Politics
JUST IN: DOJ To Meet With Ghislaine Maxwell
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday announced her intention to meet through an intermediary with Ghislaine Maxwell, the mistress of Jeffrey Epstein, who has offered to shed new light on their relationship in exchange for a reduced sentence.
Maxwell, who is currently serving 20 years for helping Epstein sexually abuse hundreds or thousands of young girls over decades, saw her latest bid for freedom rebuffed by the U.S. Department of Justice during a hearing last week, where prosecutors opposed her motion. She has served about three years since her 2022 conviction.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed that he would meet with Maxwell “in the coming days” on behalf of Bondi to assess the sincerity of her offer and decide whether she holds any proof of new information about Epstein, who died in jail in 2019.
News of the meeting comes as the Trump administration remains embroiled in a controversy over its decision to backtrack on releasing new information about the government’s case.
Members of the MAGA movement are demanding that President Donald Trump do more to uncover who else may have enabled Epstein and whether the pedophile maintained an alleged “client list” of friends who also abused young girls. The DOJ earlier this month denied the existence of such a list, contradicting earlier public statements by Bondi saying she had the list on her desk and under review.
Now, officials claim that any further release of information could jeopardize victims and innocent parties named in unreleased documents, a fear that rings hollow with supporters of the president who are dismayed at his decision to stand by Bondi.
“President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence,” Blanche said in a statement posted to X by Bondi. “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.”
David Oscar Markus, Maxwell’s attorney, said Monday night that his client is prepared to exonerate herself by sharing her side of the story with Blanche in their first face-to-face meeting.
“I can confirm that we are in discussions with the government and that Ghislaine will always testify truthfully,” Markus told CNN. “We are grateful to President Trump for his commitment to uncovering the truth in this case.”
The attorney last week argued in court that Maxwell should not have been convicted on the basis of a 2007 plea agreement between Epstein and federal prosecutors that protected associates from prosecution as a result of his guilty plea on soliciting underage girls for sex. The DOJ has stated that the agreement only applied to the Florida U.S. attorney’s office.
Blanche said he will meet with Maxwell to ask her one simple question: “What do you know?”
“I’ve contacted her counsel,” Blanche told the Daily Mail. “I intend to meet with her soon. No one is above the law—and no lead is off-limits.”
Still, the meeting hasn’t quelled all criticism from the right, where allies of the president accused Blanche of trying to “cope” with seething anger from MAGA members by meeting with Maxwell.
“Why wasn’t this ‘interview’ with Ghislaine Maxwell done on day 1?” conservative influencer Laura Loomer questioned on X.
“Shouldn’t they have already done this?” she continued. “Maybe there is a mix up in communication. But I just can’t help but wonder whether or not this has already happened. And if not, why”