1
00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,520
Speaker 1: Welcome to Thrilling Threads. Today, we are diving into a

2
00:00:03,560 --> 00:00:06,400
story that is, well, it's the perfect storm of high

3
00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:11,000
stex politics and a legal strategy that just completely imploded.

4
00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:14,679
Speaker 2: It's an incredible story. We're talking about a billion dollar

5
00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:18,920
legal threat that didn't just fail, it backfired so spectacularly

6
00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:21,920
that it might end up exposing decades of secrets about

7
00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:23,280
the First Family exactly.

8
00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:26,079
Speaker 1: We're looking at the battle between First Lady Malania Trump

9
00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:29,120
and the author Michael Wolfe, and our mission today is

10
00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:32,079
to really unpack how this happened. We're working from the

11
00:00:32,119 --> 00:00:34,799
court filings and some of the great analysis on this,

12
00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:37,320
particularly from the Migastarch channel.

13
00:00:37,399 --> 00:00:41,039
Speaker 2: Right, because this whole situation, it starts with an attempt

14
00:00:41,079 --> 00:00:44,000
to silence someone, and well it ends with an invitation

15
00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:47,399
for maximum exposure. And remember this is all happening now

16
00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:50,039
in twenty twenty five. Malania is still the First Lady.

17
00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:51,600
Trump is still in the White House.

18
00:00:51,759 --> 00:00:53,799
Speaker 1: Okay, so let's get into the timeline. It really kicks

19
00:00:53,799 --> 00:00:55,560
off with a shot across the bow from the First

20
00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:56,479
Lady's legal team.

21
00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:59,759
Speaker 2: It does on October fifteenth, twenty twenty five. Her lawyer,

22
00:01:00,119 --> 00:01:03,719
a man named Alejandro Bredo, sends a demand letter to Michael.

23
00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:05,560
Speaker 1: Wolfe and Bretto isn't just any lawyer, right.

24
00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:09,480
Speaker 2: No, And that's a key detail. He also represents Donald

25
00:01:09,519 --> 00:01:13,159
Trump on other legal matters. So this feels very much

26
00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:15,599
like an official White House sanctioned move.

27
00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:18,040
Speaker 1: So what did the letter say? What was the demand?

28
00:01:18,359 --> 00:01:22,200
Speaker 2: It was intense. It basically ordered wolf to immediately retract

29
00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:24,840
and apologize for things he'd written in an article for

30
00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:25,599
The Daily Beast.

31
00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:28,480
Speaker 1: And the title of that piece was pretty provocative, something like.

32
00:01:28,519 --> 00:01:32,680
Speaker 2: Uh, Milania Trump very involved in Epstein's scandal author, So

33
00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:34,680
you know they weren't pulling any punches.

34
00:01:34,799 --> 00:01:37,200
Speaker 1: And what were the specific claims in the article that

35
00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:39,120
triggered such a massive response.

36
00:01:39,599 --> 00:01:43,159
Speaker 2: Well, her lawyers pointed to three things. First, the idea

37
00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:46,640
that Milania was quote very involved in the Epstein social

38
00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:49,599
circle okay. Second, the article suggested she might be the

39
00:01:50,599 --> 00:01:54,000
missing link connecting Trump more deeply to Epstein. And third,

40
00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:56,280
it brought up how she met Donald Trump through a

41
00:01:56,319 --> 00:01:58,760
model agent who supposedly had ties to both.

42
00:01:58,599 --> 00:02:01,120
Speaker 1: Men, and the threat if he didn't comply that was

43
00:02:01,159 --> 00:02:01,640
the kicker.

44
00:02:01,879 --> 00:02:05,200
Speaker 2: He had until October twenty first, at five pm to

45
00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:08,520
retract and apologize or she would sue him for over

46
00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:11,520
one billion dollars a billion wow.

47
00:02:11,719 --> 00:02:14,159
Speaker 1: But here's where it all go sideways for them. Wolf

48
00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:16,479
doesn't apologize, he doesn't retract.

49
00:02:16,719 --> 00:02:20,360
Speaker 2: No, he does the exact opposite. He sues her, and

50
00:02:20,439 --> 00:02:23,000
he does it on October twenty first, the very day

51
00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:24,280
the deadline expired.

52
00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:27,520
Speaker 1: He flipped the entire situation on its head completely.

53
00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:32,080
Speaker 2: He files in New York for abusive process and for

54
00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:35,439
chilling his First Amendment rights. He's basically arguing the threat

55
00:02:35,479 --> 00:02:38,759
itself was an illegal tactic to silence a journalist, and

56
00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:42,439
that billion dollar threat letter it's exhibit too in his lawsuit.

57
00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:45,120
Speaker 1: So abusive process. For those of us who aren't lawyers,

58
00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:47,479
what does that actually mean in this context.

59
00:02:47,039 --> 00:02:50,400
Speaker 2: It means you're using the legal system for an improper purpose.

60
00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:53,120
Wolfe is arguing that the billion dollar figure was so absurd,

61
00:02:53,159 --> 00:02:56,199
so baseless, that they never actually intended to win in court.

62
00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:58,360
The whole point was just to scare him, to bully

63
00:02:58,439 --> 00:02:59,199
him into silence.

64
00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:02,240
Speaker 1: And because he's dude first, she is now the defendant,

65
00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:06,120
which brings us to this really bizarre situation that's happening

66
00:03:06,159 --> 00:03:06,599
right now.

67
00:03:07,039 --> 00:03:10,639
Speaker 2: The evasion. She's actively evading service of process. They are

68
00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:13,439
trying to physically hander the lawsuit, and she's doing everything

69
00:03:13,479 --> 00:03:14,400
she can to avoid it.

70
00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:18,120
Speaker 1: Their first attempt was almost comical. They tried to serve

71
00:03:18,199 --> 00:03:21,599
the lawyer who sent the letter, Alejandro.

72
00:03:21,039 --> 00:03:25,560
Speaker 2: Bretto, right because in his letter, Brito had specifically said

73
00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:29,080
all future correspondents should go through him. But when the

74
00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:30,599
process server showed up with the.

75
00:03:30,639 --> 00:03:33,039
Speaker 1: Lawsuit, he refused it, flat out.

76
00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:36,439
Speaker 2: Refused, said he wasn't representing her in this specific case.

77
00:03:36,919 --> 00:03:40,039
It's a transparent attempt to just you know, throw a

78
00:03:40,039 --> 00:03:40,919
wrench in the works.

79
00:03:41,159 --> 00:03:43,719
Speaker 1: But the next attempts are even more revealing. They sent

80
00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:45,439
process servers to Trump.

81
00:03:45,199 --> 00:03:49,520
Speaker 2: Tower, yes, because Wolfe's lawsuit claims that's where she actually lives,

82
00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:52,479
not in the White House. And what happened there, well,

83
00:03:52,479 --> 00:03:54,919
the first server apparently panicked when he found out who

84
00:03:54,919 --> 00:03:56,120
he was serving and just left.

85
00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:57,520
Speaker 1: Can't really blame him.

86
00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:00,199
Speaker 2: But the second one got further. Security stopped him at

87
00:04:00,199 --> 00:04:04,599
the door, but in the process they confirmed it. They said, yes,

88
00:04:04,719 --> 00:04:05,639
Millennia lives here.

89
00:04:05,719 --> 00:04:06,319
Speaker 1: Wow.

90
00:04:06,919 --> 00:04:08,400
Speaker 2: And then they told him that if he left the

91
00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:10,520
papers they would just throw him in the garbage.

92
00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:13,680
Speaker 1: Wait a second, so her own security team admitted on

93
00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:16,560
record that the first lady of the United States doesn't

94
00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:18,360
live at the White House they did.

95
00:04:18,519 --> 00:04:21,240
Speaker 2: And that they would destroy legal documents. I mean, they

96
00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:24,279
basically handed Wolfe's legal team everything they need.

97
00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:26,000
Speaker 1: So what's the next step for him?

98
00:04:26,199 --> 00:04:28,759
Speaker 2: Legally, he can go to a judge and say, look,

99
00:04:29,199 --> 00:04:33,040
we've tried everything. Her own people confirm she lives here

100
00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:36,639
and are obstructing service. We need you to issue an

101
00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:40,720
order saying she is officially served, and he will almost

102
00:04:40,759 --> 00:04:41,800
certainly get it.

103
00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:44,759
Speaker 1: This all leads to the big question, why was this

104
00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:47,839
such a monumental error. Why pick a fight with Michael

105
00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:49,079
Wolfe of all people.

106
00:04:49,199 --> 00:04:53,040
Speaker 2: It's his background, It's what makes him uniquely dangerous to them.

107
00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:56,399
Wolf isn't just a journalist. He is Donald Trump's former

108
00:04:57,079 --> 00:04:59,319
authorized biographer. He was inside the circle.

109
00:04:59,439 --> 00:05:00,720
Speaker 1: He knows them, he knows them.

110
00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:03,000
Speaker 2: But here's the real bombshell. He was also at one

111
00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:06,399
point a potential biographer for Jeffrey Epstein. No way, Yes,

112
00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:09,120
So he has spoken directly with Epstein and was Steve

113
00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:12,399
Bannon about what Epstein knew and what Trump was worried about.

114
00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:15,560
He is not speculating. He's operating from a position of

115
00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,600
deep firsthand knowledge. He knows where the bodies are buried.

116
00:05:19,639 --> 00:05:23,079
Speaker 1: And Milania has tried this kind of threat before, hasn't she?

117
00:05:23,079 --> 00:05:26,839
Speaker 2: She has? She threatened Hunter Biden with a billion dollar.

118
00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:28,439
Speaker 1: Lawsuit and what was his response?

119
00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:32,079
Speaker 2: He basically said, please do. He welcomed it, saying it

120
00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:34,120
would give him the right to depose her and everyone

121
00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:37,920
around her. She never sued. The difference here is Wolf

122
00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:41,079
didn't wait for her to back down. He forced the issue.

123
00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:44,079
Speaker 1: So now the door is wide open for legal discovery.

124
00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:46,399
What is Wolf actually.

125
00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:50,079
Speaker 2: Asking for everything? He wants it all, he stated publicly

126
00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:53,040
He's going for depositions under oath of both Milania and

127
00:05:53,079 --> 00:05:54,000
Donald Trump.

128
00:05:53,759 --> 00:05:55,360
Speaker 1: A sitting president and first lady.

129
00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:59,160
Speaker 2: Yes, and he wants their emails, their documents, their text messages,

130
00:05:59,199 --> 00:05:59,720
even their.

131
00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:04,079
Speaker 1: Personal That is just extraordinary. What is he hoping to find?

132
00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:04,759
What's the goal?

133
00:06:05,079 --> 00:06:06,759
Speaker 2: He wants to get to the bottom of the Trump

134
00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:12,079
Epstein relationship, the financial involvement between them, and to put

135
00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:14,959
it politely, the sexual involvement. He keeps using the term wayman.

136
00:06:15,759 --> 00:06:18,959
He also wants to dig into Melania's entire history, how

137
00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:21,759
she came to the US, her visa status, her connections

138
00:06:21,759 --> 00:06:22,800
to these modeling agents.

139
00:06:22,839 --> 00:06:25,319
Speaker 1: These are questions that have been swirling for years, but

140
00:06:25,519 --> 00:06:28,279
he now has the legal power to compel.

141
00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:33,120
Speaker 2: Answers exactly and to justify this aggressive discovery. He's already

142
00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:34,839
put some explosive claims on the table.

143
00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:36,800
Speaker 1: You're talking about the photographs, yes.

144
00:06:37,319 --> 00:06:40,439
Speaker 2: And we need to be clear here. This is what

145
00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:42,480
Wolf claims Epstein showed him.

146
00:06:42,879 --> 00:06:46,040
Speaker 1: It's his recollection, understood, So what does he claim he saw?

147
00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:49,720
Speaker 2: He says Epstein showed him about a dozen snapshots. Out

148
00:06:49,759 --> 00:06:54,160
of that set, he vividly remembers three, okay, two of

149
00:06:54,199 --> 00:06:57,680
them he claims showed topless girls sitting in Donald Trump's

150
00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:02,720
lap by Epstein's pool. On the third one is pretty disturbing.

151
00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:05,360
He describes the photo showing a stain on the front

152
00:07:05,399 --> 00:07:08,279
of Trump's pants with several girls laughing and pointing at it.

153
00:07:08,639 --> 00:07:10,680
Speaker 1: And where would these photos even be now?

154
00:07:10,879 --> 00:07:13,560
Speaker 2: Wolf speculates they were in Epstein's safe, which you know,

155
00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:16,720
the FBI seized and emptied, so his legal discovery could

156
00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:20,040
potentially target the FBI's inventory of what was in that safe.

157
00:07:20,199 --> 00:07:22,639
Speaker 1: This is moving into uncharted territory.

158
00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:24,839
Speaker 2: It really is. And beyond Epstein, Wolf is also bringing

159
00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:27,199
up the current state of the Trump's marriage, which adds

160
00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:28,560
another layer of political risk.

161
00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:29,639
Speaker 1: What's he saying there?

162
00:07:29,879 --> 00:07:32,199
Speaker 2: He shared a story from a source who said that

163
00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:35,000
when Jason Miller asked Malania to show up for Trump's

164
00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:38,240
first indictment, you know, for a show of support, she

165
00:07:38,519 --> 00:07:40,199
just laughed and said, nice.

166
00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:41,160
Speaker 1: Try, nice try.

167
00:07:41,319 --> 00:07:44,160
Speaker 2: And the source summarized her feelings by saying, she hates

168
00:07:44,199 --> 00:07:48,759
his fucking guts. Now, if that's even partially true, imagine

169
00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:51,879
her incentive to protect him during a sworn deposition.

170
00:07:52,319 --> 00:07:55,800
Speaker 1: The potential for internal conflict there is huge, which brings

171
00:07:55,879 --> 00:07:58,959
us to the discovery targeting her own past the questions

172
00:07:58,959 --> 00:08:01,839
from twenty sixteen that never really got answered.

173
00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:04,279
Speaker 2: Right, Wolf is signaling he's going to dig into all

174
00:08:04,319 --> 00:08:07,480
of it, starting with her education. She claimed for years

175
00:08:07,519 --> 00:08:10,720
she had an architecture degree from the University of Zubjana.

176
00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:12,959
Speaker 1: Which wasn't true. She left after one year.

177
00:08:13,079 --> 00:08:16,879
Speaker 2: Exactly, and her official website, which listed that degree was

178
00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:19,879
just quietly scrubbed from the Internet in July twenty sixteen.

179
00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:22,279
Discovery can force her to answer why.

180
00:08:22,439 --> 00:08:25,519
Speaker 1: But the really sensitive part is her connection to Paula Zumpli.

181
00:08:25,959 --> 00:08:29,240
Speaker 2: Zample's the central figure. He's the modeling agent who discovered her,

182
00:08:29,519 --> 00:08:31,800
got her a visa and introduced her to Trump at

183
00:08:31,879 --> 00:08:34,679
that party at the Kitcat Club in nineteen ninety eight.

184
00:08:34,879 --> 00:08:37,960
Speaker 1: And the reason this is so relevant now, well, just this.

185
00:08:38,039 --> 00:08:42,120
Speaker 2: Year, in March twenty twenty five, President Trump appointed Zampoli

186
00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:44,559
as a Special Envoy for Global Partnership.

187
00:08:44,679 --> 00:08:47,559
Speaker 1: You're kidding me, no, So the key.

188
00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:50,279
Speaker 2: Figure in all the unanswered questions about Malania's past is

189
00:08:50,399 --> 00:08:53,600
now a government official, which makes him a completely legitimate

190
00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:55,440
target for deposition in this lawsuit.

191
00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:58,519
Speaker 1: And there were those very serious allegations back in twenty

192
00:08:58,559 --> 00:09:02,559
sixteen from The Daily about them running an escort service.

193
00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:05,600
Speaker 2: Yes, she threatened to sue over that, but never did.

194
00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:09,159
Now Wolf can ask about it under oath. This lawsuit

195
00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:12,759
reopens everything. All those questions. Simon Rosenberg asked in twenty

196
00:09:12,759 --> 00:09:15,440
sixteen that Trump promised to press conference.

197
00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:17,399
Speaker 1: On the press conference that never happened.

198
00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:20,000
Speaker 2: The one that never happened. Now Wolf can ask them,

199
00:09:20,039 --> 00:09:21,720
what kind of visa did you have before your two

200
00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:24,919
thousand green card? Can we see the applications? How did

201
00:09:24,919 --> 00:09:27,600
you get that green card? Were you working illegally before

202
00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:28,320
you got your visa?

203
00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:32,279
Speaker 1: These are questions that could have massive political implications, and

204
00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:36,360
they've been successfully stonewalled for almost a decade.

205
00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:40,799
Speaker 2: And now a single ill advised threat letter has given

206
00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:44,720
a very knowledgeable, very motivated opponent the legal tools to

207
00:09:44,799 --> 00:09:47,000
force those answers into the public record.

208
00:09:47,159 --> 00:09:48,879
Speaker 1: So, at the end of the day, an attempt to

209
00:09:48,919 --> 00:09:52,039
control the narrative has led to a complete loss of control.

210
00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:55,840
Speaker 2: It's the definition of a backfire. By threatening to sue,

211
00:09:55,960 --> 00:09:59,360
they invited a lawsuit, by trying to hide, they've invited

212
00:09:59,399 --> 00:10:03,600
court mandate transparency, and by evading service. Now she's only

213
00:10:03,639 --> 00:10:06,399
helping Wolf prove his case that they're trying to obstruct

214
00:10:06,399 --> 00:10:07,039
the process.

215
00:10:07,279 --> 00:10:09,639
Speaker 1: So this is our question for you. We've seen the threat,

216
00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:12,360
the countersuit, and now the evasion. Do you think this

217
00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:14,840
will finally force the White House to confront these long

218
00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:18,279
standing questions about Epstein and Malania's past head on, or

219
00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:21,200
will the courts just step in deem her served and

220
00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:24,120
let the discovery process begin, letting the documents and the

221
00:10:24,159 --> 00:10:27,200
depositions tell the story. Let us know what you think.