Latest news with #AlejandroBrito
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Melania Trump demands Hunter Biden retract 'extremely salacious' Epstein comments
Melania Trump demands Hunter Biden retract 'extremely salacious' Epstein comments WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Melania Trump demanded that Hunter Biden retract comments linking her to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and threatened to sue if he does not. Trump takes issue with two comments Biden, son of former President Joe Biden, made in an interview this month with American journalist Andrew Callaghan. He alleged that Epstein introduced the first lady to now-President Donald Trump. The statements are false, defamatory and 'extremely salacious,' Melania Trump's lawyer, Alejandro Brito, wrote in a letter to Biden. Biden's remarks were widely disseminated on social media and reported by media outlets around the world, causing the first lady 'to suffer overwhelming financial and reputational harm,' he wrote. Biden made the Epstein comments during a sprawling interview in which he lashed out at 'elites' and others in the Democratic Party he says undermined his father before he dropped out of last year's presidential campaign. 'Epstein introduced Melania to Trump. The connections are, like, so wide and deep,' Biden said in one of the comments Trump disputes. Biden attributed the claim to author Michael Wolff, whom Trump disparaged in June as a 'Third Rate Reporter.' He has accused Wolff of making up stories to sell books. The first lady's threats echo a favored strategy of her husband, who has aggressively used litigation to go after critics. Public figures like the Trumps face a high bar to succeed in a defamation lawsuit. The president and first lady have long said they were introduced by Paolo Zampolli, a modeling agent, at a New York Fashion Week party in 1998. The letter is dated Aug. 6 and was first reported Wednesday by Fox News Digital. Abbe Lowell, a lawyer who has represented Biden in his criminal cases and to whom Brito's letter is addressed, did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday. ___ This story was first published on Aug. 13, 2025. It was updated on Aug. 14, 2025, to correct the citizenship of journalist Andrew Callaghan. He is American, not British. Jonathan J. Cooper, The Associated Press
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Melania Trump demands Hunter Biden retract comments linking her to Jeffrey Epstein
Melania Trump has demanded that Hunter Biden retract comments linking her to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and has threatened to sue if he does not. Biden, the son of the former president Joe Biden, alleged in an interview this month that Epstein had introduced the first lady to Donald Trump. The statements were false, defamatory and 'extremely salacious', Melania Trump's lawyer, Alejandro Brito, said in a letter to Biden. Biden's remarks were widely disseminated on social media and reported by media outlets around the world, causing the first lady 'to suffer overwhelming financial and reputational harm', he added. Biden made the Epstein comments during a sprawling interview with the US journalist Andrew Callaghan in which he lashed out at 'elites' and others in the Democratic party who he said had undermined his father before he dropped out of last year's presidential campaign. 'Epstein introduced Melania to Trump. The connections are, like, so wide and deep,' Biden said in one of the comments that the first lady disputes. Biden attributed the claim to the author Michael Wolff. Donald Trump has accused Wolff of making up stories to sell books. The first lady's threats echo a favoured strategy of her husband, who has aggressively used litigation to go after critics. Public figures such as the Trumps face a high bar to succeed in a defamation lawsuit. The president and first lady have long said they were introduced by Paolo Zampolli, a modelling agent, at a New York fashion week party in 1998. The letter is dated 6 August and was first reported on Wednesday by Fox News Digital. Abbe Lowell, a lawyer who has represented Biden in his criminal cases and to whom Brito's letter is addressed, did not respond to a request for comment. This article was amended on 14 August 2025. Andrew Callaghan is a US journalist, not British as an earlier version said.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Melania Trump demands Hunter Biden retract comments linking her to Jeffrey Epstein
Melania Trump has demanded that Hunter Biden retract comments linking her to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and has threatened to sue if he does not. Biden, the son of the former president Joe Biden, alleged in an interview this month that Epstein introduced the first lady to Donald Trump. The statements were false, defamatory and 'extremely salacious,' Melania Trump's lawyer, Alejandro Brito, said in a letter to Biden. Biden's remarks were widely disseminated on social media and reported by media outlets around the world, causing the first lady 'to suffer overwhelming financial and reputational harm,' he added. Biden made the Epstein comments during a sprawling interview with the British journalist Andrew Callaghan in which he lashed out at 'elites' and others in the Democratic party who he said undermined his father before he dropped out of last year's presidential campaign. 'Epstein introduced Melania to Trump. The connections are, like, so wide and deep,' Biden said in one of the comments that the first lady disputes. Biden attributed the claim to the author Michael Wolff. Donald Trump has accused Wolff of making up stories to sell books. The first lady's threats echo a favoured strategy of her husband, who has aggressively used litigation to go after critics. Public figures such as the Trumps face a high bar to succeed in a defamation lawsuit. The president and first lady have long said they were introduced by Paolo Zampolli, a modelling agent, at a New York fashion week party in 1998. The letter is dated 6 August and was first reported on Wednesday by Fox News Digital. Abbe Lowell, a lawyer who has represented Biden in his criminal cases and to whom Brito's letter is addressed, did not respond to a request for comment.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Melania Trump demands Hunter Biden retract 'extremely salacious' Epstein comments
WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Melania Trump demanded that Hunter Biden retract comments linking her to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and threatened to sue if he does not. Trump takes issue with two comments Biden, son of former President Joe Biden, made in an interview this month with British journalist Andrew Callaghan. He alleged that Epstein introduced the first lady to now-President Donald Trump. The statements are false, defamatory and 'extremely salacious,' Melania Trump's lawyer, Alejandro Brito, wrote in a letter to Biden. Biden's remarks were widely disseminated on social media and reported by media outlets around the world, causing the first lady 'to suffer overwhelming financial and reputational harm,' he wrote. Biden made the Epstein comments during a sprawling interview in which he lashed out at 'elites' and others in the Democratic Party he says undermined his father before he dropped out of last year's presidential campaign. 'Epstein introduced Melania to Trump. The connections are, like, so wide and deep,' Biden said in one of the comments Trump disputes. Biden attributed the claim to author Michael Wolff, whom Trump disparaged in June as a 'Third Rate Reporter.' He has accused Wolff of making up stories to sell books. The first lady's threats echo a favored strategy of her husband, who has aggressively used litigation to go after critics. Public figures like the Trumps face a high bar to succeed in a defamation lawsuit. The president and first lady have long said they were introduced by Paolo Zampolli, a modeling agent, at a New York Fashion Week party in 1998. The letter is dated Aug. 6 and was first reported Wednesday by Fox News Digital. Abbe Lowell, a lawyer who has represented Biden in his criminal cases and to whom Brito's letter is addressed, did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday. ___
Daily Mail
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Trump ramps up feud with NYT, CNN over Iran coverage criticism
President Donald Trump is now threatening to sue The New York Times and CNN over the outlets' reporting on a preliminary intelligence report that assessed the U.S.'s strike on Iran did not completely destroy the country's nuclear facilities. The Times reported Thursday that Trump's personal lawyer Alejandro Brito had reached out to the newspaper and said the article had damaged the president's reputation. The letter demanded The Times 'retract and apologize for' the story, calling it 'false,' 'defamatory' and 'unpatriotic.' The newspaper's lawyer responded by noting that Trump administration officials had confirmed the existence of the report after The Times published its findings. 'No retraction is needed,' The Times' lawyer David McCraw said in a letter. 'No apology will be forthcoming. We told the truth to the best of our ability. We will continue to do so.' A spokesperson for CNN told The Times that the cable news network had responded to Trump's lawyer in a similar fashion. Trump had continued his criticism of the coverage throughout Wednesday and Thursday, using all caps to criticize the reports, accusing the outlets of intentionally publishing 'fake' stories. Trump and his officials, particularly Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth criticized the reports, targeting one of the lead reporters of the story, Natasha Bertrand, of being dishonest. 'Natasha Bertrand should be FIRED from CNN! I watched her for three days doing Fake News. She should be IMMEDIATELY reprimanded, and then thrown out 'like a dog,'' Trump wrote on social media. 'She should not be allowed to work at Fake News CNN. It's people like her who destroyed the reputation of a once great Network,' Trump continued. 'Her slant was so obviously negative, besides, she doesn't have what it takes to be an on camera correspondent, not even close. FIRE NATASHA!' During Thursday's White House press briefing, press secretary Karoline Leavitt also called out Bertrand, who covers the Pentagon for CNN, by name. 'So this is a reporter who has been unfortunately used by people who dislike Donald Trump in this government to push fake and false narratives,' Leavitt alleged. 'She should be ashamed of herself.' Trump's post about CNN firing Bertrand appeared to be wishful thinking, as CNN issued a statement standing by Bertrand and her reporting. 'We stand 100 percent behind Natasha Bertrand's (pictured) journalism and specifically her and her colleagues' reporting of the early intelligence assessment of the U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear facilities,' the news outlet said in a statement. CNN denounced the criticism targeted at Bertrand as irrational. 'We do not believe it is reasonable to criticize CNN reporters for accurately reporting on the existence of the assessment and accurately characterizing its findings, which are in the public interest,' they wrote. The Trump administration continues to criticize the media for questioning the success of the mission after U.S. pilots aboard seven B-2 bombers dropped 14 Massive Ordinance Penetrator (MOP) bombs on the nuclear facilities in Fordow and Natanz. But the president continued posting criticism of both CNN and the New York Times, describing them on Thursday morning as 'bad people with evil intentions.' 'These reporters are just BAD AND SICK PEOPLE,' Trump wrote on social media on Wednesday. 'You would think they would be proud of the great success we had, instead of trying to always make our Country look bad.' Trump and his officials singled out Bertrand for her reporting on the infamous Steele Dossier and a 2020 Politico report reporting that 'former senior intelligence officials' believed that the Hunter Biden laptop was 'Russian disinformation.' 'She lied on the Laptop from Hell Story, and now she lied on the Nuclear Sites Story, attempting to destroy our Patriot Pilots by making them look bad when, in fact, they did a GREAT job and hit 'pay dirt' — TOTAL OBLITERATION!' Trump wrote on social media. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth held a press conference on Thursday, complaining about the media reports based on 'biased leaks to biased publications.' 'How about we take a beat, recognize first the success of our warriors, hold them up, tell their stories, celebrate that, wave an American flag, be proud of what we accomplish?' he asked.
