Specialists in crisis communications weigh in on the first lady's puzzling press conference. In a surprise address from the White House on Thursday, first lady Melania Trump publicly denied any relationship with Jeffrey Epstein , the late convicted sex offender, or Ghislaine Maxwell , his longtime co-conspirator. “The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today,” she said in a five-minute statement in which she also called on Congress to hold public hearings for his