Melania Wants Hearings for Her Husband’s Friend’s Victims?
This is your TPM evening briefing.
While the Justice Department actively attempts to shield fired-Attorney General Pam Bondi from having to sit for a deposition before the House Oversight Committee about the DOJ’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, the first lady is actively calling for more Epstein related hearings.
This was not on my bingo card…
In a bizarre and increasingly rare public statement on camera this afternoon, First Lady Melania Trump denied ever having a relationship with Epstein, the convicted sex offender and financier who died while in federal prison after being charged with trafficking young girls, or with his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
“I’ve never been friends with Epstein. Donald and I were invited to the same parties as Epstein from time to time since overlapping in social circles is common in New York City and Palm Beach,” she said, adding that her “email reply to Maxwell cannot be categorized as anything more than casual correspondence.” This is a reference to an email that surfaced in a recent document dump from the Justice Department that appears to show someone named “Melania” sending an email to “G” about a “nice story about JE in NY mag.” While the sender names are visible, the email addresses for both the sender and recipient are redacted.
The first lady also denied being a “victim” of Epstein’s and she said that he did not introduce her to her husband, an apparent response to rumors about the origins of Melania Trump’s relationship both with Trump and with Epstein, which her staff has described as “defamatory.”
“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.
She then pivoted to call on Congress to hold public hearings with survivors of Epstein’s abuse — just as her husband’s own compromised Justice Department tries to get America to move on from the Epstein files now that Bondi has been fired. Todd Blanche, who was the deputy attorney general and who is filling in as acting attorney general, told Fox News last week that, “to the extent that the Epstein files was a part of the past year of this Justice Department, it should not be a part of anything going forward.”
“Give these victims their opportunity to testify under oath in front of Congress with the power of sworn testimony. Each and every woman should have her day to tell her story in public, if she wishes, and then her testimony should be permanently entered into the Congressional Record,” the first lady said. “Then and only then, we will have the truth.”
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have already put out statements saying they agree with the first lady’s calls for public hearings with survivors. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), a Republican on the House Oversight Committee who voted with Democrats and four other Republicans to subpoena Bondi back in March, thanked Melania Trump on Twitter after her public remarks.
“Now is the time for Congress to act,” Mace wrote. “Epstein was not alone. Several prominent male executives resigned from their powerful positions after this matter became widely politicized. Of course, this doesn’t amount to guilt, but we still must work openly and transparently to uncover the truth.”
— Nicole LaFond
Ex-Proud Boys Leader Gets Involved in AG Search
Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and Cynthia Hughes, who has been involved in advocacy work for Jan. 6 defendants, have taken it upon themselves to sooth fears within some factions of the MAGA movement about Harmeet Dhillon, who, reportedly, may be up for a promotion. Dhillon, who currently leads the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, is reportedly being considered for either attorney general or associate attorney general. Some MAGA supporters who are thirsty for revenge for Jan. 6 defendants don’t think she has done enough to investigate the Jan. 6 investigators during her time in the DOJ so far. Dhillon has openly feuded with critics about the matter on social media, too.
Tarrio and Hughes penned and published a letter to MAGA supporters on Thursday, asking the president’s fans to give Dhillon “a fair shot” if she is ultimately promoted.
“If Harmeet Dhillon is indeed stepping into a larger role, we’re willing to give her a fair shot,” they wrote. “We’ll support what’s right, and we’ll oppose what’s not. And we will hold her, as we would anyone in that position, to the highest standard.”
— Nicole LaFond
Kanye West, RFK Jr. and the Swelling Anti-Flouride Disinfo Movement
An unlikely character is haunting dentists’ offices: Kanye West.
A lifetime ago in October 2020, Kanye West was a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience. The discussion turned to his history of mental illness and his experience of being medicated. He went on to raise a once-fringe conspiracy theory: “But we’re all on medication right now. Did you use toothpaste with fluoride today? It blocks your pineal gland. And they put children on it.”
The pineal gland is a small pinecone shaped mass of tissue in the brain that secretes melatonin. In some alternative healing circles, it is equated with the third eye because of its placement towards the center of the brain. Some anti-fluoride activists claim that the use of fluoride can lead to its calcification, based on a small number of highly limited studies. The evidence to support this claim is weak, but it continues to circulate online — and the idea has recently gained more traction within the MAHA movement.
While most Americans still support community water fluoridation, today a small but growing number of people are refusing topical fluoride treatment at preventative dental care offices, particularly parents on behalf of their kids, according to dentists and hygienists. Topical fluoride is typically applied in the form of a gel or varnish to the teeth by an oral health professional; research has shown that it is highly effective in reducing and even reversing cavities, especially in children.
Donald Chi, a pediatric dentist and public health researcher who has studied topical fluoride hesitancy, told TPM that among his patients, Kanye West in particular is “one major source of disinformation” about the safety of topical fluoride. Other sources include alternative dentists-turned-influencers, as well as RFK Jr. and his ongoing war on ingested fluoride.
TPM has more on the unintended consequences of the anti-fluoride movement in a new piece out this week, read it here.
— Farrell Brenner
Check It Out
Over at The Informant, TPM alum Nick Martin and researcher Haley Orion have an incredible new piece based on a leaked trove from the white supremacist group Patriot Front.
According to the site, the secret documents and posts show an ex-Navy SEAL named Corey Scott is a member of the extremist group, which has roots in the infamous Charlottesville rally and is known for staging masked parades and propaganda displays. Scott played a key role in a war crimes trial involving a fellow SEAL, Eddie Gallagher, whose case attracted the attention of President Donald Trump and others in his orbit. The Informant’s story is just the latest evidence of the links between white nationalist extremism and the MAGA movement.
— Hunter Walker
In Case You Missed It
Emine Yücel spoke to Dems about a topic that TPM’s been reporting on — Republican interest in finding a backdoor authorization for the Iran war: Democrats Sound Alarm About Trump Effort to Obtain Backdoor War Authorization
Emine Yücel and Layla A. Jones were on the Hill for Dems’ attempt to force another war powers vote: Even After Trump’s Wild Threats, House GOP Blocks Dems From Voting on Iran War
Morning Memo: Pentagon Threatened Pope After He Criticized Trump
New edition of The Franchise is out today, from John Light, Allegra Kirkland and myself: GOP Election Officials Say Trump’s Voter Suppression Exec Order Won’t Hold Up In Court
In case you missed it this morning, from Farrell Brenner: How RFK’s War on Fluoride Is Taking Over the Dentist’s Office
Yesterday’s Most Read Story
Declaring Victory and Walking Away Can’t Conceal the Scale of Trump’s Folly
What We Are Reading
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The State That Could Decide Trump’s Gerrymandering War
How Trump Purged Immigration Judges to Speed Up Deportations
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