epstein introduced the First Lady to President Donald Trump. Ms Trump’s lawyer has given the former president’s son a deadline to comply or face what would be one of the largest defamation suits in American history.
During an interview with Channel 5 host Andrew Callaghan posted in early August, Hunter Biden claimed: “Epstein introduced Melania to Trump. The connections are, like, so wide and deep.” He added: “Jeffrey Epstein introduced Melania, and that’s how Melania and the first lady and the President met.
Legal Threat Details
In a letter dated 6 August, obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital, attorney Alejandro Brito labelled the comments “false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory” as well as “extremely salacious.” The letter was addressed to both Hunter Biden and his lawyer, Abbe Lowell, who has represented him in his criminal cases.
“These false, disparaging, defamatory, and inflammatory statements are extremely salacious and have been widely disseminated throughout various digital mediums,” Brito wrote. Indeed, the video has since been re-published by various media outlets, journalists, and political commentators with millions of social media followers that have disseminated the false and defamatory statements therein to tens of millions of people worldwide.
The letter demanded Biden “immediately retract the false, defamatory, disparaging and inflammatory statements made about Mrs Trump” by 5pm EST on 7 August. A source close to the matter confirmed Biden did not comply with the deadline.
Biden Refuses to Apologise
In a follow-up interview titled “Hunter Biden Apology” that aired on Thursday, Callaghan offered Biden an opportunity to apologise to the First Lady whilst holding up the legal letter. Biden’s response was unequivocal: “F*** that – that’s not going to happen.”
He dismissed the lawsuit threat as “a distraction” and accused the Trumps of using “bullying tactics.” Biden added: “What I said is what I have heard and seen reported and written, primarily from Wolff,” referring to Trump biographer Michael Wolff.
“I don’t think these threats of lawsuits add up to anything other than designed distraction,” Biden stated, suggesting the legal action was intended to divert attention from other matters.
Pattern of Legal Action
The First Lady’s threat to sue Hunter Biden follows a pattern of aggressive legal action against those making similar claims. The Daily Beast was forced to retract an article by Michael Wolff earlier this month after receiving a similar legal threat from Ms Trump’s attorneys.
The outlet issued an editor’s note stating: “After reviewing the matter, the Beast has taken down the article and apologises for any confusion or misunderstanding.”
Additionally, Democratic strategist James Carville and his podcast “Politics War Room” were compelled to remove portions of an episode titled “The Epstein Connection: Trump and Melania” after receiving legal correspondence from the First Lady’s lawyer.
Official Account Contradicted
The President and First Lady have consistently maintained they were introduced by modelling agent Paolo Zampolli at a New York Fashion Week party in 1998. Nick Clemmens, an aide to Melania Trump, told Newsweek: “The true account of how the First Lady met President Trump is in her best-selling book, Melania.
The legal letter also took a personal tone, accusing Biden of having a “vast history of trading on the names of others” and suggesting his recent comments were a means of “drawing attention to yourself.”
Brito warned: “Failure to comply will leave Mrs Trump with no choice but to pursue any and all legal rights and remedies available to her to recover the overwhelming financial and reputational harm that you have caused her to suffer.
High Legal Bar for Public Figures
Public figures like the Trumps face a particularly high bar to succeed in defamation suits under US law. They must prove not only that the statements were false but also that they were made with “actual malice” – meaning the speaker knew they were false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth.
The controversy comes as pressure mounts on the White House to release more information about Epstein, following the Trump administration’s complete U-turn on promises to make public the so-called “Epstein files.
The US Justice Department confirmed in July it would not be releasing additional files, stating a review found “no incriminating ‘client list'” and “no credible evidence” that Epstein, who died by suicide in prison in 2019, had blackmailed famous men.
Wider Context
In his initial interview, Hunter Biden also criticised “elites” and others in the Democratic Party whom he claims undermined his father before he dropped out of last year’s presidential race. He cited the Epstein claims as coming from Wolff, whom President Trump has dubbed a “third-rate reporter” and accused of making up stories to sell books.
A source close to the matter told Fox News that Biden and his team had “leaked the letter” from the First Lady’s attorney to “a friendly reporter,” which “shows how deeply concerned they are about Hunter’s serious liability for spreading defamatory lies.
Neither Hunter Biden’s lawyer Abbe Lowell nor Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan have yet commented on the legal threat. If Ms Trump proceeds with the lawsuit, it could test the limits of defamation law involving high-profile public figures in what would be a closely watched case.
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Image Credit (Shortened):
Melania Trump official portrait (cropped) – by Shealah Craighead / The White House, licensed under Public Domain (U.S. Government work), via Wikimedia Commons.
