United States (US) First Lady Melania Trump has sought to create distance between herself and the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in a statement that took most observers by surprise.

She said she had never been friends with Epstein and had no knowledge of the abuses he was perpetrating.

It all happened very unexpectedly and had some searching for an answer to “why now?”.

After what she described as “lies” and “smears” linking her to Epstein, Melania called on Congress to hold victim-centred hearings on Epstein and listen to their testimony in a public setting.

In pointed language, the Melania said Epstein was not alone and that several prominent male executives resigned from their powerful positions when the matter became “politicised”.

She urged a transparent process to uncover the truth.

Meanwhile, the Daily Beast also reported that it had recordings of Epstein bragging about his “close relationship with Trump and Melania”.

—Reuters—