Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is demanding that the Justice Department (DOJ) turn over all recordings, transcripts and notes from its interviews with Ghislaine Maxwell, the partner of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking.
Durbin is raising the alarm over Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s interview with Maxwell, calling it “highly unusual, if not unprecedented, for the deputy attorney general” to conduct such an interview instead of line prosecutors who are familiar with the details of the case and who “can more readily determine if the witness is lying.”
“In light of troves of corroborating evidence collected through multiple investigations, a federal jury conviction, and Ms. Maxwell’s history and willingness to lie under oath, as it relates to her dealings with Jeffrey Epstein, why would DOJ depart from long-standing precedent and now seek her cooperation?” Durbin asked in the letter, which was also signed by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), the top Democrat on the Judiciary federal courts subcommittee.
Durbin and Whitehouse warned that Maxwell “may provide false information or selectively withhold information in return for a pardon or sentence commutation,” noting that Maxwell is pursuing an appeal to overturn her 2021 conviction for crimes she committed with Epstein.
They flagged what they called “the potential for a corrupt bargain” between the Trump administration and Maxwell that would have an “impact” on the victims and survivors of Epstein’s and Maxwell’s “horrific abuses.”
Trump last week said he hadn’t thought about pardoning Maxwell.
The Democrats asked the Justice Department to provide full transparency to the victims and survivors “with respect to any decisions the department makes regarding Ms. Maxwell’s appeal” and to pledge not to offer a pardon or commutation of sentence to Maxwell in exchange for information.
They asked Blanche to provide a detailed explanation of why the Justice Department believes Maxwell will be truthful after federal prosecutors argued in court that she demonstrated a “willingness to brazenly lie under oath about her conduct.”
The Democrats pointed out that Maxwell was charged in 2020 with two counts of perjury stemming from false statements she made in a civil deposition while under oath.
They asked the deputy attorney general to provide a detailed explanation of what information the DOJ believes Maxwell could answer that it did not obtain prior to her 2020 arrest and indictment.
And they demanded the Justice Department “provide all recordings, transcripts, reports of investigations” and other notes pertaining to interviews with Maxwell that took place on July 24 and 25.
They also asked for recordings and transcripts from any prior interviews with Maxwell and a complete description of any oral or written agreement the Justice Department entered into with Maxwell regarding past or future interviews.
Durbin and Whitehouse hypothesized the meetings with Maxwell are “another tactic to distract from DOJ’s failure to fulfill Attorney General [Pam] Bondi’s commitment that the American people would see ‘the full Epstein files.’”
An official at the Justice Department confirmed that it received the letter from the Democratic senators and declined to comment further.
