Justice Department releases transcripts from its conversations with Ghislaine Maxwell
The Justice Department on Friday released what it says is the complete transcript and audio recording of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s conversations with Ghislaine Maxwell last month.
Maxwell was the longtime partner of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and was sentenced to a 20-year prison term for helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls. Blanche met with her in Tallahassee, Fla., over the course of two days in late July. The transcripts, running more than 300 pages in length, are marked “redacted.”
Blanche posted the files on social media and said they were shared “in the interest of transparency.”
In a statement, an attorney for Maxwell said she told the truth in the interview and insisted she is a scapegoat.
“Ms. Maxwell answered every question,” said attorney David Markus. “She did not refuse to respond and did not dodge any question. She supported her answers with documents and other objective evidence. Her demeanor and credibility are clear for anyone to hear. She was able to do this despite five torturous years in custody, some of which in the worst imaginable conditions.”
The Trump administration has faced increased pressure from Democrats as well as some supporters inside the GOP to share more information about any files it has on Epstein and his case.
What she said about President Trump
Over the course of the interview, Maxwell was asked about a wide array of officials, including President Trump. Epstein and Trump belonged to the same Palm Beach social circle, but Trump has long maintained his friendship with Epstein ended before the disgraced financier was indicted for soliciting prostitution in 2006.
Maxwell told Blanche that she may have met Trump at some point in 1990 because he had been friendly with her father. She said Trump “was always very cordial and very kind to me,” adding that she never witnessed him in any “inappropriate setting.”
“I actually never saw the President in any type of massage setting. I never witnessed the President in any inappropriate setting in any way. The President was never inappropriate with anybody. In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects,” Maxwell said.
Asked about Trump’s relationship with Epstein, Maxwell said she did not think they were “close friends.”
“I don’t recall ever seeing him in his house, for instance,” she told prosecutors.
Blanche’s meeting with Maxwell was highly unusual for involving such a senior Justice Department official. Also at the interview were Diego Pestana, the acting associate deputy attorney general, Spencer Horn, an FBI special agent, and Mark Beard, deputy U.S. Marshal.
Maxwell and her legal team appear to be making a pitch for clemency in some form. As president, Trump has flexed his power to commute — or shorten — existing prison terms, and to pardon people who have offered him support in the past.
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