Despite the ongoing controversy involving the ‘Epstein files’ and the recent Supreme Court ruling, Trump seemed unprepared for the question. ‘I haven’t heard that name in a while,’ he responded, ‘I’d need to look into it… I’ll speak with the Department of Justice about it,’ he told Collins.

Questioned by Collins on why Maxwell might be considered for clemency, given her conviction for child trafficking, Trump replied, ‘I don’t know, I’ll have to consider it. Many have asked for pardons, even Puff Daddy has asked. I wasn’t aware that her appeal was rejected or that she had even requested a pardon.’

Maxwell, convicted of recruiting underage girls for Epstein, who was a former associate of Trump, is serving a 20-year sentence. The Supreme Court rejected her appeal, despite her lawyers’ arguments that Epstein’s plea deal, negotiated in Florida, should have prevented her prosecution in New York. This refusal to hear her appeal avoids a politically sensitive situation, amid allegations that Trump is concealing ‘Epstein files’ that could potentially implicate him.

Previously, the Trump administration encouraged the Court to avoid the case, especially to prevent further file releases, as the Justice Department had sought to unseal grand jury records during a growing controversy. After her interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in July, Maxwell was transferred to a low-security prison camp in Texas from a Florida federal prison.

This interview occurred amid increased scrutiny on Attorney General Pam Bondi, who had vowed to disclose the ‘Epstein files.’ Bondi is slated to appear before the Senate on Tuesday morning. Maxwell’s defense argued that a 2007 non-prosecution agreement, made with Miami federal prosecutors and Epstein’s lawyers, should also have shielded Epstein’s ‘potential co-conspirators’ from federal charges nationally. Prosecuted in Manhattan, the court there upheld that the charges were valid, and Maxwell was found guilty of trafficking a teenage girl and other offenses.

Maxwell’s trial featured accounts of the sexual exploitation of girls by four women who described being abused as teens in the 1990s and early 2000s at Epstein’s homes. Neither Maxwell’s lawyers nor the federal Bureau of Prisons has explained the reason for her transfer, but one of her lawyers, David Oscar Markus, has said she is ‘innocent and never should have been tried, much less convicted.’ Markus also was the lead lawyer on her Supreme Court case. Maxwell was interviewed by Blanche at a Florida courthouse.

She was given limited immunity, allowing her to speak freely without fear of prosecution for anything she said except for in the event of a false statement. She repeatedly denied witnessing any sexually inappropriate interactions involving Trump, according to records released in August meant to distance the president from the disgraced financier. Epstein was arrested in 2019 on [sexual] trafficking charges and was accused of sexually abusing dozens of teenage girls. A month later, he was found dead in a New York jail cell in what investigators described as a [self-murder].

The Epstein case had consumed Trump’s administration following an announcement from the FBI and the Justice Department in July that Epstein had killed himself despite conspiracy theories to the contrary, that a ‘client list’ that Attorney General 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 and Trump supporters who had been hoping to see proof of a government coverup.

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 FBI director that Epstein’s ‘black book’ was under the ‘direct control of the director of the FBI.’

But the Justice Department said its review of evidence in the government´s possession 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’ supporters he said were falling for the ‘Jeffrey Epstein Hoax.’