Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted sex offender and former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein, answered questions about “100 different people” after being questioned by a top Department of Justice official on Friday, her lawyer said.
Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking at a federal prison in Florida, faced another day of questioning from Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, about the Epstein case, which has been subject to controversy recently.
“Ghislaine answered every single question asked of her over the last day and a half, she answered those questions honestly, truthfully, to the best of her ability,” Maxwell’s lawyer, David Oscar Markus, said.
“She never invoked a privilege. She never refused to answer a question So we’re very proud of her.”
Blanche is interviewing Maxwell at a federal courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida, to discuss others who may have “committed crimes against victims.”
It’s unclear what exactly Blanche is asking Maxwell.
Markus said on Friday the deputy attorney general was “seeking the truth” and “asked every possible question” including probing Maxwell about the nearly 100 people.
It comes after the Trump administration has faced public backlash for refusing to release other public information in the “Epstein Files” – the information collected during the government’s investigation into Epstein.
Despite years of rumors about a so-called “client list” of high-profile individuals who participated in alleged crimes that Epstein committed, the DoJ and FBI released a memo earlier this month saying no such list existed.
Epstein, a convicted sex offender, was investigated for conducting a decades-long sex-trafficking scheme involving girls and women. Epstein died by suicide while in federal prison in 2019 before a trial could take place.
Many in Trump’s MAGA base had bolstered conspiracy theories about those involved with Epstein, including senior members of his administration such as Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino.
But their sudden reversal disappointed and outraged some MAGA supporters. Trump’s base as well as Democrats have accused Trump and officials in the administration of covering up information to protect those involved.
The president has attempted to divert attention away from the Epstein Files, an effort that appeared to backfire.
When asked about Maxwell’s questioning on Friday morning, the president, once again, tried to re-direct attention away from the situation, encouraging people to “focus on how well the country is doing.”
In the weeks following the July 6 memo, a public spotlight has been cast on Trump’s former relationship with Epstein. The president previously said the two were friends for many years, but he has denied any involvement in Epstein’s crimes. Trump has not been accused of any formal wrongdoing or charged with a crime.
A recent Wall Street Journal article reported that the president sent Epstein a lewd birthday card referencing “secrets.” The president denied sending any card and filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Journal.
Reports from CNN and the Journal also claimed that Bondi alerted Trump, in early spring, that his name appeared in the Epstein Files. Being mentioned in the files does not suggest any wrongdoing, and hundreds of other people were also named.
When asked if his name was in the files earlier this month, Trump claimed the Epstein Files were “made up” by former FBI director James Comey, former president Barack Obama, and former president Joe Biden.
During his brief press conference on Friday, Markus said Maxwell had been “treated unfairly” for the past five years and that his client had cooperated with the DoJ in it’s questioning, including by not asking for anything in return. He did however, hint that the president could offer a pardon.
“Listen, the president this morning said he had the power to do so. We hope he exercises that power in the right and just way,” Markus said.
When asked this morning if he would, Trump said while he had the authority to pardon Maxwell he had not given it much consideration.
