The Department of Justice offered limited immunity to Jeffrey Epstein’s convicted partner in sex trafficking, Ghislaine Maxwell, to get her testimony, ABC News reported late Friday.
According to the outlet, Maxwell had been questioned by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche for nine hours over two days after receiving the immunity.
While Maxwell’s 2021 convictions on five counts related to sex trafficking in concert with Epstein will be unaffected by the move, the immunity allowed her to testify freely without the concern that her testimony could be used against her in future proceedings.
She had been sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022; a recent appeal of that sentence was rejected.
However, the Department of Justice became interested in Maxwell earlier in the month after she offered to speak with them following the agency’s determination that there had been no “client list” of blackmailed individuals maintained by Epstein and that the disgraced financier killed himself in a New York City jail cell in 2019.
“No one from the government has ever asked her to share what she knows. She remains the only person to be jailed in connection to Epstein and she would welcome the chance to tell the American public the truth,” a source close to Maxwell said at the time, adding that she would “welcome the chance to sit in front of Congress and tell her story.”
While that congressional testimony hasn’t been put on the table, it was reported that Maxwell and Blanche had spoken this week and that she returned to the Florida federal prison on Thursday carrying a “mysterious box” with her.
Blanche had said earlier in the week that if Maxwell “has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say,” adding that the president “has told us to release all credible evidence.”
The limited immunity led to approximately six hours of talks on Wednesday and three on Thursday.
Trump, meanwhile, said he refused to discuss clemency but said he had full faith in Blanche, who used to be one of his top criminal attorneys.
“I can’t talk about that now because, you know, it’s a very sensitive interview going on,” he said, adding that Blanche is “a professional lawyer. He’s been through things like this before.”
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