The Trump administration is contemplating the release of the transcript from a recent two-day interview conducted by a Justice Department official with Ghislaine Maxwell, according to a source who spoke with NBC News on Tuesday.
“We’re leaning toward transparency,” the source said.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche spent nine hours over the course of two days in July interviewing Maxwell, the associate and accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein. Former prosecutors informed NBC News that it is quite rare for the Justice Department’s second-highest official to directly interview a witness in such a manner.
Blanche has not disclosed any details regarding Maxwell’s statements nor any future actions concerning the Epstein investigation. Shortly after these interviews, Maxwell was relocated from a prison in Florida to a low-security facility in Texas, typically reserved for those convicted of nonviolent or white-collar crimes.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in recruiting and trafficking minors for sex.
According to the Bureau of Prisons’ guidelines, such a transfer should not have been possible for Maxwell, as BOP policy dictates that sex offenders must reside in facilities with at least a low-security level. An exception is only feasible if the bureau’s Designation and Sentence Computation Center grants a waiver.
Victims of Epstein and their families have criticized this transfer, labeling it as “preferential treatment.” This sentiment is echoed by former BOP officials, one of whom described it as “a travesty of justice.”
Maxwell continues to draw attention amid the repercussions of the Trump administration’s actions concerning Epstein-related documents. Epstein, a convicted sex offender, died in custody in 2019 while awaiting a federal trial on sex trafficking charges.
Members of President Donald Trump’s base, as well as some Cabinet members, have long advocated for the release of the files, with some promoting conspiracy theories around Epstein’s death. Trump vowed on the campaign trail last year to release the files if he were elected.
The issue became a source of division between Trump and his MAGA base after the Justice Department said last month that it would not release any more files related to the case.
Trump has at times dismissed the importance of the issue, but he recently directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the release of pertinent grand jury testimony. The order came after The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump sent Epstein a “bawdy” birthday card in 2003. Trump later sued the newspaper.
