DOJ has ‘productive’ meeting with Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell
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DOJ has ‘productive’ meeting with Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell
Ghislaine Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking. She met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche for about five hours in Tallahassee. The meeting comes as the Trump administration is trying to mitigate the political fallout over its handling of the case. It was not immediately clear how the Justice Department will use the information Maxwell provided in the meeting.. Epstein and Maxwell were charged with sex trafficking and other crimes in 2019 and 2020. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 and is serving her sentence in federal prison in Florida. Epstein was found dead in his jail cell while awaiting trial. His death was ruled a suicide; the case has long been of high interest for right-wing pundits and conspiracy theorists.
Attorney David Oscar Markus declined to tell reporters afterward what Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche asked Maxwell or how she answered. He did not say whether he expects Maxwell to meet with Justice Department attorneys again.
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“He took a full day and asked a lot of questions,” Markus said. “She answered all the questions truthfully, honestly and to the best of her ability.”
Blanche said this week that he sought a meeting with Maxwell to discuss anyone else “who has committed crimes against victims.” Blanche did not answer questions from reporters as he exited the courthouse Thursday.
It was not immediately clear how the Justice Department will use the information Maxwell provided in the meeting.
Maxwell has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear her appeal of her conviction. The Justice Department, which prosecuted her, has pushed back, submitting a filing last week urging the justices to reject her request and leave her conviction intact.
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Epstein and Maxwell were charged with sex trafficking and other crimes in 2019 and 2020. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 and is serving her sentence in federal prison in Florida. Epstein was found dead in his jail cell while awaiting trial. His death was ruled a suicide.
Epstein and Maxwell were charged during Trump’s first administration. Maxwell was convicted during the early months of President Joe Biden’s term.
The Epstein case has long been of high interest for right-wing pundits and conspiracy theorists. Some accused the Biden administration without evidence of covering up key details of the investigation, purportedly to protect powerful people who may have participated in Epstein’s alleged sex-trafficking crimes.
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As Trump returned to the presidency, he and his top appointees at the Justice Department seemed to agree that the administration should release more case files related to the case. Attorney General Pam Bondi went on national television and promised to release a “truckload” of new information.
Those pledges never materialized, and the Justice Department and FBI issued a memo this month saying that they would not be releasing any more information related to the case.
Trump’s right-wing base responded with fury — and the Justice Department and White House have so far been unable to quell that outrage.
Responding to the backlash, Trump this month issued a directive calling on Bondi to release more information related to the Epstein case. Blanche cited that directive as a reason for scheduling the meeting with Maxwell.
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The Justice Department also asked courts in Manhattan and Florida to release grand jury transcripts surrounding the prosecutions. A Florida judge denied 0ne of those requests Wednesday, saying she was legally barred from releasing the records from Florida grand juries that investigated Epstein in 2005 and 2007, under guidelines governing the secrecy of those proceedings.
The Manhattan court has not yet ruled.
DOJ meeting with longtime Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell
A senior Department of Justice official is meeting with longtime Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell. The meeting is occurring in downtown Tallahassee at the U.S. attorney’s office, sources say. Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking and other charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022. She is serving her sentence at a federal prison in Tallah assee. The Justice Department said earlier this week that the meeting between Blanche and Maxwell would occur “in the coming days”
The meeting between Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Maxwell is occurring in downtown Tallahassee at the U.S. attorney’s office, which is located inside the federal courthouse, sources familiar with the matter said.
Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking and other charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022. She is serving her sentence at a federal prison in Tallahassee.
Blanche arrived at the federal courthouse around 9 a.m. ET. He shook his head and said “no” when asked if he had anything to say ahead of his meeting with Maxwell.
Maxwell’s attorneys were also seen entering the federal courthouse in Tallahassee.
“We’re looking forward to a productive day,” David O. Markus, Maxwell’s appellate lawyer, told ABC News. He declined further comment.
The Justice Department said earlier this week that the meeting between Blanche and Maxwell would occur “in the coming days.”
“President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence. If Ghislaine Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say,” Blanche said in the statement posted by Attorney General Pam Bondi on X earlier this week.
Maxwell’s attorney confirmed earlier this week that they were in discussions with the government about the visit, saying in a statement that “Ghislaine will always testify truthfully.”
Separately, on Wednesday, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer issued a subpoena for Maxwell for a deposition to occur at the prison on Aug. 11.
“The facts and circumstances surrounding both your and Mr. Epstein’s cases have received immense public interest and scrutiny,” Comer wrote in a statement Wednesday.
ABC News’ Luke Barr contributed to this report.
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