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A senior official from the U.S. Department of Justice is set to resume questioning Ghislaine Maxwell, a long-time associate of Jeffrey Epstein, on Friday, following what Maxwell’s lawyer described as a “very productive” initial meeting on Thursday.
Pressure has been mounting on U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to release files related to Epstein, the deceased financier convicted of sex offenses, following pledges made by Trump during his campaign last year.
Recent attention has shifted back to Maxwell, 63, who has been implicated in assisting Epstein’s abuse of young girls.
In his latest remarks, Trump suggested that the renewed focus on Epstein is a deliberate attempt by opposition Democrats to divert attention from his administration’s accomplishments.
Maxwell’s meeting with U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche took place in Tallahassee, Florida, where she is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking.
Her lawyer, David Markus, informed CBS News, the BBC’s U.S. partner, that he would not comment on the specifics of the discussions, but noted, “there were a lot of questions and we went all day”.
“She answered every one of them,” he stated. “She never did say I’m not going to answer, never declined.”
Mr. Markus told reporters he was “thankful” that Blanche had come to question Maxwell. “It’s the first time the government did it. So it was a good day.”
In a brief post on X, Blanche wrote: “Today, I met with Ghislaine Maxwell, and I will continue my interview of her tomorrow. The Department of Justice will share additional information about what we learned at the appropriate time.”
Blanche indicated earlier in the week that he intended to question Maxwell regarding any information she possesses about other individuals who may have been aided by Epstein in sexually abusing girls.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat and vocal critic of Trump, questioned the propriety of Trump sending Blanche, his former personal lawyer turned federal prosecutor, to interview Maxwell ahead of her potential public testimony.
“The conflict of interest is glaring. It stinks of high corruption,” he stated on X.
In a post on Truth Social late on Thursday, Trump characterized the renewed focus on Epstein as a “SCAM” and a “Democrat CON JOB,” accusing Schumer’s party of attempting to “distract and obfuscate” from the accomplishments of the first six months of his second term in office.
When asked on Friday whether he would consider granting Maxwell clemency, Trump acknowledged that he had the authority to do so but had “not thought” about it.
“I can’t talk about that now. … it’s very sensitive,” he responded when pressed further on the matter.
Recent calls have intensified from the U.S. public – including Trump’s supporters – and lawmakers for the Justice Department to release files pertaining to the Epstein case.
On Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi informed Trump during a May briefing that his name appeared in Justice Department documents related to Epstein.
Trump and Epstein were acquainted before, according to the president, but their relationship soured in the early 2000s.
The White House has dismissed the WSJ report as “fake news.”
However, an unnamed White House official told Reuters news agency that they were not denying Trump’s name appears in the documents.
The official pointed to Epstein files disclosed months earlier by the Justice Department that had included Trump.
Being named in the documents is not evidence of any criminal activity, nor has Trump ever been accused of wrongdoing in connection with the Epstein case.
While campaigning for the presidency last year, Trump pledged to release such files regarding the well-connected sex offender.
However, his supporters have since grown frustrated with the administration’s handling of the issue, including its failure to deliver a rumored “client list” of Epstein. In a memo earlier this month, the Justice Department and FBI stated that no such list existed.
Epstein died in a New York prison cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, following an earlier conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor. His death was ruled a suicide.
In the years since, conspiracy theories about the nature of his crimes and his death itself have proliferated.
On Wednesday, a sub-committee of the U.S. House of Representatives voted to subpoena the Justice Department for the files, which must be signed off by the committee chairman.
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have also subpoenaed Maxwell to testify before the panel remotely from prison on August 11.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has warned that Maxwell – who for years helped Epstein groom and sexually abuse girls – cannot be trusted to provide accurate testimony.
Maxwell’s lawyer, Markus, previously told the BBC the concerns were “unfounded” and that if she chose to testify, rather than invoke her constitutional right to remain silent, “she would testify truthfully, as she always has said she would”.
Last week, the Justice Department asked a federal judge to release years-old grand jury testimony related to a 2006 Florida investigation into Epstein, but a federal judge in the state on Wednesday declined to make the documents public.
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