Ghislaine

Former girlfriend of convicted sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking.

The United States Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein, to have her sex trafficking conviction overturned.

The top court turned down Maxwell’s bid on Monday, keeping in place a decision by a lower court to allow her conviction to stand. The decision appears to leave a pardon or clemency from US President Donald Trump as the former socialite’s only potential avenue for release.

The 63-year-old Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for recruiting teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein. Her lawyers have argued that Maxwell is covered by a 2007 plea deal Epstein made with federal prosecutors and that her conviction should therefore be nullified.

“We’re, of course, deeply disappointed that the Supreme Court declined to hear Ghislaine Maxwell’s case,” David Oscar Markus, a lawyer for Maxwell, said.

“But this fight isn’t over. Serious legal and factual issues remain, and we will continue to pursue every avenue available to ensure that justice is done.”

As is customary, the Supreme Court declined to explain its decision to reject the appeal.

Speculation and conspiracy theories have long swirled around Epstein and Maxwell and the elite circles they operated in. But renewed interest has largely focused on Trump’s past friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York City jail cell in 2019.

Calls for more transparency have come both from Trump’s base and from Democrats, who have increasingly seized on the issue as a political cudgel.

In July, Deputy US Attorney General Todd Blanche, a former personal lawyer to Trump, met with Maxwell as Trump sought to quell that criticism.

During the meeting, Maxwell told Blanche that she was not aware of any so-called “client list”, referring to a long-sought list of individuals who may have engaged in sexual abuses alongside Epstein, according to a transcript. She added she had never seen Trump behave inappropriately.

A week after the interview, Maxwell was moved from a low-security prison facility in Florida to a less-restrictive prison camp in Texas.

Prior to the interview, the Justice Department said in July that after reviewing more than 300 gigabytes of data that there was “no incriminating client list” nor was there any evidence that Epstein may have blackmailed prominent people.

Oct. 6 (UPI) — The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by Ghislaine Maxwell Monday of her conviction for aiding the late Jeffrey Epstein in trafficking underage girls.

Maxwell’s defense attorney argued in March to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York that her client should have been legally immune in a previous agreement made with convicted sex trafficker Epstein by Florida prosecutors in 2007.

The appeals court didn’t agree with her attorneys, and the Supreme Court refused to take up the case.

“We’re, of course, deeply disappointed that the Supreme Court declined to hear Ghislaine Maxwell’s case,” Maxwell’s defense attorney David Oscar Markus said in a statement. “But this fight isn’t over. Serious legal and factual issues remain, and we will continue to pursue every avenue available to ensure that justice is done.”

Maxwell, 63, has served five years of her 20-year sentence for sex trafficking.

Maxwell and her attorney met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche for two days in July. There were growing calls from Democrats and Republicans for President Donald Trump to release files on the Epstein case and worry that he may pardon her, though he hasn’t said that he would.

In August, she was moved to a minimum-security prison in Texas, though no reason was ever given for the transfer.

In early September, some of the victims of Epstein and Maxwell spoke out in Washington, D.C., about their ordeals and how the government should release the files — including the “birthday book” — to show who Epstein’s clients were. Trump called it a “Democratic hoax.”

Epstein died by suicide while in custody in 2019.

And so the verdict is out. United States President Donald Trump’s name has been cleared of ignominious association with the late disgraced financier and child sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein. This is according to Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former partner, who in 2022 was sentenced to 20 years behind bars on sex trafficking charges.

Earlier this year, US Attorney General Pam Bondi reportedly informed the president that his name appeared in the so-called “Epstein files”, the content of which Trump had said on the campaign trail he would be quite keen on releasing.

Once in office, however, he spontaneously decided that the Epstein case was old news, going so far as to reprimand those in his own MAGA base who were “stupid” and “foolish” enough to continue insisting that the files be declassified.

Now, the US Justice Department has released transcripts of a July interview between Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, a former personal lawyer for Trump, and Maxwell, who had nothing but praise for the president’s moral solidity:

“I never witnessed the president in any inappropriate setting in any way. The president was never inappropriate with anybody. In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects.”

There was no limit, it seemed, to Maxwell’s admiration for the president. “Trump was always very cordial and very kind to me… I like him, and I’ve always liked him,” she declared.

Never mind Maxwell’s reputation as a serial liar who was charged with two counts of perjury for lying under oath – charges that were dropped following her conviction on other counts. Surely the obsequious tribute to Trump’s allegedly upstanding nature has nothing to do with the fact that Maxwell is presently seeking a presidential pardon from the same man.

At any rate, the shining appraisal should at least help un-bunch the panties of many Trump supporters who have been dissatisfied with his handling of the Epstein matter. Far-right influencer and self-categorised “proud Islamophobe” Laura Loomer, for example – whom Trump has praised as “terrific” and “very special” – welcomed Maxwell’s testimony as proof that the president “has always been an honourable person”.

Expressing her hope that “these transcripts will quell a lot of the nasty, salacious lies and rumors that were spread by bad actors online”, Loomer appeared confident that harmony would soon be restored among MAGA adherents.

To be sure, there’s nothing more uplifting than the members of a movement founded on hatred and discord getting along with each other.

For his part, Trump has now announced that he “couldn’t care less” about the US Justice Department’s release of the Epstein files to Congress.

Speaking to reporters, the president nonetheless maintained that the “whole Epstein thing is a Democrat hoax” – a result of the Democratic Party’s inability to cope with Trump’s spectacular success at the helm of America: “So we had the greatest six months, seven months in the history of the presidency, and the Democrats don’t know what to do, so they keep bringing up that stuff.”

As with most calculations emanating from the president’s brain, the proclamation of the “greatest” time period bears no correlation with reality. Indeed, pretty much everything that has transpired over the past six or seven months has been decidedly less than “great” – not that Trump’s Democratic predecessor Joe Biden presided over anything particularly inspiring.

On the domestic scene, Americans continue to be plagued by rising costs of living that for many folks make existence itself unsustainable. Basic rights like healthcare, education, nutrition, and housing have long been converted into for-profit industries, and gun violence constitutes a veritable national pastime.

Under Trump’s guidance, US law enforcement agencies have gone about abducting and disappearing undocumented workers, international scholars, and US citizens alike. The nation’s capital, Washington, DC, has also been militarised with the deployment of National Guard troops to supposedly “fight crime” in the mostly safe parts of the city.

On the international front, meanwhile, the past six or seven months have not only seen Trump bomb Iran in egregious violation of international law but also persist in sustaining Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to the tune of billions upon billions of dollars.

Just days ago, the United Nations officially declared famine in Gaza – a logical result of the US-backed Israeli policy of enforced starvation.

And all of this against a backdrop of planetary self-combustion that is only being sped up by the Trump administration’s prioritisation of climate change denial.

Considering the rather apocalyptic panorama, Trump’s de facto character certificate from Maxwell is at best entirely irrelevant – a political soap opera in which one convicted criminal kisses the rear end of another convicted criminal who happens to be president of the United States.

Maxwell’s testimony is simply icing on the dystopian cake. And as the world goes up in flames, the character certificate at least sums up where the US is currently at – however many “greatest” months into 2025.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

WASHINGTON — Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s imprisoned former girlfriend and accomplice, repeatedly denied in her interview with the Justice Department having witnessed any sexually inappropriate interactions with Donald Trump, according to records released Friday meant to distance the president from the sex-trafficking case.

The Trump administration issued transcripts from interviews that Deputy Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche conducted with Maxwell last month as the administration was scrambling to present itself as transparent amid a fierce backlash over its refusal to disclose a trove of records from the case.

The records show Maxwell repeatedly showering Trump with praise and denying under questioning from Blanche that she had observed Trump engaged in any form of sexual behavior. The administration was presumably eager to make such denials public at a time when Trump has faced questions about his former longtime friendship with Epstein and as his administration has endured continued scrutiny over its handling of evidence from the case.

The transcript release represents the latest Trump administration effort to repair self-inflicted political wounds after failing to deliver on expectations that its own officials had created through conspiracy theories and bold pronouncements that never came to pass. By making public two days’ worth of interviews, officials appear to be hoping to at least temporarily keep at bay sustained anger from Trump’s base as they send Congress evidence they had previously kept from view.

After her interview with Blanche, Maxwell was moved from the low-security federal prison in Florida to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas to continue serving a 20-year sentence for her 2021 conviction for luring underage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein.

Her trial featured sordid accounts of the sexual exploitation of girls as young as 14 told by four women who described being abused as teens in the 1990s and early 2000s at Epstein’s homes.

She was convicted of conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors to participate in illegal sex acts, transporting a minor to participate in illegal sex acts, sex trafficking conspiracy, and sex trafficking of a minor.

Victims of Epstein and Maxwell and victims’ family members, among others, have expressed outrage at her prison relocation and the Trump administration’s handling of the case.

Neither Maxwell’s lawyers nor the federal Bureau of Prisons has explained the reason for the move, but one of her lawyers, David Oscar Markus, said in a social media post Friday that Maxwell was “innocent and never should have been tried, much less convicted.”

Maxwell is widely believed to be seeking a presidential pardon, which Trump has not ruled out.

‘Never inappropriate’

“I actually never saw the president in any type of massage setting,” Maxwell said, according to the transcript. “I never witnessed the president in any inappropriate setting in any way. The president was never inappropriate with anybody. In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects.”

Maxwell recalled knowing about Trump and possibly meeting him for the first time in 1990, when her newspaper magnate father, Robert Maxwell, was the owner of the New York Daily News. She said she had been to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., sometimes alone, but hadn’t seen Trump since the mid-2000s.

Asked if she ever heard Epstein or anyone else say Trump “had done anything inappropriate with masseuses” or anyone else in their orbit, Maxwell replied, “Absolutely never, in any context.”

Maxwell was interviewed over the course of two days last month by Blanche — one of Trump’s personal lawyers before joining the Justice Department — at a Florida courthouse. She was given limited immunity, allowing her to speak freely without fear of prosecution for anything she said except in the event of a false statement.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department on Friday began sending to the House Oversight Committee records from the investigation that the panel says it intends to make public after removing victims’ information.

The case had long captured public attention in part because of Epstein’s social connections over the years to prominent figures, including Britain’s Prince Andrew, former President Clinton and Trump, who has said he had a falling-out with Epstein years ago and well before the financier came under investigation.

Maxwell told Blanche that Clinton was initially her friend, not Epstein’s, and that she never saw him receive a massage — nor did she believe he ever did. The only times they were together, she said, were the two dozen or so times they traveled on Epstein’s plane.

“That would’ve been the only time that I think that President Clinton could have even received a massage,” Maxwell said. “And he didn’t, because I was there.”

She also spoke glowingly of Britain’s Prince Andrew and dismissed as “rubbish” the late Virginia Giuffre’s claim that she was paid to have a relationship with Andrew and that he had sex with her at Maxwell’s London home.

Maxwell sought to distance herself from Epstein’s conduct, repeatedly denying allegations made during her trial about her role. Though she acknowledged that at one point Epstein began preferring younger women, she claimed she never understood that to “encompass children.” Prosecutors presented evidence at trial showing she and Epstein both knew some victims were underage.

“I did see from when I met him, he was involved, or — involved or friends with or whatever, however you want to characterize it — with women who were in their 20s,” she told Blanche. “And then the slide to, you know, 18 or younger looking women. But I never considered that this would encompass criminal behavior.”

Epstein was arrested in 2019 on sex-trafficking charges, accused of sexually abusing dozens of teenage girls, and was found dead a month later in a New York jail cell in what investigators determined was suicide.

A story that’s consumed the Justice Department

The saga has consumed the Trump administration following a two-page announcement from the FBI and Justice Department last month that Epstein had killed himself despite conspiracy theories to the contrary, that a “client list” that Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi had intimated was on her desk did not actually exist, and that no additional documents from the high-profile investigation were suitable to be released.

The announcement produced outrage from conspiracy theorists, online sleuths and Trump supporters who had been hoping to see proof of a government cover-up during previous administrations. That expectation was driven in part by comments from officials, including FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino, who on podcasts before taking their current positions had repeatedly promoted the idea that damaging details about prominent people were being withheld.

Patel, for instance, said in at least one podcast interview before becoming director that Epstein’s “black book” was under the “direct control of the director of the FBI.”

The administration made a stumble in February when far-right influencers were invited to the White House in February and provided by Bondi with binders marked “The Epstein Files: Phase 1” and “Declassified” that contained documents that had largely already been in the public domain.

After the first release fell flat, Bondi said officials were poring over a “truckload” of previously withheld evidence she said had been handed over by the FBI and raised expectations of forthcoming releases.

But after a weeks-long review of evidence in the government’s possession, the Justice Department determined that no “further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.” The department noted that much of the material was placed under seal by a court to protect victims and “only a fraction” of it “would have been aired publicly had Epstein gone to trial.”

Faced with fury from his base, Trump sought to quickly turn the page, shutting down questioning of Bondi about Epstein at a White House Cabinet meeting and deriding as “weaklings” his own supporters who he said were falling for the “Jeffrey Epstein hoax.”

The Justice Department has responded to a subpoena from House lawmakers by pledging to turn over information.

Tucker, Sisak and Richer write for the Associated Press. AP writer Adriana Gomez Licon contributed to this report.

Ghislaine Maxwell, the jailed associate of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has told US officials she did not witness any inappropriate conduct by Donald Trump or former President Bill Clinton.

The Trump administration has faced pressure to disclose information about Epstein, who the US president was previously friendly with.

Maxwell was interviewed from prison in July and, according to the newly released transcript, told Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche that a much-discussed Epstein “client list” does not exist.

She also called allegations of Prince Andrew having sexual relations with an underage girl in Maxwell’s home “mind-blowingly not conceivable”.

Maxwell is seeking a pardon from Trump and has been accused of lying to federal officials.

Shortly the interview with Blanche – who previously worked as Trump’s personal attorney – she was moved from her from a Florida prison to a new minimum-security facility in Texas. It is unclear why the move was made.

She is currently serving a 20-year sentence in a sex-trafficking scheme, and has petitioned the US Supreme Court to overturn her conviction. Her lawyer has said they would “welcome” a pardon from the president.

The White House has been adamant that “no leniency is being given or discussed” in Maxwell’s case.

Trump has maintained that he fell out with Epstein in 2004.

The president has accused his political opponents of using the case to distract from what he sees as his administration’s victories.

But he has also faced pressure from his own Republican Party for more transparency around investigations of Epstein.

In the transcripts – which amount to 300 pages, some heavily redacted – Maxwell said that while she believed Trump and Epstein were friendly “in social settings”, she did not think they were close friends.

“I actually never saw the president in any type of massage setting,” she said – alluding to the massage services that some Epstein victims have mentioned. “The president was never inappropriate with anybody.”

“In the times I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects,” she added.

She also said she did not recall Trump sending Epstein a 50th birthday note in 2003, which drew recent headlines after the note was reported in the Wall Street Journal.

In the interview, Blanche also asked Maxwell about the alleged “client list” of high-profile personalities that has become the object of conspiracy theories in recent years.

Maxwell was asked about several well-known figures, including Bill Gates, Elon Musk, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, actor Kevin Spacey, model Naomi Campbell and Prince Andrew – whom she denied she introduced to Epstein.

The list of his high-profile associates had become a focal point for conspiracy theorists who insisted that it was being kept hidden by the “deep state” to protect prominent participants in Epstein’s crimes.

Several figures in Trump’s administration – including FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino – repeated those claims in the past, although they have since backtracked.

“There is no list,” Maxwell said.

Maxwell also spoke about Prince Andrew, whose relationship with Epstein eventually led to his stepping down from royal duties.

She called it a “flat untruth” that she’d been the one who introduced the Duke of York to Epstein.

“First of all, let’s just state, I did not introduce him to Prince Andrew,” she said.

She spoke at length of Epstein’s relationship with both Prince Andrew and the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson.

Prince Andrew has previously said that Maxwell introduced him to Epstein. But Maxwell said she believed it was the duchess who was responsible.

When approached by the BBC about Maxwell’s claim, Sarah Ferguson’s representatives declined to comment.

Maxwell also spoke about Prince Andrew’s alleged relationship with a woman whose name has been redacted in the transcript.

She said she found the allegations against the Duke of York “mind-blowingly not conceivable”, partly due to the size of her house where the events allegedly took place.

She was also asked about a “famous photo” of Prince Andrew and the unnamed woman, with Maxwell in the background. She told Blanche this photo was fake.

The prince was accused by Virginia Giuffre, who is not named in the transcript, of sexually abusing her when she was 17. He denied the allegations but reached a financial settlement with her in 2022, which contained no admission of liability or apology.

A widely circulated photo shows him alongside Giuffre with Maxwell in the background. Andrew has previously disputed its authenticity.

Giuffre took her own life earlier this year. Her family has condemned the justice department for interviewing Maxwell and said she is a “monster” whose testimony cannot be trusted.

According to Maxwell, she first befriended Epstein in 1991, and subsequently developed a sexual relationship with him.

Even after that relationship ended, she said she was still paid by Epstein – up to $250,000 (£184,782) a year by 2009 – and remained “friends with benefits”. She added that their relationship was “almost non-existent” between 2010 and his death.

Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

“I do not believe he died by suicide, no,” Maxwell said when asked, although she added that she did “not have any reason” to believe that he had been killed in a bid to silence him.

“It’s ludicrous,” she said of theories that he was murdered. “I also happen to think if that is what they wanted, they would’ve had plenty of opportunity when he wasn’t in jail.”

“And if they were worried about blackmail or anything from him, he would’ve been a very easy target,” she added.

Earlier this year, reports emerged that Trump had been told by US Attorney General Pam Bondi that his name appeared in the official files of the investigation into Epstein .

Trump has never been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with the case – and on the campaign trail last year said he would publicise more information about the case.

But he reversed his position several months into his administration, saying the case was closed, and criticised supporters and journalists who continued to press him on it.

The United States Department of Justice has released transcripts of a recent interview between Ghislaine Maxwell, the former partner of child sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein, and one of its top officials.

Their meeting was arranged in July as the administration of President Donald Trump struggled to tamp down scrutiny over his past ties to Epstein.

In transcripts released on Friday, Maxwell praised Trump and insisted that she never saw him engage in any inappropriate behaviour.

“I actually never saw the president in any type of massage setting,” said Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking convictions.

“I never witnessed the president in any inappropriate setting in any way. The president was never inappropriate with anybody. In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects.”

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, the second-in-command at the Justice Department, previously said he met with Maxwell to see if she “has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims”.

But the release of the transcripts is likely to reignite questions about how the Justice Department has handled information about the Epstein case, which has become a source of speculation and conspiracy theories among Trump’s supporters.

On Friday, Blanche said that, excepting the names of the victims, “every word is included” in the released transcripts.

“Nothing removed. Nothing hidden,” he explained.

In the interview, Maxwell denied having any knowledge of a so-called “client list”, a subject of conspiracy theories on the US right.

She also complimented Trump for his behaviour and his “extraordinary achievement in becoming the president now”.

“Trump was always very cordial and very kind to me,” Maxwell said, adding, “I like him, and I’ve always liked him.”

Following her meeting with Blanche, which took place in a courthouse over two days, Maxwell was moved from a low-security federal prison in Florida to a minimum-security camp in Texas.

The government has not explained the reason for the change.

But in the aftermath of the meeting, the family of one of Epstein’s highest-profile accusers, Virginia Giuffre, called on the Trump administration not to show Maxwell any leniency.

“She must remain in prison — anything less would go down in history as being one of the highest travesties of justice,” Giuffre’s relatives wrote in a statement. Giuffre died by suicide in April.

Epstein himself was found dead in his jail cell in 2019, and his death was ruled a suicide by hanging.

Still, conspiracy theories have widely circulated in the US that his death could have been a cover-up, based on the belief that Epstein’s powerful associates may have taken part in his abuse.

Experts say the saga has become a stand-in for the suspicion that the rich and powerful face little accountability, and Trump’s “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) base has long backed efforts to “drain the swamp”: a catchphrase used to advocate for the removal of corrupt forces in the government and leading industries.

Some of these suspicions have evolved into conspiracy theories about rings of paedophiles operating in the shadows of power.

In 2016, for instance, a suspect fired a gun into the Comet Ping Pong Pizzeria in Washington, DC, based on the belief it was a hub for such a ring.

In the Epstein case, there was widespread speculation that the disgraced financier kept a “client list” as blackmail against powerful figures.

Several members of the Trump administration had previously been strong promoters of that conspiracy theory, including Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel.

But he has since backtracked after joining the White House for Trump’s second term, with the FBI and Department of Justice issuing a joint memo that no such list exists. That memo also reaffirmed that Epstein died by suicide and no further suspects in his abuses have come to light.

The memo, however, failed to dampen interest in the scandal, and many pointed out that Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News in February that a client list was “on her desk” for review. Bondi has since said she misspoke and was referring to the Epstein files in general.

A Quinnipiac poll in July found that 63 percent of people in the US disapprove of Trump’s handling of the issue.

Aug. 11 (UPI) — A New York judge on Monday rejected a request by the federal government to unseal grand jury records in the federal case of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein‘s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell after the Trump administration signed off on her prison transfer.

“The court’s review confirmed that unsealing the grand jury materials would not reveal new information of any consequence,” U.S. Judge Paul Engelmayer of New York’s Southern District wrote in his 31-page ruling denying a request by the U.S. Department of Justice to unseal the grand jury material.

Late last week, the Justice Department asked to unseal further evidence in the case, saying it wanted to shield “personal identifying information” but argued that the circumstances of Maxwell’s case had warranted the unusual legal maneuver.

A grand jury’s proceedings and its corresponding evidence typically stay secret.

Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after her December 2021 conviction on sex-trafficking charges, but has since appealed her guilty verdict.

Engelmayer, an Obama appointee, said the government’s invocation of the special circumstances surrounding the case engulfing the White House “fails at the threshold” to explain a need to release the docs.

“A member of the public, appreciating that the Maxwell grand jury materials do not contribute anything to public knowledge, might conclude that the government’s motion for their unsealing was aimed not at ‘transparency’ but at diversion — aimed not at full disclosure but at the illusion of such.”

Maxwell was transferred in early August from her Tallahassee prison in Florida to a cushy low-security prison camp in Bryan, Texas, with little reason in another unusual legal move.

“It’s entire premise — that the Maxwell grand jury materials would bring to light meaningful new information about Epstein’s and Maxwell’s crimes, or the government’s investigation into them — is demonstrably false,” the judge said Monday.

Government had hoped to get files released about Jeffrey Epstein associate to quell furore that had grown over the case.

A United States judge has denied a request by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to unseal transcripts from a grand jury that indicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned former girlfriend and associate of deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In a decision issued on Monday, Judge Paul A Engelmayer said lawyers for the government failed to convince the court that extraordinary circumstances warranted the release of the grand jury testimony, which is typically delivered privately and sealed.

“[The government’s] entire premise – that the Maxwell grand jury materials would bring to light meaningful new information about Epstein’s and Maxwell’s crimes, or the Government’s investigation into them – is demonstrably false,” Engelmayer wrote in his decision.

The DOJ in June announced it would not release any additional documents from the investigation into Epstein, causing an uproar among President Donald Trump’s base, which holds a number of conspiracy theories about the well-connected sex trafficker.

In an effort to quell the backlash, the DOJ at the order of Trump then sought to unseal transcripts both from Maxwell’s grand jury as well as Epstein’s.

In 2021, Maxwell was convicted of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein – a one-time friend to the powerful and influential in the US – and was sentenced to 20 years in prison for her crimes.

Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 as he awaited trial on sex-trafficking charges.

Aug. 1 (UPI) — Ghislaine Maxwell has been moved from her prison in Tallahassee, Fla., to a low-security prison camp in Bryan, Texas, though no reason has been given.

Maxwell, 63, has served five of her 20-year sentence for sex trafficking. She was the accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex trafficker of underage girls.

The prison she was moved from is a low-security facility, and her destination is a minimum security one.

Maxwell’s lawyer, David Oscar Marcus, declined to elaborate, saying, “We can confirm that she was moved but we have no comment.”

Maxwell, with her attorney, recently met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche for two days. There have been growing calls from Democrats and Republicans for President Donald Trump to release files on the Epstein case and worry that he may issue her a pardon, though he hasn’t said that he would.

Sam Mangel, a prison consultant who doesn’t represent Maxwell, suggested that she could be threatened, hurt or injured in the Tallahassee prison, especially if she continues to cooperate with the Justice Department. The Tallahassee prison houses gang members and violent offenders.

“Given her situation, [the move is] the best for her,” Mangel told CNN.

Josh Lepird, vice president for the region of the officers’ union that includes Bryan, Texas, said the transfer did not seem unusual to him, even for a high-profile prisoner.

“The only unusual thing is that you typically only go to a camp if you have just a couple years left,” Lepird told the Houston Chronicle. “But if someone is a cooperating witness, they can request a lower security level.”

The move sparked concern from the family of one of Maxwell’s most vocal accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, that the transfer is part of an undisclosed deal between the Justice Department and the Trump administration, spokesperson Dini von Mueffling told USA Today.

The family has expressed worry that Trump and some inside the DOJ are trying to silence Maxwell without receiving any input from potentially hundreds of accusers who say she and Epstein sexually abused them and forced them to have sex with prominent men. Those men have not been publicly identified.

“The family is scrambling right now to figure out what’s going on,” von Mueffling said. “They don’t understand why this is happening.”

Other inmates in the camp include Jen Shah, from the TV show The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, and Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos.

WASHINGTON — Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, has been moved from a federal prison in Florida to a prison camp in Texas as her criminal case generates renewed public attention.

The federal Bureau of Prisons said Friday that Maxwell had been transferred to Bryan, Texas, but did not explain the circumstances. Her attorney confirmed the move but also declined to discuss the reasons for it.

Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. She had been held at a low-security prison in Tallahassee, Fla., until her transfer to the prison camp in Texas, where other inmates include Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and Jen Shah of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.”

Minimum-security federal prison camps house inmates the Bureau of Prisons considers to be the lowest security risk. Some don’t even have fences.

The prison camps were originally designed with low security to make operations easier and to allow inmates tasked with performing work at the prison, such as landscaping and maintenance, to avoid repeatedly checking in and out of a main prison facility.

Maxwell’s case has been the subject of heightened public focus since an outcry over the Justice Department’s statement last month saying that it would not be releasing any additional documents from the Epstein sex trafficking investigation.

Since then, administration officials have tried to cast themselves as promoting transparency in the case, including by requesting from courts the unsealing of grand jury transcripts.

Maxwell was interviewed at a Florida courthouse over two days last week by Deputy Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche.

The House Oversight Committee has separately said that it wants to speak with Maxwell. Her lawyers said this week that she would be open to an interview but only if the panel were to give her immunity from prosecution for anything she said.

Tucker writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Michael Balsamo contributed to this report.

July 25 (UPI) — Ghislaine Maxwell, associate of child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, is meeting with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche Friday to answer more questions about her knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and who may have associated with him.

The two met Thursday and spoke for six hours at a federal courthouse in Tallahassee, Fla. Friday’s meeting is a continuation of the questioning. Blanche is a former defense attorney of President Donald Trump.

Before leaving for Scotland Friday, Trump brushed off questions about Epstein.

“I have nothing to do with the guy,” Trump said of Epstein. He socialized with Epstein for years before falling out with him in the mid-2000s.

Trump said reporters should focus on those who allegedly spent time with Epstein, such as former President Bill Clinton and ex-Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who was also once the president of Harvard.

People “don’t talk about them. They talk about me,” he complained.

“You should focus on Clinton. You should focus on the president of Harvard, the former president of Harvard, you should focus on some of the hedge fund guys,” CNBC reported that Trump said.

“I’ll give you a list. These guys lived with Jeffrey Epstein, I sure as hell didn’t.”

When asked if he would pardon Maxwell, who has served five years of a 20-year sentence for finding and grooming young girls for Epstein’s abuse, Trump said, “It’s something I haven’t thought about.”

“I’m allowed to do it,” he added.

Maxwell’s attorney David Oscar Markus said Maxwell was “hoping for another productive day.”

“Ghislaine has been treated unfairly for over five years now,” he added.

“If you looked up scapegoat in the dictionary, her face would be next to the definition next to the dictionary definition of it,” he said. “So, you know, we’re grateful for this opportunity to finally be able to say what really happened, and that’s what we’re going to do yesterday and today.”

“We just ask that folks look at what she has to say with an open mind, and that’s what Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has promised us, and everything she says can be corroborated, and she’s telling the truth,” Markus said.

“She’s got no reason to lie at this point, and she’s going to keep telling the truth.”

Markus refused to comment on the nature of the questioning.

On social media, Blanche said he would reveal what he learned from Maxwell “at the appropriate time.”

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that a recent review of Epstein-related documents by the Justice Department and FBI allegedly found that Trump’s name appeared several times in the files.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., during a press conference on Wednesday, said making the Epstein files public needs to be done in a way that protects the victims mentioned, some of whom are minors.

WASHINGTON — Justice Department officials were set to meet on Thursday with Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned former girlfriend of financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The meeting in Florida, which Deputy Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche said on Tuesday he was working to arrange, is part of an ongoing Justice Department effort to cast itself as transparent following fierce backlash from parts of President Trump’s base over an earlier refusal to release additional records in the Epstein investigation.

In a social media post Tuesday, Blanche said that Trump “has told us to release all credible evidence” and that if Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the Justice Department “will hear what she has to say.”

A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Thursday. The person who confirmed the meeting insisted on anonymity to describe a closed-door encounter to the Associated Press.

A lawyer for Maxwell confirmed on Tuesday there were discussions with the government and said Maxwell “will always testify truthfully.”

The House Committee on Oversight issued a subpoena on Wednesday for Maxwell to testify before committee officials in August.

Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence and is housed at a low-security federal prison in Tallahassee, Fla. She was sentenced three years ago after being convicted of helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.

Officials have said Epstein killed himself in his New York jail cell while awaiting trial in 2019, but his case has generated endless attention and conspiracy theories because of his and Maxwell’s links to famous people, including royals, presidents and billionaires.

Earlier this month, the Justice Department said it would not release more files related to the Epstein investigation, despite promises that claimed otherwise from Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi. The department also said an Epstein client list does not exist.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Bondi told Trump in May that his name was among high-profile people mentioned in government files of Epstein, though the mention does not imply wrongdoing.

Trump, a Republican, has said that he once thought Epstein was a “terrific guy” but that they later had a falling out.

A subcommittee on Wednesday also voted to subpoena the Justice Department for documents related to Epstein. And senators in both major political parties have expressed openness to holding hearings on the matter after Congress’ August recess.

Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, has introduced legislation with bipartisan support that would require the Justice Department to “make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” related to Epstein and his associates.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and the Republican majority leader, Rep. Steve Scalise, both of Louisiana, have said they will address whatever outstanding Epstein-related issues are in Congress when they return from recess.

Epstein, under a 2008 nonprosecution agreement, pleaded guilty in Florida to state charges of soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution. That allowed him to avert a possible life sentence, instead serving 13 months in a work release program. He was required to make payments to victims and register as a sex offender.

In 2019, Epstein was charged by federal prosecutors in Manhattan for nearly identical allegations.

Tucker and Williams write for the Associated Press. Williams reported from Detroit.

July 24 (UPI) — The U.S. Department of Justice is meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell, the accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein, at a federal courthouse in Florida on Thursday.

She was originally scheduled to meet Justice Department representatives at the minimum-security prison where she is serving a 20-year sentence for sex-trafficking, but instead the meeting will happen at the U.S. attorney’s office, located inside the federal courthouse in Tallahassee, as first reported by ABC News.

“For the first time, the Department of Justice is reaching out to Ghislaine Maxwell to ask: what do you know?” posted U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to X Tuesday in regard to the Thursday meeting.

Maxwell has also been subpoenaed by House Oversight Committee Chairperson Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., for a deposition slated to take place at the prison where she is held on Aug. 11.

Maxwell was convicted and sentenced in June 2022 as an accomplice in Epstein’s sex-trafficking scheme and was denied a reassessment by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year.

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that a recent review of Epstein-related documents by the Justice Department and FBI allegedly found that President Donald Trump‘s name appeared several times in the files, and that Trump was informed of that by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in May before the Justice Department said it would not make those files public.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Wednesday during a press conference that when the Epstein files are made public, “which we must do as quickly as possible,” it needs to be done in a way that protects the victims mentioned in the files, some of whom are purportedly minors.

But he also stressed that only “credible evidence” should be revealed, and Maxwell’s attorney David Oscar Markus responded on X Wednesday that “We understand [Johnson’s] general concern, Congress should always vet the credibility of its witnesses.”

However, Markus claimed, “those concerns are unfounded,” and that Maxwell testifies before Congress and not invoke her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, that “she would testify truthfully.”

Markus also said that Maxwell is looking forward to her meeting with the DOJ, and that will inform how she proceeds in regard to the Congressional subpoena.

Rumors that Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while in custody, had a list of clients who participated in the abuse and exploitation have been denied by the DOJ. Further rumors involve President Donald Trump’s past relationship with Epstein, although Trump has since called public’s interest in the Epstein files a “scam” and a “hoax” created by his political opponents.

WASHINGTON — Uproar over the Trump administration’s handling of files from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation continues to grip Washington, prompting the Justice Department on Tuesday to schedule an unusual meeting with Epstein’s top confidant, Ghislaine Maxwell, and the House Oversight Committee to move to subpoena her testimony amid bipartisan calls for transparency in the case.

The renewed focus on Maxwell comes amid persistent questions over Trump’s years-long friendship with Epstein, the late and disgraced financier whose sprawling sex-trafficking ring victimized more than 200 women and girls.

Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence in federal prison for her role in perpetuating one of the most expansive sex-trafficking rings in modern U.S. history.

It is the first time the Justice Department has approached Maxwell’s counsel for a meeting, according to the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, who wrote in a statement that he would take the meeting himself “to ask: What do you know?”

“No one is above the law — and no lead is off-limits,” said Blanche, formerly one of Trump’s personal attorneys.

And yet, Republicans and Democrats alike are expressing suspicion over the Justice Department’s moves, questioning whether its outreach to Maxwell could be an effort to cut a cooperation agreement with a figure holding unique insights on the president’s friendship with Epstein.

Maxwell’s attorney, David Oscar Markus, called Trump “the ultimate dealmaker” earlier this month, and said this week that Maxwell’s team is “grateful to President Trump for his commitment to uncovering the truth in this case.”

“Ghislaine Maxwell is a federal prisoner right now. Obviously, she wants a pardon, so she will probably sing from whatever hymnal Donald Trump tells her to sing from,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland and ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, told CNN this week.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) introduced a binding resolution that would compel the release of FBI files related to the Epstein investigation, drawing a rebuke from Trump on social media Tuesday. And Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), a longtime ally of the president, told reporters that he did not trust what the Justice Department was telling the public about the case.

“No, I don’t. I don’t. I don’t trust them,” he said. “I’m big on clarity and transparency, and that’s a good reason people don’t trust government in either party.”

Burchett motioned in the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday to have the panel proceed with a subpoena for Maxwell to appear for public testimony, a move that was adopted by voice vote.

But to prevent a bipartisan vote on releasing the files from moving on the House floor, House Speaker Mike Johnson planned to send the chamber home for summer recess a day early, telling reporters that there was no purpose in Congress pushing the administration “to do something they’re already doing.”

Epstein, a wealthy financier with a deep bench of powerful friends, died in a New York City prison in August 2019 facing federal charges over a child sex-trafficking conspiracy.

The New York City medical examiner and the inspector general of the Justice Department both ruled Epstein’s death was a suicide. But suspicions of conspiracy have surrounded his case and his untimely death due to his known association with some of the country’s most powerful men.

Photos of Trump, Epstein and Maxwell are widely available, and Trump has acknowledged their friendship in the past.

“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,” Trump told New York magazine in 2002. “He’s a lot of fun to be with.”

“It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side,” he said. “No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”

Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump sent a raunchy 50th birthday card to Epstein that included a sketch of a naked woman, featuring breasts and a squiggly “Donald” signature mimicking pubic hair. The sketch also included a note that read, “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.” Maxwell compiled the album, according to the report.

Trump has begged and scolded his supporters to move on from the controversy, despite stoking conspiracies around the existence of a list of Epstein’s clients throughout the 2024 presidential election.

“I would say these files were made up by [former FBI Director James] Comey and [former President] Obama, made up by the Biden” administration, Trump now says, “and we went through years of that with the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax.”

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced one of its top officials has sought a meeting with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s imprisoned associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, amid continued scrutiny of President Donald Trump’s handling of the case.

On Tuesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi released a statement from her deputy, Todd Blanche, who explained that he is pursuing a meeting with Maxwell to ensure transparency in the government’s Epstein investigation.

“This Department of Justice does not shy away from uncomfortable truths, nor from the responsibility to pursue justice wherever the facts may lead,” 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.”

Blanche’s statement comes as the Trump administration weathers a backlash from his base over the Epstein scandal.

On July 7, the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a memo saying a review of Epstein’s case yielded no new evidence, including no “client list”.

But that finding caused an uproar among Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) base, which noted that Bondi herself had referred to a client list “sitting on my desk right now” earlier this year.

Members of Trump’s base have long embraced conspiracy theories about rings of sex offenders in the highest levels of government, and some have questioned the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death, speculating that it was an orchestrated cover-up.

According to authorities, the billionaire financier — who had a powerful social circle — committed suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 as he awaited trial on sex-trafficking charges.

Maxwell, a close confidant and former girlfriend of Epstein’s, has been imprisoned since her 2021 conviction on five federal charges related to her role in the sexual abuse of underage girls.

Blanche said he has “communicated with counsel for Ms Maxwell to determine whether she would be willing to speak with prosecutors from the department”.

“I anticipate meeting with Ms Maxwell in the coming days,” he added.

A lawyer for Maxwell, David Oscar Markus, confirmed her legal team was “in discussions with the government and that Ghislaine will always testify truthfully”.

“We are grateful to President Trump for his commitment to uncovering the truth in this case. We have no other comment at this time,” he said.

The update comes after Trump last week instructed Bondi and Blanche to ask a federal court to unseal grand jury transcripts in both the cases of Epstein and Maxwell.

Trump had supported the FBI and Justice Department in their assessment earlier this month, which failed to produce any new incriminating evidence about any of the high-profile politicians and businessmen in Epstein’s orbit.

One of the conspiracy theories circulating about the case is that Epstein used his sex-trafficking ring to blackmail powerful figures, though the July memo splashed cold water on that assertion.

“This systematic review revealed no incriminating ‘client list’,” the memo said. “There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions.”

The situation has drawn renewed scrutiny to Trump’s own years-long relationship with Epstein, as high-profile members of the MAGA base denounced the results of the memo as unsatisfying and inconclusive.

The president has attempted to dismiss the outcry, calling the controversy the “Epstein hoax” and denouncing his supporters as “weaklings” for perpetuating it.

That did little to stem the outrage from some of the most influential voices in the MAGA movement, who have called on Bondi to resign.

Earlier this year, Bondi vowed that the Justice Department would release additional materials, including “a lot of names” and “a lot of flight logs” in connection with Epstein’s clients.

However, the information that the department has released since Trump took office has shed no new light on the case.

Trump himself has had to contend with media reports over his ties to Epstein. He recently filed a lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal after the newspaper reported on a “bawdy” letter Trump allegedly wrote to Epstein for his 50th birthday.

Several of Trump’s top officials have themselves spent years fuelling speculation over the Epstein files, including FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino.