A top Department of Justice (DOJ) official announced Tuesday that he will attempt to personally interview convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell (at the direction of Attorney General Pam Bondi) to ask her about possible suspects who may have been involved in the late financier’s crimes.
Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence in a federal facility in Florida after she was convicted for her role in a sex trafficking operation that involved Epstein.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, a former personal attorney to President Donald Trump, wrote in a post on X that “for the first time,” the DOJ “is reaching out” to Maxwell to ask her, “what do you know?”
Blanche added that he has contacted Maxwell’s attorneys, at the direction of Attorney General Pam Bondi, who reposted a longer statement from Blanche on X.
“I intend to meet with her soon. No one is above the law—and no lead is off-limits,” Blanche said in his post on Tuesday morning.
Blanche said that the DOJ and FBI’s statement released earlier this month that Epstein did not keep an alleged “client list,” did not engage in blackmail with high-level officials or celebrities, and killed himself in a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019 remains accurate.
“In the recent thorough review of the files maintained by the FBI in the Epstein case, no evidence was uncovered that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties,” Blanche said. “President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence. If Ghislane Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say.”
He noted that until Tuesday, no presidential administration or DOJ officials had attempted to speak to Maxwell and determine her willingness to meet with the federal government. “That changes now,” he said.
An attorney for Maxwell, David Oscar Makus, responding to Blanche’s announcement, issued a statement confirming that his team is speaking with the government.
“I can confirm that we are in discussions with the government and that Ghislaine will always testify truthfully,” Markus said. “We are grateful to President Trump for his commitment to uncovering the truth in this case.”
At Trump’s direction, Bondi and Blanche have asked a federal court for permission to unseal grand jury transcripts in the cases of both Epstein and Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 on five federal charges related to her role in Epstein’s alleged sexual abuse of underage girls. Epstein was convicted of sex trafficking charges in 2008.
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