Introduction
Paolo Zampolli (Italian-USian, born March 5, 1970, Milan, Italy) is the United States Special Envoy for Global Partnerships under Donald John Trump and a member of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees. [1][2] Paolo Zampolli founded the New York modelling agency ID Model Management in the mid-1990s, sponsored Melania Knauss’s H-1B work visa in 1996, and introduced Melania Knauss to Donald Trump at a party he hosted in September 1998. [1][3] His successive US government appointments across both Trump administrations trace directly to that three-decade personal friendship rather than to any prior diplomatic or policy experience. [1][2]
Paolo Zampolli now lives primarily in Washington DC in a reported $17 million Georgetown home, the walls of which are said to be filled with photographs of him and Donald Trump. [74][108] Paolo Zampolli’s name appears in 11 documents in the Department of Justice’s 2026 Epstein file releases, alongside a 2011 email in which Jeffrey Epstein warned an Emirati correspondent: “Be careful, zampoli is trouble. Lots.” [6][15] He has never been criminally charged. The New York Times reported on March 20, 2026 that he used access to a senior federal immigration official to have the mother of his teenage son deported during a custody dispute, a claim he denies. [5] He is referenced but not named as a defendant in a 2018 federal RICO complaint in the Southern District of New York concerning Harvey Weinstein’s defence strategy. [7][8]
Between April 7 and April 19, 2026, the Paolo Zampolli file went from long-running background scandal to active political crisis. His former partner Amanda Ungaro, deported to Brazil in 2025, returned to public attention by posting direct threats at First Lady Melania Trump on X, stating that the First Lady knew Amanda Ungaro had been inside ICE detention and accusing Donald Trump of sex crimes. [59][62] Two days later, on April 9, 2026, Melania Trump delivered a statement from the White House Grand Foyer denying any friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and rejecting suggestions that Jeffrey Epstein introduced her to Donald Trump. [58][108] Paolo Zampolli publicly offered to testify before Congress under oath to support her account. [55][52] Amanda Ungaro gave a sequence of interviews to El País, O Globo, the Miami Herald, Newsweek, and the Courier in which she described Paolo Zampolli as a recruiter of young women for Jeffrey Epstein, alleged that Paolo Zampolli harassed her from the age of 15, and stated she had agreed to testify before the House Oversight Committee. [16][56][60][61] Amanda Ungaro is scheduled to appear on the Italian state broadcaster RAI’s investigative programme Report on April 19, 2026, which the programme’s director has trailed as containing “explosive revelations at an international level.” [64]
Paolo Zampolli Family Background
Paolo Zampolli is an only child. [67][72] His father Giovanni Zampolli (Italian, born unknown, Italy; died 1988, Saint Moritz, Switzerland) was an Italian entrepreneur and the founder of the Milan-based toy company Harbert. [82][84] Harbert held the Italian distribution rights for major USian toy brands including Star Wars action figures manufactured by Kenner under licence from Hasbro, Easy-Bake Ovens marketed in Italy as Dolce Forno, and a wide range of Hasbro and Marvel Comics merchandise. [66][68][84] Harbert became one of the most recognisable toy brands in Italian retail during the 1970s and 1980s, and made the Zampolli family wealthy. [66][68] Paolo Zampolli began his working life as a child testing prototypes at Harbert and selecting which toys the company would launch into the Italian market. [67]
Paolo Zampolli spent part of his childhood at the Zampolli family castle in Azzate, a municipality in the province of Varese in Lombardy. [1] Paolo Zampolli has claimed a distant familial relation to Pope Paul VI, born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini (Italian, born September 26, 1897, Concesio, Italy; died August 6, 1978, Castel Gandolfo, Italy), through his grandmother. [1] No genealogical documentation of this claim appears in available public sources; it is self-reported.
Giovanni Zampolli died in a skiing accident in 1988, when Paolo Zampolli was 18 years old. [73][76] One source places the accident at Saint Moritz, Switzerland. [1] No information about Paolo Zampolli’s mother appears in any public source consulted for this profile; her name, nationality, and current circumstances are undocumented. Paolo Zampolli has described himself in interviews as an only child raised in a wealthy Milanese family. [72]
As a child, Paolo Zampolli had a personal connection to John Casablancas (French-Danish, born December 3, 1942, New York City; died July 20, 2013, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), the founder of Elite Model Management. Paolo Zampolli told Vanity Fair in 2001: “I had John Casablancas spending the summer with me when I was a kid.” [66][68][71] John Casablancas corroborated this, saying of Paolo Zampolli: “I’ve known Paolo from before the beginning.” [66][68][71] This childhood acquaintance predates the later professional relationship between the two men, and connects Paolo Zampolli’s origins to one of the most extensively documented predatory networks in the history of the modelling industry.
After Giovanni Zampolli’s death in 1988, Paolo Zampolli left college to take over Harbert. [66][68][76] He later told the New York Times that Milan felt “too small” for him. [72] Paolo Zampolli then sold Harbert to a group controlled by Silvio Berlusconi (Italian, born September 29, 1936, Milan; died June 12, 2023, Milan), the television magnate, property developer, and future three-time Prime Minister of Italy. [1][66][68]
Silvio Berlusconi was a documented member of Propaganda Due (P2), the illegal Italian freemasonic lodge whose grandmaster Licio Gelli (Italian, born April 21, 1919, Pistoia; died December 15, 2015, Arezzo) ran the organisation from the late 1960s until Italian magistrates raided his villa in Arezzo on March 17, 1981. [85][86][87] The raid, initiated during an investigation into the financial crimes of Michele Sindona (Italian, born May 8, 1920, Patti, Sicily; died March 22, 1986, Voghera prison, poisoned in his cell after conviction for ordering a murder), uncovered a membership list of 962 names that read as a directory of the Italian power structure. [87][88][89]
The list included 44 members of parliament, three sitting cabinet ministers, 49 bankers, numerous industrialists, all three heads of Italy’s secret intelligence services, and more than 200 military and police officers including 12 generals of the Carabinieri, five of the Guardia di Finanza, 22 army generals, and four from the air force. [87][88] Named individuals on the list included General Giuseppe Santovito, head of SISMI, Italy’s military intelligence service; Admiral Giovanni Torrisi, Chief of the Defence Staff; Roberto Calvi (Italian, born April 13, 1920, Milan; died June 18, 1982, London, found hanging beneath Blackfriars Bridge while fleeing prosecution for the Banco Ambrosiano collapse); Michele Sindona himself; Pietro Musumeci, the deputy director of SISMI later convicted of attempting to mislead the investigation into the 1980 Bologna railway station bombing that killed 85 people; Maurizio Costanzo, a journalist and television presenter for Silvio Berlusconi’s Mediaset network; Franco Di Bella, the director of Corriere della Sera; Angelo Rizzoli, the owner of Corriere della Sera; Adolfo Sarti, Italy’s Minister of Justice from 1980 to 1981, who resigned when his P2 membership was made public; and Victor Emmanuel, Prince of Naples, the then head of the House of Savoy. [85][87][88][90] Silvio Berlusconi joined P2 in 1978 as membership number 1816, before he had entered formal politics. [88][89]
Licio Gelli, speaking in 1996 about Silvio Berlusconi’s then-current government, told a journalist: “He’s implementing my plan for democratic rebirth to perfection. He should at least give me copyright.” [94] The Italian parliament’s Anselmi Commission, directed by Tina Anselmi (Italian, born November 25, 1927, Castelfranco Veneto; died November 1, 2016), concluded that P2 was a criminal conspiracy aimed at subverting Italy’s democratic order. [88][89] P2 was implicated in the Bologna massacre, the Banco Ambrosiano collapse, the murders of journalist Carmine Pecorelli and banker Roberto Calvi, and the broader mani pulite (Clean Hands) bribery scandal that destroyed Italy’s postwar political class in the early 1990s. [85][87] The significance of the Silvio Berlusconi-P2 connection to Paolo Zampolli is not established in available sources beyond the transactional relationship of the Harbert sale. It is noted here as documented contextual information about the buyer of the Zampolli family business and the Italian political economy in which Paolo Zampolli first made his money. [66][68]
Paolo Zampolli Early Career and ID Models
Following the Harbert sale, Paolo Zampolli moved toward the modelling industry, a world he had been exposed to since childhood through John Casablancas. [66][68] In 1994, Paolo Zampolli organised the Look of the Year modelling contest in Ibiza, Spain, sponsored by Replay Jeans. [1][4] John Casablancas attended the contest and encouraged Paolo Zampolli to move to New York. [1][4]
Paolo Zampolli relocated to New York, rented an apartment in Union Square, and began working at Metropolitan Models. [1] Paolo Zampolli befriended Donald Trump during this period; both were fixtures of the same Manhattan nightclub circuit. [1][4] Paolo Zampolli described their shared sensibility to the New York Times: “We both like beautiful things.” [4] The two drank Diet Cokes together in the exclusive upstairs area of the restaurant Moomba and spent time at venues including Bowery Bar and Cipriani Downtown. [4][72]
Paolo Zampolli’s time at Metropolitan Models ended in 1997 when he sued his partner Thomas Zeumer, alleging that corporate funds were missing. The case was later dismissed. [11] Paolo Zampolli then acquired American Models and converted it into ID Model Management, founded in SoHo, Manhattan. [11][76]
ID Model Management recruited predominantly young international models from Eastern Europe and South America. [73][76] The agency sponsored US work visas for those models and provided housing. Multiple investigative accounts describe the agency’s structure as creating financial dependence between models and the agency through visa sponsorship, agency-arranged housing charged against model earnings, and debt accumulation. [73][76] Vanity Fair profiled the agency in 2001. [11] Among ID Model Management’s notable clients were Melania Knauss (Slovenian, born April 26, 1970, Novo Mesto, Slovenia) and Angela Everhart (USian, born September 27, 1969, Akron, Ohio), a Sports Illustrated model and actress. One ID model, Adriana Mucinska (Polish, born unknown, Poland), was documented in Gawker as having “spent time as arm candy for alleged masseuse fan Jeffrey Epstein” while represented by the agency. [73] Vicky Ward (British-USian journalist who profiled Jeffrey Epstein for Vanity Fair in 2002) has stated publicly that when she interviewed Paolo Zampolli for that profile, he was “totally open about the fact that, of course, he knew Jeffrey Epstein” and that his “biggest client” at ID Models was Les Wexner (USian, born September 8, 1937, Dayton, Ohio), Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime patron. [66][108]
In the early-to-mid 1990s, Paolo Zampolli accompanied John Casablancas on modelling scouting trips to Eastern Europe. The dates of specific trips are not established in available sources beyond a general reference in Vanity Fair. [66][68] A 2003 New York Post item, later surfaced in the 2026 DOJ releases among documents naming Paolo Zampolli, listed him among “the city’s most eligible guys” alongside Derek Jeter, Ethan Hawke, and Jimmy Fallon, describing him at 33 as “the Italian owner of ID Models” who “can usually be found sitting in a corner banquette of whatever club just opened, surrounded by a bevy of beauties.” [108]
Paolo Zampolli and Donald Trump
Paolo Zampolli and Donald Trump’s friendship was established by the mid-1990s and has persisted without documented interruption for over thirty years. [1][4] Donald Trump (USian, born June 14, 1946, Queens, New York City) was at the time a property developer and New York nightclub fixture.
In 1995, while on a scouting trip to Milan for Metropolitan Models, Paolo Zampolli met Melania Knauss, then a Slovenian model working in Europe. [1] Paolo Zampolli told the New York Times he asked Melania Knauss: “Would you like to come to New York to try the market?” He recalled her response: “I would be very interested.” [72] In 1996, Paolo Zampolli personally sponsored Melania Knauss’s H-1B work visa to the United States. [1][3] Paolo Zampolli told the Associated Press in 2016: “She qualified. We got her the H-1B as soon as she came. We used whatever she did before to get her a visa. She had enough tear sheets to qualify.” [3] Melania Knauss moved into Paolo Zampolli’s building at Zeckendorf Towers in Manhattan. [1]
In September 1998, Paolo Zampolli introduced Melania Knauss to Donald Trump at a party he hosted at the Kit Kat Club during New York Fashion Week. [1][4] Paolo Zampolli has described the moment consistently across multiple interviews: “I said: ‘Melania meet Donald, Donald meet Melania,’ and then I left the table because I had 300 guests.” [4][57]
Paolo Zampolli attended Donald Trump and Melania Knauss’s wedding at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, in January 2005, flying there on Donald Trump’s private jet. [4] Through Donald Trump, Paolo Zampolli became acquainted with Bill Clinton (USian, born William Jefferson Blythe III, August 19, 1946, Hope, Arkansas), forty-second President of the United States, and Bill Clinton’s associates including Ron Burkle (USian, born November 21, 1952, Pomona, California), the California billionaire investor and Clinton fundraiser. [1][4] Paolo Zampolli told a reporter he had met Bill Clinton “many, many, many” times and described meeting Hillary Rodham Clinton (USian, born October 26, 1947, Chicago, Illinois) at the Trump wedding through Huma Abedin (USian, born July 28, 1976, Kalamazoo, Michigan), Clinton’s longtime aide. [4] Bill Clinton told Paolo Zampolli directly: “I’m not coming to parties with me and the models.” [74]
Following the failed 2004 Elite Model Management acquisition, Donald Trump told Paolo Zampolli: “If you lose your supermodel, you go out of business. Paolo, you are too intelligent for a modeling agency.” [72] Donald Trump then invited Paolo Zampolli to join the Trump Organization, where Paolo Zampolli served as Director of International Development from December 2004. [1] Paolo Zampolli left to found Paramount Group, a real estate agency that used former ID Models models as property brokers to sell Manhattan properties. [1][11]
Paolo Zampolli has described his real estate sales as relying heavily on relationships with the Saudi royal family, specifically mentioning descendants of Ibn Saud (Saudi Arabian, full name Abdulaziz ibn Abdul Rahman ibn Faisal ibn Turki ibn Abdullah ibn Muhammad Al Saud, born c. 1875, Riyadh; died November 9, 1953, Taif), and told a reporter his network of VIP clients included Bill Clinton, Shimon Peres (Israeli, born August 2, 1923, Wiszniew, Poland; died September 28, 2016, Ramat Gan, Israel), Donald Trump, and “rulers of the Gulf.” [12] These are self-reported claims; no independent documentation of specific transactions with these figures appears in public records.
His Georgetown home’s walls are documented as being filled with photographs of Donald Trump, and his social media is described by the Daily Beast in April 2026 as being “peppered with pictures of Trump’s inner sanctum, from cabinet officials and FIFA bosses, to Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles and members of the Trump family.” [108] Paolo Zampolli was photographed alongside Anthony Lomangino (USian, sanitation and recycling businessman and Donald Trump nominee to the US Postal Service Board of Governors) at a Kennedy Center board lunch in the East Room of the White House on March 16, 2026, with Susie Wiles (USian, born Susan L. Summerall, May 14, 1957, Lake City, Florida) present. [130][133] Earlier in April 2026 Paolo Zampolli posted on Instagram: “I am honored to have been a friend of the President for more than 30 years, a friend of the First Lady for 29 years. Loyalty is king.” [57]
Paolo Zampolli and Government
Paolo Zampolli and the United Nations
In 2008, Paolo Zampolli hosted an event at UN headquarters in New York to raise money for the International Renewable Energy Organization. [1] The following year, in an interview with Diario de Ibiza, Paolo Zampolli described himself as an adviser to the United Nations on climate change and claimed involvement in negotiations surrounding the Kyoto Protocol, calling himself an “expert” on the subject. [1] No independent verification of this claimed advisory role appears in available sources. In a 2010 article, Paolo Zampolli described himself as “United Nations Associations Brazil Ambassador at Large.” [1]
In 2011, Paolo Zampolli was named Minister-Counsellor to the Permanent Mission of the Commonwealth of Dominica at the United Nations. [1] In October 2013, Roosevelt Skerrit (Dominican, born June 8, 1972, Vieille Case, Dominica), Prime Minister of Dominica, formally appointed Paolo Zampolli as United Nations Ambassador and Ambassador for Oceans and Seas for the Commonwealth of Dominica. [1] Paolo Zampolli is not a citizen of Dominica. [12] In June 2014, Keith Mitchell (Grenadian, born November 12, 1946, St. George’s, Grenada), Prime Minister of Grenada, appointed Amanda Ungaro as United Nations Ambassador for Grenada, in charge of post-2015 development agendas. [1][9] Amanda Ungaro was not a citizen of Grenada, was on a US visa sponsored by Paolo Zampolli, and had no prior diplomatic background. [16]
Paolo Zampolli and the First Trump Administration
In December 2020, Donald Trump appointed Paolo Zampolli to the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. [1] In January 2021, Paolo Zampolli was appointed to the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition. [1]
Paolo Zampolli and the Second Trump Administration
In February 2025, Paolo Zampolli began appearing in Italian press in connection with a claimed appointment as “special envoy to Italy.” Antonio Tajani (Italian, born August 4, 1956, Rome), Italy’s Foreign Minister, expressed public bewilderment, having learned of the appointment from the press rather than through diplomatic channels. Neither the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the Italian embassy in Washington, nor the USian embassy in Rome had been officially informed. [13] Paolo Zampolli told Italian outlet Il Giornale that the appointment had surprised even him: “The other day the president, in front of ten people, suddenly pointed to me and ordered me to be a special envoy.” [13]
In March 2025, Paolo Zampolli was formally named United States Special Representative for Global Partnerships by Donald Trump. [1][2] The Daily Beast has described the position as one that “appears to have been created specifically for him.” [109] In this capacity, Paolo Zampolli has undertaken the following documented activities through April 19, 2026. He has advocated for Russia’s reentry into global sports competition. He participated in mineral deal negotiations with Uzbekistan. He joined the USian delegation to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2026, where he brought a miniature of Arturo Di Modica’s Charging Bull sculpture. He returned to Tashkent, Uzbekistan on January 23, 2026 to attend the 46th General Assembly of the Olympic Council of Asia. He visited Budapest, Hungary, on March 17-19, 2026, where he held meetings with Balázs Hankó (Hungarian, Minister of Culture and Innovation) and Daniel Gyurta (Hungarian, Director of Sports Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade). He travelled to Hungary alongside JD Vance (USian, born James Donald Bowman, August 2, 1984, Middletown, Ohio), Vice President of the United States, for meetings connected to Viktor Orbán (Hungarian, born May 31, 1963, Székesfehérvár, Hungary), Prime Minister of Hungary. [1][108][111][112] The Hungarian visit took place in the final weeks of Viktor Orbán’s unsuccessful re-election campaign, which was subsequently won by the Tisza Party.
Italian commentators and officials noted that the role of “special envoy” is conventionally reserved for critical diplomatic situations such as peace negotiations or specific policy areas like climate change, and that Paolo Zampolli’s appointment fit neither category. [13] Italian Senator Claudio Lotito (Italian, born March 30, 1957, Rome), a Forza Italia senator described by Italian media as a longstanding friend of Paolo Zampolli’s, was among the few Italian politicians Paolo Zampolli met privately during his early post-appointment visits to Italy. [82]
Paolo Zampolli and Business
Paolo Zampolli’s wealth origins are largely self-reported and not independently verified in public records. He inherited Harbert from Giovanni Zampolli and sold it to a Silvio Berlusconi-affiliated group in the late 1980s. The sale price has not been publicly disclosed. [1] His lifestyle, documented across multiple press profiles, includes a Gramercy Park townhouse in New York decorated with works attributed to Canaletto, Giorgio de Chirico, and Picasso, a reported $17 million Georgetown home, a large oil painting of Donald Trump prominently displayed, and regular dining at Cipriani restaurants. [4][12][74] Paolo Zampolli reportedly brought a chef from Cipriani to Washington upon moving there. [74] No verified financial statements, property records, or tax filings appear in publicly available sources.
Paolo Zampolli and Dominica
Paolo Zampolli’s Dominica UN role intersected with the island nation’s citizenship-by-investment programme, which allows foreign nationals to purchase Dominica citizenship for fees starting at $100,000. Paolo Zampolli was involved in promoting the Cabrits Resort Kempinski development in Dominica, a government-backed real estate project linked to the economic passport scheme. [14] Citizenship-by-investment programmes have attracted sustained criticism from law enforcement and international regulatory bodies for facilitating passport acquisition by individuals seeking to avoid criminal accountability in their home jurisdictions. [14] No specific finding of wrongdoing attaches to Paolo Zampolli in connection with the Dominica scheme in available public records.
Paolo Zampolli and John Casablancas
John Casablancas was the founder of Elite Model Management, the most powerful modelling agency in the world during the 1980s and 1990s, and the man who shaped Paolo Zampolli’s entry into the modelling industry from childhood. John Casablancas is documented as having publicly and repeatedly used his agency’s access to underage girls for his own sexual exploitation, as having narrated the suspicious deaths of two of his models under circumstances that were never independently investigated, and as having overseen an agency culture that institutionalised the sexual abuse of child models. [64]
John Casablancas is documented to have begun a public sexual relationship with Stephanie Seymour (USian, born July 23, 1968, San Diego, California) when Stephanie Seymour was 15 or 16 years old and John Casablancas was 41 or 42 and still married. John Casablancas threw Stephanie Seymour a party at a cocaine-fuelled nightclub in Milan on her 16th birthday and within a week moved her in with him. John Casablancas described Stephanie Seymour publicly: “The way she developed, there’s a quality that developed about her that is this incredible sensuality that a woman-child has, a true woman-child. Her voice is a child’s, her attitudes, the way she holds her feet and her hands are those of a child, at the same time with an incredible sensuality to it. And that mixture was and is so explosive. This was something like a forbidden fruit for both of us.” Stephanie Seymour’s parents eventually intervened and ended the relationship after approximately two years. [64]
In 1993, when John Casablancas was approximately 50 years old, he married Aline Mendonça de Carvalho Wermelinger (Brazilian, born c. 1975, Brazil), a 17-year-old model who had won John Casablancas’s own Elite Model Look contest in Brazil in 1992. Their children together were John Jr., Fernando Augusto, and Nina Casablancas. [64]
Two of John Casablancas’s top Elite models, Paula Brenken and Emmanuel Dano, died under suspicious circumstances in the early 1970s shortly after Elite opened. Paula Brenken died after allegedly diving out a window in a drunken state on the night after she had told friends she had been raped by a photographer. Emmanuel Dano died after allegedly falling out of a moving car while, in John Casablancas’s account, fending off a gang rape attempt. John Casablancas claimed both to have provided the only accounts of their deaths and to have discovered Emmanuel Dano’s body in her bed, a statement inconsistent with his claim that she died falling from a moving vehicle. Police investigations in both cases were insufficient. [64]
Marie Anderson Boyd (USian), vice president of Elite Model Management’s Chicago office from 1985 to 1990, stated that models regularly reported sexual misconduct experienced at industry events, and that Marie Anderson Boyd never passed these reports to management “in part because executives like John Casablancas and Gérald Marie also engaged.” Marie Anderson Boyd told New York Magazine that she remembered watching two female executives plead with John Casablancas and Gérald Marie (French, born 1948) to stop raping child models. John Casablancas and Gérald Marie’s documented response was: “We are men. We have our needs.” [64]
Elite Model Look, launched by John Casablancas in 1983, accepted contestants aged 14 to 25. These young women and girls were presented before panels of judges that regularly included Donald Trump and John Casablancas. Witness Barbara Pilling (British), an Elite model, recalled Donald Trump asking her age at one such event in the summer of 1989 and responding, when she said she was 17: “That’s just great. You’re not too old, not too young.” [64]
The relationship between John Casablancas and Paolo Zampolli began in Paolo Zampolli’s childhood. John Casablancas spent summers at the Zampolli family home, and Paolo Zampolli later told Vanity Fair in 2001: “I had John Casablancas spending the summer with me when I was a kid.” John Casablancas confirmed: “I’ve known Paolo from before the beginning.” [66][68][71] Paolo Zampolli accompanied John Casablancas on Eastern European model scouting trips in the early-to-mid 1990s, the dates of which are not established in available sources. [66][68] In 2004, Paolo Zampolli and Jeffrey Epstein jointly attempted to purchase Elite Model Management at bankruptcy auction, with Jeffrey Epstein providing financial backing. The winning bid came from Creative World, owned by Eddie Trump and Jules Trump, who are unrelated to Donald Trump. [64]
Paolo Zampolli and Ron Burkle
In 2006, Paolo Zampolli arranged a meeting between Ron Burkle and Jared Paul Stern (USian), a New York Post gossip columnist who contributed to Page Six. Ron Burkle had been the subject of repeated critical coverage in Page Six, and Paolo Zampolli hoped to broker a relationship between Ron Burkle and Page Six editor Richard Johnson (USian) to improve Ron Burkle’s coverage. Paolo Zampolli and his agency had appeared in Page Six “close to 54 times” in one year. [1]
Ron Burkle secretly videotaped the meetings with Jared Paul Stern using a security team led by a former Secret Service agent formerly employed by Bill Clinton and then working as head of security at Ron Burkle’s investment firm Yucaipa Companies. [49] Ron Burkle subsequently alleged to the FBI that Jared Paul Stern had attempted to extort money from him in exchange for favourable Page Six coverage, resulting in a criminal complaint and FBI investigation. [1][41] Jared Paul Stern denied extortion and counter-claimed that Ron Burkle had staged the meetings as a trap. [49] Jared Paul Stern later filed a civil lawsuit against Ron Burkle, the New York Daily News, Mike Sitrick (USian, public relations executive), and Bill and Hillary Clinton, alleging defamation. [49] No criminal charges were filed against Jared Paul Stern. The FBI investigation outcome was not publicly resolved. [44] No criminal charges were brought against Paolo Zampolli. His role was that of arranger: it was Paolo Zampolli who brought Jared Paul Stern and Ron Burkle together, and it was the resulting meeting that generated the extortion allegation and FBI complaint. [1][42]
Paolo Zampolli and Harvey Weinstein
Paolo Zampolli described Harvey Weinstein (USian, born March 19, 1952, Flushing, Queens, New York City) to the Daily Beast as “a very frequent client” of his habitual dining venue, Giuseppe Cipriani’s restaurant properties in Manhattan. [102] According to a source quoted in the same Daily Beast investigation, the relationship between Harvey Weinstein and Giuseppe Cipriani (Italian, born August 12, 1965, Venice) was characterised by the observation: “They both liked power, money, and beautiful women.” [102] Giuseppe Cipriani’s properties, at which Paolo Zampolli dined twice daily by his own account, are alleged by multiple Harvey Weinstein accusers to have served as Harvey Weinstein’s primary hunting ground for victims. Harvey Weinstein faces accusations of three sexual assaults at Cipriani properties and was charged in connection with a fourth assault involving a woman he met at Cipriani Upstairs in Manhattan. [102]
Paolo Zampolli told the Daily Beast that he had a “falling-out” with Harvey Weinstein and wanted to “bury” him. [97] In October 2017, within days of the New York Times publishing its initial investigation into Harvey Weinstein’s decades of sexual abuse, Paolo Zampolli contacted women he knew had been assaulted by Harvey Weinstein and urged them to contact Benjamin Brafman (USian criminal defence attorney), presenting Benjamin Brafman as a lawyer who would represent Harvey Weinstein’s victims. [7][8][51][52]
The RICO complaint filed in the Southern District of New York in June 2018 presents a more complicated picture of what Paolo Zampolli was actually doing and why. The complaint states that “Weinstein and/or an attorney from Brafman sought the assistance of Ambassador Paolo Zampolli, a mutual acquaintance of the women.” [51] That framing, in which Harvey Weinstein or Benjamin Brafman’s office recruited Paolo Zampolli for this task rather than Paolo Zampolli acting independently, sits in direct tension with Paolo Zampolli’s stated motive of wanting to destroy Harvey Weinstein. The practical result of Paolo Zampolli’s calls was that Harvey Weinstein’s accusers surrendered their evidence to Harvey Weinstein’s own defence lawyer. Paolo Zampolli’s stated motive (a personal feud and a desire to “bury” Harvey Weinstein) and the actual outcome (Harvey Weinstein obtained his accusers’ evidence against him) are directly contradictory, and the RICO complaint’s framing raises the question of whether Paolo Zampolli was enlisted to facilitate the deception rather than acting against Harvey Weinstein. The complaint does not resolve this contradiction, and Paolo Zampolli has not been charged. [51][57]
An audio recording of Paolo Zampolli’s call with Melissa Thompson (USian, tech executive and Harvey Weinstein accuser) was made by Melissa Thompson and provided to the New York Times. In the recording, Paolo Zampolli told Melissa Thompson: “You gonna be represented by the biggest lawyer that existed in United States history. There are all these girls, and they’re getting together and they’re being represented by Benjamin Brafman.” [52] On the same call, according to the RICO complaint, Paolo Zampolli “described a feud he had, pitting a team of Hillary Clinton and Harvey Weinstein against a team of Zampolli and Donald Trump. Zampolli described threats Weinstein had purportedly made against Zampolli and his family. Zampolli described a campaign of fear apparently designed (for purposes of the call) to make Thompson believe that Zampolli was on her side against Weinstein.” [51] The complaint states that Paolo Zampolli made similar calls to at least two other Harvey Weinstein assault victims: Caitlin Dulany (USian actress, who alleges Harvey Weinstein raped her at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival) and Larissa Gomes (Canadian actress, who alleges Harvey Weinstein assaulted her in a Toronto hotel room in 2000). [51][57]
Melissa Thompson and the other women went to Benjamin Brafman’s firm, presented evidence of Harvey Weinstein’s assaults, and were interviewed about their encounters. Benjamin Brafman had been secretly retained as Harvey Weinstein’s criminal defence attorney. Melissa Thompson’s video evidence of Harvey Weinstein’s assault was delivered directly to Harvey Weinstein’s own legal defence team. [57][59][60]
The RICO complaint was filed by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP on behalf of Melissa Thompson, Caitlin Dulany, and Larissa Gomes, naming Brafman and Associates as a participant in the Harvey Weinstein sexual enterprise and detailing how victims were deceived into surrendering evidence. [57] Paolo Zampolli is not a defendant in that complaint. He is described as “a mutual acquaintance of the women” used to facilitate contact. [51] No criminal charges were brought against Paolo Zampolli. He called the recording of his conversation with Melissa Thompson “fake news.” [52]
Benjamin Brafman denied in a public statement that his firm represented Melissa Thompson or that Benjamin Brafman personally met with her or any of the other named women. Benjamin Brafman stated that Alex Spiro (USian attorney, then at Brafman and Associates, later at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart and Sullivan), the attorney Melissa Thompson believed she was communicating with, was not a partner but an associate who had left the firm in September 2017. Alex Spiro denied ever representing Harvey Weinstein. [59]
Harvey Weinstein was convicted in February 2020 in New York State Supreme Court of rape in the third degree and criminal sexual assault in the first degree, receiving a 23-year sentence. The primary complainant whose testimony resulted in conviction was Evgeniya Chernyshova (Russian model and actress). Harvey Weinstein received additional rape convictions in Los Angeles County Superior Court in 2023. Harvey Weinstein’s original New York convictions were overturned on appeal in 2024 on procedural grounds; a retrial began in 2025. [7][8][101]
Paolo Zampolli and Jeffrey Epstein
The following account is drawn from documents in the DOJ Epstein file release, named press reporting, and the FBI record cited in note [10]. Paolo Zampolli has not been charged with any offence in connection with Jeffrey Epstein (USian, born January 20, 1953, Brooklyn, New York City; died August 10, 2019, Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York City), who pleaded guilty in 2008 to Florida state charges of soliciting prostitution from a minor and who died in federal custody in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking and rape trafficking charges.
Paolo Zampolli, Jeffrey Epstein, and ID Models
Jeffrey Epstein patronised Paolo Zampolli’s ID Model Management and provided financial backing for Paolo Zampolli’s 2004 attempt to purchase Elite Model Management from John Casablancas. [1][6] An FBI proffer document (identifier EFTA00105195, from a cooperating witness interview) confirms Paolo Zampolli’s role in Jeffrey Epstein’s modelling industry connections. [6] One ID Model, Adriana Mucinska, was documented as having “spent time as arm candy for alleged masseuse fan Jeffrey Epstein” while represented by the agency. [73] Paolo Zampolli described the business relationship to the Daily Beast in April 2026: “For me, Jeffrey Epstein was a financial partner of Victoria’s Secret. I had to deal with him.” [108] He cited Les Wexner’s lingerie business as the commercial context. “We never get along, thank God. But I had to have a very cordial relationship.” [108] Vicky Ward has publicly confirmed, based on her 2002 interview with Paolo Zampolli, that Les Wexner was Paolo Zampolli’s “biggest client” at ID Models during the period in question. [66]
Paolo Zampolli, Jeffrey Epstein, and the DOJ File Appearances
Paolo Zampolli’s name appears in 11 documents in the Epstein investigation case files, including court filings, FBI reports, and DOJ releases. Paolo Zampolli’s name does not appear in Jeffrey Epstein’s flight logs or in emails authored by Paolo Zampolli that are currently part of the investigation. [6][15]
In a 2011 email, Jeffrey Epstein warned an Emirati businessman identified as Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem (Emirati, born November 2, 1956, Dubai, UAE): “Be careful, zampoli is trouble. Lots. He sells stories to the press.” [6][15][65] Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, formerly chair and CEO of DP World, was himself removed from that position in February 2026 after separate emails surfaced in the 2026 DOJ release referencing a “torture video” he had shared with Jeffrey Epstein. [74]
Paolo Zampolli’s name appears in the Department of Justice’s letter to congressional judiciary committee leadership listing all public figures named in the Epstein investigation files. The letter explicitly noted that individuals appear “in a wide variety of contexts,” including individuals who had “extensive direct email contact with Epstein or Maxwell” and others “mentioned only in a portion of a document (including press reporting) that on its face is unrelated to the Epstein and Maxwell matters.” [15] The letter did not specify in which category Paolo Zampolli’s appearances fall. Paolo Zampolli told the New York Times in response to his presence on the list: “At least I was included, because if you’re not on the list, you’re a loser, right?” [65]
Paolo Zampolli and Ghislaine Maxwell
In 2013, Paolo Zampolli partnered with Ghislaine Maxwell (British, born December 25, 1961, Maisons-Laffitte, France) on an initiative called the Sustainable Oceans Alliance, which was directly linked to Ghislaine Maxwell’s TerraMar Project. The TerraMar Project was a nonprofit Ghislaine Maxwell founded in 2012, later used as cover for international travel as her exposure in the Epstein investigation widened. [6] Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted in December 2021 on five of six federal counts, including sex trafficking of a minor, for her role in Jeffrey Epstein’s rape trafficking operation. She is serving a 20-year sentence. [6] No criminal finding connects Paolo Zampolli to Ghislaine Maxwell’s offences.
Paolo Zampolli, Jeffrey Epstein, and the Trump Introduction
An FBI record dated November 2019, documenting a July 2019 interview with a witness whose name was redacted and who was given immunity to speak, contains the following passage: “[Redacted] put [redacted] in contact with an agent named PAOLO ZEMPOLI who worked with ‘ID Models.’” The document then states, after intervening redactions: “ZEMPOLI was trying to buy Elite Models with EPSTEIN. EPSTEIN introduced MELANIA TRUMP to DONALD TRUMP.” [10]
This account, if accurate, directly contradicts Paolo Zampolli’s central public claim. Paolo Zampolli disputes the account and publicly offered to testify before Congress under oath following Melania Trump’s White House statement on Epstein on April 9, 2026. The White House, in response to press questions about the document, pointed to a DOJ disclaimer stating that the public Epstein file production may include unverified material submitted to the FBI, including documents submitted before the 2020 election. [10] Amanda Ungaro has publicly stated that she does not believe Paolo Zampolli made the introduction and has described the Zampolli-introduction account as a “false narrative” that may have been part of a “specific agreement” between Paolo Zampolli and Melania Trump. [60][61] Those statements are covered in the Amanda Ungaro section below.
Paolo Zampolli and the Fedez Lawsuit
Paolo Zampolli filed a lawsuit in Italy in late March 2026 against Federico Leonardo Lucia (Italian, born October 15, 1989, Milan), known professionally as Fedez, seeking five million euros in damages. [125] The lawsuit followed a recording on Fedez’s podcast Pulp Podcast, co-hosted with the Italian host known as Mr. Marra, in which Fedez discussed Paolo Zampolli’s appearance in the Epstein files. Fedez also associated Paolo Zampolli with the word “Killer” on a social media post connected to the podcast. [121][125] Paolo Zampolli filed a criminal complaint (querela) in Italy, alleging the podcast damaged his reputation by associating him with the Epstein investigation. Fedez responded on Instagram: “We haven’t associated anything. Zampolli is in the Epstein files. Pulp is the only information channel in Italy that had the audacity to report the news regarding this entrepreneur, who now seeks to intimidate by having it picked up by the press.” [125]
On April 8, 2026, Paolo Zampolli gave an interview to Adnkronos, the Italian news agency, in which he invoked the Trump administration’s “Catch and Revoke” programme, a State Department initiative introduced in March 2025 under Secretary of State Marco Rubio (USian, born May 28, 1971, Miami, Florida) that uses artificial intelligence tools to monitor the digital activity of foreign nationals in the US, targeting posts or images that may lead to visa denials or expulsions. Paolo Zampolli told Adnkronos: “If they do not give him a visa, that is not something that depends on me. In my house, Fedez is not a welcome person.” Paolo Zampolli added: “Threatening US public officials, including employees of the White House or other federal agencies, triggers criminal proceedings that could go well beyond simply closing an account.” [113][116] The statement drew criticism in Italian press as a US Special Envoy publicly signalling that a visa decision for an Italian citizen should be tied to that citizen’s journalistic commentary about his own conduct.
Paolo Zampolli and Amanda Ungaro
Amanda Ungaro and the Epstein Plane
Amanda Ungaro (Brazilian, born April 1984, Londrina, Paraná, Brazil) began her modelling career at age 13. [9] Her father was a public clerk in Londrina. [9] She left Brazil at 13 to pursue modelling. [16] As a teenager she was flown to New York from Paris on a plane owned by Jeffrey Epstein. Her agent at the time, Jean-Luc Brunel (French, born October 6, 1946, Neuilly-sur-Seine; died February 19, 2022, La Santé prison, Paris), boarded the flight with her. Jean-Luc Brunel was subsequently identified by the US Department of Justice as a scout and procurer of young women for Jeffrey Epstein, and died by suicide in his cell at La Santé prison in Paris in February 2022 while awaiting trial on charges of rape and sexual assault of minors. [9][16][66]
Amanda Ungaro recalled the flight in an interview with O Globo, published in March 2026. “My agent told me, ‘We’re going with a couple of friends, a private plane just for us.’” She continued: “There were around 30 very young women there, 14, 15, 16 years old. I said, ‘What is this?’ And he replied, ‘Don’t worry.’” [65] In a separate account she described her own impression: “There were around 30 girls on the plane. I found it very strange. They looked more like students than models, beautiful and very young, but not with a model profile.” [11][16] Amanda Ungaro said she interacted directly with no one on the flight apart from the hosts, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. [65] Jeffrey Epstein asked Amanda Ungaro her age and hometown during the flight. In her account, Ghislaine Maxwell reacted emphatically at this exchange. [16]
Vicky Ward, the journalist who wrote the original Vanity Fair profile of Jeffrey Epstein, clarified Amanda Ungaro’s role in the network when she discussed the case on WBUR’s On Point: Amanda Ungaro was not recruited by Jeffrey Epstein directly. Jean-Luc Brunel recruited her. Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell flew her to the United States. [66] Amanda Ungaro was then signed to Paolo Zampolli’s ID Models upon her arrival in New York. [9]
Paolo Zampolli and Amanda Ungaro: Relationship History
Paolo Zampolli’s relationship with Amanda Ungaro began in 2002 in Manhattan. Paolo Zampolli was 32. According to the publicly stated account in O Globo and repeated in subsequent reporting, Amanda Ungaro was 17 at the time. [1][9][57] In her April 18, 2026 interview with the Courier (American Freakshow), however, Amanda Ungaro stated directly: “The first time I had contact with Paolo Zampolli was when I was 15 years old.” [61] She further alleges in the same interview that Paolo Zampolli harassed her “in an attempt to pursue an intimate relationship” when she was 15. [60][61] Paolo Zampolli denies this and all other allegations she has made against him. [60][61] According to Folha de S.Paulo, Paolo Zampolli and Amanda Ungaro married; Paolo Zampolli has stated that no marriage occurred. [1] They have one documented son, Giovanni Zampolli, born in 2010. [1][9] Amanda Ungaro has stated that Paolo Zampolli kept her unmarried deliberately, leaving her without a path to US citizenship. [66] Paolo Zampolli denies this. Vicky Ward has stated on air that Amanda Ungaro “never married Paolo Zampolli because which is why she doesn’t have U.S. citizenship.” [66]
Amanda Ungaro has alleged that Paolo Zampolli held the prospect of marriage and a path to US citizenship over her head as leverage throughout their relationship and that her visa expired in 2019, leaving her immigration status dependent on circumstances Paolo Zampolli controlled. [69][115]
Paolo Zampolli and Amanda Ungaro attended Donald Trump’s first inauguration in January 2017 and sat at Melania Trump’s table during the inaugural dinner. [1] Both held concurrent UN ambassador appointments: Paolo Zampolli representing Dominica and Amanda Ungaro representing Grenada. [1][9] Amanda Ungaro told O Globo: “When Trump won in 2016, Paolo acted like he had been elected, too. We were suddenly invited everywhere. At New Year’s parties at Mar-a-Lago, we and one other couple were the only ones at the table with Trump and Melania.” [11] The two couples rang in New Year’s 2022 together at Mar-a-Lago. [11]
Permanent separation is documented by 2021. [1] In 2023, after Paolo Zampolli made headlines for explicit text messages he allegedly sent to a sex worker, Amanda Ungaro ended the relationship definitively, moved to Aventura, Florida, and married a Brazilian physician. [16] A custody dispute over Giovanni Zampolli, by then a teenager, followed. Amanda Ungaro has stated publicly that she maintained a personal relationship with Melania Trump’s parents and that Melania Trump sent Secret Service agents to congratulate Amanda Ungaro’s son on his birthday in 2016, marking the depth of the relationship between the two families. [59][62]
Amanda Ungaro stated in media interviews in 2026 that she had attended events hosted by Sean John Combs (USian, born November 4, 1969, Harlem, New York City) during her years in Paolo Zampolli’s social orbit. [39]
Paolo Zampolli, Amanda Ungaro, and ICE
In June 2025, Amanda Ungaro and her husband were arrested in Miami on fraud-related charges connected to allegedly unlicensed cosmetic surgery procedures at a clinic. [9][16] The arrests followed an anonymous tip. [20]
According to reporting by the New York Times, published March 20, 2026, and corroborated by records and a person familiar with communications: after learning that Amanda Ungaro had been arrested and was being held in a Miami jail, Paolo Zampolli contacted David Venturella (USian, senior official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement and a former executive at the private prison company GEO Group, overseeing immigration detention centres at the time). Paolo Zampolli explained to David Venturella that Amanda Ungaro was in the United States without valid immigration status and asked whether she could be placed in ICE custody, with the purpose of gaining an advantage in the custody dispute over Giovanni Zampolli. [5][15] David Venturella subsequently called ICE’s Miami field office and directed agents to pick up Amanda Ungaro from the jail before she could be released. During that call, David Venturella noted that the matter was important to someone with close ties to the White House. [5][15]
Paolo Zampolli also separately attempted to contact Corey Lewandowski (USian, born September 18, 1973, Lowell, Massachusetts), a Trump political operative then serving as a senior adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (USian, born Kristi Lynn Arnold, November 30, 1971, Watertown, South Dakota). Corey Lewandowski did not respond and told reporters he had never heard of Paolo Zampolli. [5][115]
Amanda Ungaro was placed in ICE custody and transferred to a detention centre in Miami. She described her first day to El País: “I spent the whole day crying.” [16] Inside detention, Amanda Ungaro described witnessing an elderly detainee handcuffed to a wheelchair, a woman who miscarried and waited a prolonged period before receiving medical care, and numerous individuals with valid residency permits who nonetheless remained in custody. [16] After three and a half months in ICE detention in Miami, Amanda Ungaro was transferred to a facility in Louisiana, then deported to Brazil. She told El País: “It was not enough for him to destroy me during 20 years of relationship: he wanted to destroy me again when I started a new life, when I got married.” [16] Amanda Ungaro told O Globo that when she returned to Brazil, she had nothing except the prison uniform she was wearing. [16] The Department of Homeland Security has stated that Amanda Ungaro and Giovanni Zampolli are “together” in Brazil. [115]
Paolo Zampolli confirmed to the New York Times that he had contacted David Venturella but rejected the characterisation that he sought Amanda Ungaro’s deportation: “I asked David what was going on because I did not know the process.” [14] Paolo Zampolli told the Daily Beast: “My ex is a criminal and a psychopath. She was arrested. She was illegal.” [22] The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement: “Any suggestion that she was arrested and removed for political reasons or favors is FALSE.” [14] A spokesperson for Melania Trump stated that Melania Trump “has no knowledge of, nor involvement in, the personal affairs of Mr. Zampoli and Ms. Ungaro” and confirmed that Melania Trump had no contact with ICE. [16]
Amanda Ungaro’s April 2026 Public Account
Between April 7 and April 19, 2026, Amanda Ungaro went public in a way that reshaped the political contour of the Paolo Zampolli file.
On April 7, 2026, Amanda Ungaro posted the following direct message to Melania Trump on X: “I was around you for 20 years. You knew I was inside ICE. And you know what hurts.” [58][62] The following day she tagged the First Lady’s X account and referred to Donald Trump as “your pedophile husband.” [58] She added: “I will tear down your corrupt system, even if it’s the last thing I do in my life. I will go all the way, I am not afraid. Maybe you should be afraid of what I know, of who you are, and who your husband is.” [16] On a separate post she wrote: “You were aware of my detention by ICE. You were involved in my life, every year on my son’s birthday, even sending Secret Service agents to be the first to congratulate him in 2016.” [59][62] On April 13, 2026 she shared a screenshot of the 2011 Jeffrey Epstein email “Be careful, zampoli is trouble. Lots.” and added the caption: “Investigate the investigator.” [65]
On April 9, 2026, Melania Trump delivered a statement from the Grand Foyer of the White House. [58][108] Marc Beckman (USian), senior advisor to the First Lady, told Reuters that Melania Trump felt compelled to speak out because “enough is enough. The lies must end.” [59] In her remarks, Melania Trump stated: “To be clear, I never had relations with Epstein or his accomplice Maxwell. I have 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. Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump. I met my husband by accident.” [52] The same day, Paolo Zampolli told the Trump 100 podcast on Sky News, hosted by Mark Stone and Martha Kelner: “I’m ready to testify in front of Congress if I’m asked to and I’ll say the truth, because this is total nonsense. As an American citizen, I’m here to say the truth without any problem.” [55] Amanda Ungaro’s O Globo interview and her subsequent El País interview had been scheduled for publication the same weekend as the Melania Trump White House statement. [59]
Amanda Ungaro then gave a sequence of interviews across multiple jurisdictions.
In the Miami Herald interview published April 17-18, 2026, her first English-language interview, she stated: “Melania felt threatened and while she did not threaten me directly, she knows that I witnessed highly compromising interactions.” Asked to specify what those interactions were, she declined to elaborate, telling the Miami Herald they involved Paolo Zampolli’s modelling network “where young women were introduced to wealthy figures.” [56][60] She confirmed she would testify before the House Oversight Committee “Absolutely.” [60]
In the Courier (American Freakshow) interview with Nina Burleigh and Katie Chenoweth, published April 18, 2026, Amanda Ungaro set out her most direct claims to date. Asked when and under what circumstances she met Paolo Zampolli, she replied: “The first time I had contact with Paolo Zampolli was when I was 15 years old.” She alleged that Paolo Zampolli harassed her “in an attempt to pursue an intimate relationship” from that point. [61] On the Trump-Knauss introduction, Amanda Ungaro said: “I don’t know what the specific agreement was behind the creation of this narrative, but Paolo was an associate of Epstein, and they did business together.” [60] She stated that Melania Trump had worked undocumented in the US at an early point in her modelling career, that Paolo Zampolli handled model visa arrangements within his agency, and that “it always seemed to me that Paolo held some hidden leverage over Melania’s life, something that kept her in his thrall.” [60] Amanda Ungaro continued: “It was a business arrangement, it seems to me, an agreement from which both parties stood to benefit. Just look at how things have turned out today.” She characterised the entire Trump-Zampolli-Knauss structure as “pre-programmed, like a specific project that Paolo had meticulously architected, solely to claim the power and credit for having orchestrated their meeting.” [60] On Paolo Zampolli’s conduct in the Jeffrey Epstein network, her statement was direct: “Paolo Zampolli had business dealings with Epstein; he was a recruiter of girls for Epstein.” [60] Asked whether she would testify before the House Oversight Committee, she answered: “Absolutely.” [61]
Paolo Zampolli, reached separately, did not respond to the Courier’s request for comment. [61] Paolo Zampolli told the Daily Beast earlier in the week, referring to Amanda Ungaro: “But for her to now try to get the fame and go after our marvelous first lady of the United States of America? I don’t even think the first lady ever spoke to her in maybe 10 years, maximum 13 years. It’s mind-boggling. She is the first lady of the United States. Do you think she cares about my ex?” [52]
On April 19, 2026, Amanda Ungaro is scheduled to appear on the Italian state broadcaster RAI’s investigative programme Report. Sigfrido Ranucci (Italian, born 1961, Giulianova), Report’s director, told the news site Antimafia Duemila: “I will also announce a small preview for you: next Sunday we will have an explosive investigation into Trump, but explosive at an international level, because we will bring unpublished testimonies on the Epstein case. I therefore believe that the Report investigation on Sunday will be impossible not to leave traces, let’s say, consequences.” [64] Italian outlet Il Fatto Quotidiano has reported that the investigation’s “crucial” element is Amanda Ungaro’s testimony about Paolo Zampolli, and that Amanda Ungaro herself reposted content on X referring to a RAI docuseries on Paolo Zampolli that was sending him “out of his mind.” [64]
Paolo Zampolli and Melania Trump’s Visa
Paolo Zampolli publicly confirmed in 2016 that he personally secured Melania Knauss’s H-1B work visa while a partner at Metropolitan Models, before Melania Knauss began modelling professionally in the United States. [3][37] Paolo Zampolli told the Associated Press: “She qualified. We got her the H-1B as soon as she came.” [37] Melania Trump gave accounts in interviews with MSNBC and in a profile for Harper’s Bazaar that described travelling regularly to Slovenia to “stamp the visa,” a practice required for tourist visa holders but not for H-1B work visa holders, which created public inconsistencies with her stated immigration history. [34] The Donald Trump presidential campaign in 2016 declined to clarify Melania Trump’s immigration history or provide documentary evidence of the visa’s terms. [34] No legal proceedings have followed from these inconsistencies, and no finding of immigration fraud has been made against any party.
In August 2016, the Daily Mail published an article alleging that Paolo Zampolli and Melania Trump had operated an escort service in the 1990s. The allegation prompted Melania Trump to contact Paolo Zampolli directly by text and phone. According to Paolo Zampolli’s account, given to the New York Times, Melania Trump told him: “This is outrageous,” and said she was considering suing the Daily Mail. [4] Melania Trump subsequently sued the Daily Mail and reached a settlement. Melania Trump issued a written statement at the time: “I have known Paolo Zampolli since 1995 when we first met at a modelling agency in Milan. He loved my portfolio and encouraged me to expand my career to New York City. Paolo was a very professional agent and still remains a friend today. The defamatory statements reported by The Daily Mail are 100 per cent false.” [72] The specific allegation of escort service operation appears in no court filing, official record, or corroborated journalistic account in the public record.
A 2002 email among the released Epstein files, quoted by journalist Tara Palmeri (USian, formerly NBC and Politico), records Ghislaine Maxwell referring to Melania Trump with the endearment “sweet pea.” [64] That detail has prompted observers including Tara Palmeri to note that Melania Trump moved in the same modelling-and-society circuits from which Jeffrey Epstein’s network drew its contacts, irrespective of her stated lack of friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. [64]
On April 9, 2026, Melania Trump delivered her statement from the White House Grand Foyer addressing the Epstein files, publicly rejecting suggestions that Jeffrey Epstein introduced her to Donald Trump. The Independent, the Daily Beast, Newsweek, and Britannica all noted that the statement was reportedly not pre-announced to Donald Trump. [58] The statement came two days after Amanda Ungaro’s most pointed X posts, and was widely read in political press as a direct response. [58][62] Paolo Zampolli immediately doubled down in support, telling the Daily Beast and Sky News that he stood by his account of the introduction and was ready to testify before Congress under oath to confirm that he, and not Jeffrey Epstein, made the introduction. [108][114][55] The subsequent reporting has described an unresolved factual dispute between the public record of the Paolo Zampolli introduction, the November 2019 FBI interview that named Jeffrey Epstein as the introducer, and Amanda Ungaro’s April 2026 statement that the Paolo Zampolli introduction was part of a “specific agreement” between Paolo Zampolli and Melania Trump.
The Broader Political Crisis
The Paolo Zampolli file cannot be read in isolation from the wider collapse of the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein record in April 2026.
On April 2, 2026, Donald Trump dismissed Attorney General Pam Bondi (USian, born November 17, 1965, Tampa, Florida). [59] On March 14, 2026, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by James Comer (USian, born November 19, 1972, Carthage, Tennessee, Republican of Kentucky), had subpoenaed Pam Bondi to appear for a deposition on April 14, 2026, following a bipartisan vote in which five Republican lawmakers joined Democrats to compel her testimony. [59] On April 8, 2026, the Department of Justice, through Assistant Attorney General Patrick Davis (USian, born unknown, US), wrote to James Comer stating that because the subpoena had been issued to Pam Bondi in her official capacity as Attorney General, and because she no longer held that office following her April 2, 2026 dismissal, the subpoena “no longer obligates her to appear.” [59] Pam Bondi did not appear on April 14, 2026. The House Oversight Committee’s handling of the non-appearance remains open. [59]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche (USian, born unknown, US) stated on February 2, 2026 that there would be no additional prosecutions related to Jeffrey Epstein, notwithstanding the volume of material released. Todd Blanche said the files contained “a lot of correspondence. There’s a lot of emails. There’s a lot of photographs,” but added that the materials did not “allow us necessarily to prosecute somebody.” [76] Representatives Ro Khanna (USian, born September 13, 1976, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Democrat of California) and Thomas Massie (USian, born January 26, 1971, Huntington, West Virginia, Republican of Kentucky) have indicated they would consider contempt or impeachment proceedings against senior officials if compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act did not improve. [76] The House was expected to vote on holding Bill and Hillary Clinton in contempt for refusing a subpoena to testify; attorneys for the Clintons called the subpoenas “invalid and legally unenforceable.” [76]
The context in which Paolo Zampolli now operates is one in which the Department of Justice has publicly declined to bring further charges, the Attorney General who oversaw the release has been dismissed and has refused congressional testimony, and the public record of Paolo Zampolli’s relationships has been fleshed out substantially by the released files and by the April 2026 interviews of his former partner.
Key Connections and Associations
Key Connections and Associations
DIRECT CONTACT: Jeffrey Epstein (USian, born January 20, 1953, Brooklyn, New York City; died August 10, 2019, Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York City). Jeffrey Epstein funded Paolo Zampolli’s 2004 bid for Elite Model Management. Jeffrey Epstein patronised ID Model Management. Paolo Zampolli appears in 11 Epstein investigation documents. Amanda Ungaro arrived in New York on Jeffrey Epstein’s aircraft via Jean-Luc Brunel and was then signed to Paolo Zampolli’s ID Models. Jeffrey Epstein described Paolo Zampolli in a 2011 email as “trouble.” [1][6][16]
DIRECT CONTACT: Ghislaine Maxwell (British, born December 25, 1961, Maisons-Laffitte, France). Convicted December 2021 on five federal counts including sex trafficking of a minor, currently serving a 20-year sentence. In 2013, Paolo Zampolli and Ghislaine Maxwell co-operated the Sustainable Oceans Alliance, linked to Ghislaine Maxwell’s TerraMar Project. Ghislaine Maxwell’s 2002 email referring to Melania Trump as “sweet pea” is documented in the released files. [1][6][64]
DIRECT CONTACT from childhood: John Casablancas (French-Danish, born December 3, 1942, New York City; died July 20, 2013, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). Founder of Elite Model Management. John Casablancas spent summers with Paolo Zampolli as a child at the Zampolli family home. John Casablancas encouraged Paolo Zampolli to move to New York in 1994. Paolo Zampolli and Jeffrey Epstein jointly attempted to purchase John Casablancas’s Elite Model Management in 2004. Documented rapist of minors; overseeing agency culture that institutionalised the sexual abuse of child models. [1][6][12][64]
DIRECT CONTACT and former partner: Amanda Ungaro (Brazilian, born April 1984, Londrina). Mother of Paolo Zampolli’s son. Deported to Brazil in 2025 following Paolo Zampolli’s documented contact with David Venturella at ICE. Has stated publicly that Paolo Zampolli harassed her from age 15, was a recruiter of young women for Jeffrey Epstein, and that the Paolo Zampolli introduction of Melania Knauss to Donald Trump was part of a “specific agreement” between Paolo Zampolli and Melania Trump. Has agreed to testify before the House Oversight Committee. Scheduled to appear on RAI’s Report on April 19, 2026. [5][16][60][61][64]
DIRECT CONTACT: Donald Trump (USian, born June 14, 1946, Queens, New York City). Forty-fifth and forty-seventh President of the United States. Friend of Paolo Zampolli since the mid-1990s New York nightclub circuit. Appointed Paolo Zampolli to the Trump Organization in December 2004, to the Kennedy Center Board in December 2020, and to the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition in January 2021. Formally named Paolo Zampolli United States Special Representative for Global Partnerships in March 2025. [1][4][72]
DIRECT CONTACT for three decades: Melania Trump (USian-Slovenian, born Melanija Knavs, April 26, 1970, Novo Mesto, Slovenia). First Lady of the United States. H-1B visa sponsored by Paolo Zampolli in 1996. Introduced to Donald Trump by Paolo Zampolli in September 1998 at the Kit Kat Club, per Paolo Zampolli’s public account; that account is contested by a 2019 FBI witness interview and by Amanda Ungaro’s April 2026 public statements. Melania Trump publicly rejected the contested account from the White House Grand Foyer on April 9, 2026. [1][3][58]
DIRECT CONTACT: David Venturella (USian, senior ICE official, former GEO Group executive). Received Paolo Zampolli’s call about Amanda Ungaro in June 2025. Directed ICE Miami to detain Amanda Ungaro before bail, noting the matter was important to someone close to the White House. [5][15]
DIRECT CONTACT: Harvey Weinstein (USian, born March 19, 1952, Flushing, Queens, New York City). Convicted February 2020 in New York State Supreme Court of rape and criminal sexual assault; convictions overturned on appeal 2024 and retrial ongoing. Additional rape convictions Los Angeles 2023. Paolo Zampolli contacted at least three Harvey Weinstein assault victims (Melissa Thompson, Caitlin Dulany, Larissa Gomes) and directed them toward Harvey Weinstein’s own defence lawyer under the pretence of victim representation. Paolo Zampolli is referenced but not charged in the resulting federal RICO complaint, which frames Paolo Zampolli as having been recruited by Harvey Weinstein or Benjamin Brafman to approach the women. [7][8][51][52]
DIRECT CONTACT: Ron Burkle (USian, born November 21, 1952, Pomona, California). Billionaire investor and close Bill Clinton associate. Paolo Zampolli arranged the 2006 meeting between Ron Burkle and Jared Paul Stern that generated the FBI extortion complaint. [1][4][41]
DIRECT CONTACT: Flavio Briatore (Italian, born April 12, 1950, Verzuolo, Cuneo, Italy). Italian businessman described by New York Magazine as “a convicted card cheat, and an accused Formula 1 race fixer” who “was a longtime fugitive in the Virgin Islands.” Appears in both Jeffrey Epstein’s address book and Paolo Zampolli’s documented social circle. Described by Unlimited Hangout as a P2 lodge and Italian mafia-linked businessman with ties to Victoria’s Secret Angels, at least one of whom Flavio Briatore introduced to Jeffrey Epstein. [42][66][68]
ATTEMPTED DIRECT CONTACT: Corey Lewandowski (USian, born September 18, 1973, Lowell, Massachusetts). Trump political operative and senior adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at the time of the Amanda Ungaro detention. Paolo Zampolli attempted to contact Corey Lewandowski in connection with the Amanda Ungaro detention. Corey Lewandowski did not respond and denied knowing Paolo Zampolli. [5][115]
CURRENT LEGAL ADVERSARY: Federico Leonardo Lucia, known as Fedez (Italian, born October 15, 1989, Milan). Paolo Zampolli filed a five million euro lawsuit in Italy against Fedez in March 2026, alleging that Fedez’s podcast Pulp Podcast damaged Paolo Zampolli’s reputation by associating him with the Epstein files. Fedez has publicly rejected the lawsuit, stating that Paolo Zampolli is in the Epstein files and that the podcast simply reported documented facts. [125]
FORMER DIRECT BUSINESS PARTNER: Thomas Zeumer (German or USian, born unknown). Paolo Zampolli’s partner at Metropolitan Models. Paolo Zampolli sued Thomas Zeumer in 1997 alleging missing corporate funds. Case dismissed. [11]
ONE DEGREE OF SEPARATION, via Amanda Ungaro: Jean-Luc Brunel (French, born October 6, 1946; died February 19, 2022, La Santé prison, Paris). Identified by the DOJ as a procurer of young women for Jeffrey Epstein. Was Amanda Ungaro’s modelling agent and brought Amanda Ungaro to New York on Jeffrey Epstein’s aircraft. Amanda Ungaro was then signed to Paolo Zampolli’s ID Models. Jean-Luc Brunel died by suicide in February 2022 while awaiting trial on rape and sexual assault charges involving minors. [1][9][66]
ONE DEGREE OF SEPARATION, via Jeffrey Epstein: Les Wexner (USian, born September 8, 1937, Dayton, Ohio). Founder and longtime chairman of L Brands, which owned Victoria’s Secret. Les Wexner gave Jeffrey Epstein broad financial power of attorney and was Jeffrey Epstein’s most prominent documented patron. Vicky Ward has publicly stated, based on her 2002 Vanity Fair reporting, that Les Wexner was Paolo Zampolli’s biggest client at ID Models. Paolo Zampolli cited Les Wexner’s Victoria’s Secret as the commercial context for his “cordial” business relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. [66][108]
ONE DEGREE OF SEPARATION, via Jeffrey Epstein: Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem (Emirati, born November 2, 1956, Dubai). Former chair and CEO of DP World. Received the 2011 Jeffrey Epstein email warning “Be careful, zampoli is trouble. Lots.” Subsequently removed from DP World in February 2026 after separate Jeffrey Epstein emails referencing a “torture video” were released. [15][74]
Current Status
As of April 19, 2026, Paolo Zampolli is serving as United States Special Envoy for Global Partnerships and remains a Kennedy Center Board Member. [1][2] No criminal charges have been filed against Paolo Zampolli in connection with any of the matters described in this profile. The custody dispute over Giovanni Zampolli remains active, complicated by Amanda Ungaro’s deportation to Brazil. The Department of Homeland Security has stated that Amanda Ungaro and Giovanni Zampolli are “together” in Brazil; whether this reflects a final custody outcome or a temporary situation is not established in available sources. [115]
The House Oversight Committee’s investigation into the Epstein estate is ongoing. Amanda Ungaro has stated publicly that she will testify before the committee if asked. She has not been subpoenaed as of April 19, 2026. [60][61] The full content of the 11 Epstein case documents naming Paolo Zampolli has not been made public beyond the items cited in this profile. FBI proffer document EFTA00105195 referencing Paolo Zampolli’s modelling industry connections remains partially redacted. [6] Pam Bondi did not appear before the committee on April 14, 2026 under the subpoena issued by Chairman James Comer. [59]
The five million euro lawsuit Paolo Zampolli filed against Fedez in Italy is pending. No hearing dates have been publicly announced. [125]
David Venturella, the ICE official who acted on Paolo Zampolli’s call, remains in his position as of available reporting. No internal review of David Venturella’s conduct in the Amanda Ungaro matter has been publicly announced. [5][15]
Amanda Ungaro is scheduled to appear on RAI Report on April 19, 2026. Sigfrido Ranucci’s on-air preview described the broadcast as containing “explosive revelations at an international level” on Jeffrey Epstein, with Amanda Ungaro’s testimony concerning Paolo Zampolli described by Il Fatto Quotidiano as the “crucial” element. [64]
Paolo Zampolli offered on April 9-10, 2026 to testify before Congress under oath regarding Melania Trump’s immigration history and the circumstances of the Trump-Knauss introduction, in direct response to Melania Trump’s White House statement on Jeffrey Epstein. No congressional subpoena for Paolo Zampolli has been publicly announced. [55][114]
Timeline
1970, March 5. Paolo Zampolli born, Milan, Italy, only child of Giovanni Zampolli. [1][67]
1970s-1980s. Paolo Zampolli serves as a child testing toy prototypes and selecting Italian market launches for Harbert, including Star Wars figures and Easy-Bake Ovens. [67]
1988. Giovanni Zampolli dies in a skiing accident. Paolo Zampolli, 18, takes over Harbert, then sells to Silvio Berlusconi-affiliated group. [73][76]
Childhood through early 1990s. John Casablancas spends summers with Paolo Zampolli at the Zampolli family home. Paolo Zampolli later accompanies John Casablancas on Eastern European model scouting trips. [66][68]
1994. Paolo Zampolli organises Look of the Year contest, Ibiza, sponsored by Replay Jeans. Meets John Casablancas professionally; relocates to New York. Joins Metropolitan Models. Befriends Donald Trump. [1][4]
1995. Paolo Zampolli scouts Melania Knauss in Milan. [1]
1996. Paolo Zampolli founds ID Model Management. Sponsors Melania Knauss’s H-1B visa. Melania Knauss moves into Zampolli’s building at Zeckendorf Towers. [1][3]
1997. Paolo Zampolli sues Metropolitan Models partner Thomas Zeumer, alleging missing corporate funds. Case later dismissed. Acquires American Models and converts it to ID Models. [11]
September 1998. Paolo Zampolli introduces Melania Knauss to Donald Trump at Kit Kat Club party, New York Fashion Week. [1][4]
1999, approximately. Paolo Zampolli alleged by Amanda Ungaro to have had contact with her when she was 15 and to have harassed her “in an attempt to pursue an intimate relationship.” Paolo Zampolli denies this. [60][61]
2002. Amanda Ungaro arrives in New York on Jeffrey Epstein’s aircraft via Jean-Luc Brunel, Amanda Ungaro then 17. Signed to ID Models. Manhattan relationship with Paolo Zampolli begins on the account reported in O Globo; Amanda Ungaro’s Courier account places initial Paolo Zampolli contact earlier, at age 15. [1][9][57][61][65]
2002. Ghislaine Maxwell’s 2002 email referring to Melania Trump as “sweet pea” is dated to this year. [64]
2004. Paolo Zampolli and Jeffrey Epstein attempt to purchase Elite Model Management at public auction. Bid unsuccessful; Creative World, owned by Eddie Trump and Jules Trump, wins. ID Models loses its top model. [1][6][64]
December 2004. Paolo Zampolli joins Trump Organization as Director of International Development, selling Trump Park Avenue apartments. [1]
January 2005. Paolo Zampolli attends Donald Trump and Melania Knauss’s wedding at Mar-a-Lago; flies on Donald Trump’s private jet. [1][4]
2006. Paolo Zampolli arranges meeting between Ron Burkle and Jared Paul Stern. Ron Burkle alleges to FBI that Jared Paul Stern sought extortion. Criminal complaint filed. No charges against Paolo Zampolli. [1][41][44]
2008. Paolo Zampolli hosts fundraiser at UN headquarters for International Renewable Energy Organization. [1]
2009. Paolo Zampolli claims in press interview to be a UN climate change adviser and Kyoto Protocol expert. [1]
2010. Giovanni Zampolli born. [9]
2010. Paolo Zampolli describes himself as “United Nations Associations Brazil Ambassador at Large.” [1]
2011. Paolo Zampolli named Minister-Counsellor to Permanent Mission of Dominica at the United Nations. Jeffrey Epstein writes to Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem: “Be careful, zampoli is trouble. Lots.” [1][6][15]
October 2013. Paolo Zampolli formally appointed UN Ambassador and Ambassador for Oceans and Seas for Dominica by Roosevelt Skerrit. [1]
2013. Paolo Zampolli partners with Ghislaine Maxwell on Sustainable Oceans Alliance, linked to Ghislaine Maxwell’s TerraMar Project. [6]
June 2014. Amanda Ungaro appointed UN Ambassador for Grenada by Keith Mitchell. [1][9]
January 2017. First Trump inauguration. Paolo Zampolli and Amanda Ungaro attend; sit at Melania Trump’s table. [1]
August 2016. Daily Mail publishes escort service allegation against Paolo Zampolli and Melania Trump. Melania Trump contacts Paolo Zampolli by text and phone. Paolo Zampolli gives Associated Press interview confirming his role in securing Melania Trump’s H-1B visa. [3][4][34]
October 2017. Following New York Times Harvey Weinstein exposé, Paolo Zampolli contacts at least three Harvey Weinstein assault victims, including Melissa Thompson, Caitlin Dulany, and Larissa Gomes, and directs them toward Benjamin Brafman under the pretence of victim representation. Benjamin Brafman is subsequently revealed to be Harvey Weinstein’s defence lawyer. Melissa Thompson’s audio recording of her call with Paolo Zampolli is provided to the New York Times. [51][52]
June 2018. Federal RICO complaint filed in Southern District of New York by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP on behalf of Melissa Thompson, Caitlin Dulany, and Larissa Gomes. Paolo Zampolli named as intermediary used to direct Harvey Weinstein victims toward Benjamin Brafman’s firm. Paolo Zampolli is not a named defendant. Paolo Zampolli calls the recording “fake news.” [51][57]
July 2019. FBI interviews redacted immunity witness who states “EPSTEIN introduced MELANIA TRUMP to DONALD TRUMP,” with Paolo Zampolli named as connecting figure. [10]
August 2019. Jeffrey Epstein dies in federal custody at Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York. Death ruled suicide. [15]
December 2020. Donald Trump appoints Paolo Zampolli to Kennedy Center Board of Trustees. [1]
January 2021. Paolo Zampolli appointed to President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition. [1]
2021. Paolo Zampolli and Amanda Ungaro permanently separate; Paolo Zampolli disputes that any marriage occurred. [1]
February 2022. Jean-Luc Brunel dies by suicide at La Santé prison, Paris, while awaiting trial on rape and sexual assault charges involving minors. [9]
2023. Paolo Zampolli makes headlines for allegedly sending explicit text messages to a sex worker. Amanda Ungaro ends relationship definitively, moves to Aventura, Florida, marries a Brazilian physician. Custody dispute over Giovanni Zampolli begins. [16]
February 2025. Paolo Zampolli begins appearing in Italian press as “special envoy to Italy.” Antonio Tajani and Italian Foreign Ministry learn of appointment from press. Official Italian government bodies deny having been informed. [13]
March 2025. Paolo Zampolli formally named United States Special Representative for Global Partnerships by Donald Trump. “Catch and Revoke” programme introduced by Trump administration State Department under Marco Rubio. [1][2][113]
June 2025. Amanda Ungaro arrested in Miami. Paolo Zampolli contacts David Venturella at ICE. Paolo Zampolli attempts to contact Corey Lewandowski at DHS; Corey Lewandowski does not respond and later denies knowing Paolo Zampolli. David Venturella directs ICE Miami to detain Amanda Ungaro before bail, noting the matter is important to someone close to the White House. [5][15][115]
Late 2025. Amanda Ungaro transferred from Miami to ICE detention in Louisiana. Deported to Brazil after three and a half months in custody. [16][115]
November 2025. Epstein Files Transparency Act passes US House unanimously, then Senate. Donald Trump signs into law. [76]
December 2025. First DOJ tranche released, with faulty redaction. [76]
January 23, 2026. Paolo Zampolli returns to Tashkent, Uzbekistan to attend the 46th General Assembly of the Olympic Council of Asia in his capacity as Special Envoy. [111]
January 2026. Paolo Zampolli joins US delegation to World Economic Forum, Davos, bringing a miniature Charging Bull sculpture. [1]
January 30, 2026. DOJ release of over three million pages, 2,000 videos, and 180,000 images. Paolo Zampolli named in 11 documents. [15][76]
February 2026. DOJ publishes letter to congressional judiciary committees listing names appearing in Epstein investigation files. Paolo Zampolli’s name is among them. Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem removed from DP World after separate Jeffrey Epstein emails surface. [15][74]
March 14, 2026. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer subpoenas Pam Bondi for an April 14 deposition following bipartisan vote. [59]
March 16, 2026. Paolo Zampolli photographed at White House Kennedy Center board lunch in the East Room alongside Anthony Lomangino, with Susie Wiles present. [130][133]
March 17-19, 2026. Paolo Zampolli visits Budapest, holds meetings with Balázs Hankó and Daniel Gyurta, alongside JD Vance, in meetings connected to Viktor Orbán. [112]
March 20, 2026. New York Times publishes investigation into Paolo Zampolli’s alleged ICE contact, based on records and a person familiar with communications. [5]
Late March 2026. Paolo Zampolli files five million euro lawsuit in Italy against Fedez after Fedez’s Pulp Podcast discusses Paolo Zampolli’s appearance in the Epstein files. [125]
April 2, 2026. Donald Trump dismisses Pam Bondi as Attorney General. [59]
April 7, 2026. Amanda Ungaro posts the first of a series of direct messages to Melania Trump on X, including: “I was around you for 20 years. You knew I was inside ICE.” [58][62]
April 8, 2026. Amanda Ungaro tags Melania Trump’s X account and refers to Donald Trump as “your pedophile husband.” DOJ informs House Oversight Committee that Pam Bondi will not appear under the March 14 subpoena. Paolo Zampolli tells Adnkronos that Fedez is “not welcome in my house” and invokes the “Catch and Revoke” immigration enforcement. [58][59][113][116]
April 9, 2026. Melania Trump delivers statement from White House Grand Foyer on Jeffrey Epstein, stating “Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump. I met my husband by accident.” Paolo Zampolli tells Sky News’s Trump 100 podcast he is “ready to testify in front of Congress.” [52][55][58]
April 10, 2026. Paolo Zampolli gives Daily Beast interview doubling down on the Trump-Knauss introduction account and offering to testify before Congress under oath. Fedez responds on Instagram, stating Paolo Zampolli “is in the Epstein files” and challenging Paolo Zampolli to appear on Pulp Podcast. [108][125]
April 10-12, 2026. Amanda Ungaro gives interviews to El País, O Globo, and Daily Beast. States she has been asked but not subpoenaed to testify before House Oversight Committee on Epstein. [11][16]
April 13, 2026. Amanda Ungaro posts the 2011 Jeffrey Epstein email “Be careful, zampoli is trouble” on X with the caption “Investigate the investigator.” [65]
April 14, 2026. Pam Bondi does not appear for the House Oversight Committee deposition. [59]
April 17-18, 2026. Amanda Ungaro gives Miami Herald interview, her first in English, stating Melania Trump “knows that I witnessed highly compromising interactions” over two decades, and confirming willingness to testify before House Oversight “Absolutely.” [56][60]
April 18, 2026. Amanda Ungaro gives Courier (American Freakshow) interview with Nina Burleigh and Katie Chenoweth, stating her first contact with Paolo Zampolli occurred at age 15, describing Paolo Zampolli as a “recruiter of girls for Epstein,” and characterising the Paolo Zampolli introduction of Melania to Donald Trump as part of a “pre-programmed” arrangement “meticulously architected” by Paolo Zampolli. Newsweek and IBTimes publish follow-on coverage. [60][61]
April 19, 2026. Amanda Ungaro scheduled to appear on RAI Report in Italy, in a broadcast trailed by director Sigfrido Ranucci as containing “explosive revelations at an international level” on the Epstein case. [64]
References
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