US justice department officials reportedly prepare to meet with Ghislaine Maxwell

The Guardian

a day ago

The Jeffrey Epstein files scandal swirling around Donald Trump and his administration continued to escalate on Thursday as officials from the Department of Justice were reportedly set to meet with the late sex offender's longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
Todd Blanche, the US deputy attorney general, arrived on Thursday morning at the office of the US attorney in Tallahassee, Florida, where he was expected to meet with Maxwell, ABC News reported. The state prosecutor's office is based in the federal courthouse in the Florida capital and Maxwell's lawyers were also seen entering the building, the TV network reported.
The US justice department had announced on Tuesday that the meeting would take place 'in the coming days'. Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking and other crimes at a federal prison in Florida, after being convicted in New York in late 2021.
The meeting comes amid growing political and public pressure on the Trump administration to release more details about the Epstein investigation – something that Trump and members of his administration had promised.
Mark Epstein, the brother of the disgraced financier, said that if he had the opportunity he would ask Maxwell 'what she and Jeffrey might have known what the dirt was on Donald Trump'.
'Because Jeffrey said he said he had dirt on Trump,' Mark Epstein said. 'I don't know what it was but years ago he said he had dirt on Trump.'
He added that he wasn't 'particularly worried' for Maxwell, adding: 'There's a lot of people on this planet.'
Maxwell's brother, Ian Maxwell, meanwhile, told the New York Post that his sister is preparing 'new evidence' ahead of her meeting with justice department officials.
Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his prison cell in New York in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges, which he denied, relating to accusations that he 'sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girls'. He had previously been officially declared a sex offender in Florida but re-emerged as a significant figure in US business and political circles in the years that followed his having struck a deal over the earlier criminal charges.
The renewed focus on Trump's past association with Epstein comes after the justice department's announcement earlier this month that it would not be releasing any more documents from the most recent Epstein investigation – despite earlier pledges by both the US president and the US attorney general, Pam Bondi.
The justice department's announcement drew criticism and backlash from both sides of the party political aisle, including from some Trump supporters and conservative commentators who accused the administration of engaging in a cover-up.
For years, the Epstein case has been the subject of countless conspiracy theories, partly due to Epstein's ties to high-profile figures. Epstein's death, which was officially ruled a suicide, has also fueled many conspiracy theories.
On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was informed by Bondi in May that his name appears multiple times in the DoJ files related to Epstein.
The report also said that Trump was told that many other high-profile individuals were named in the files, and that the department did not plan to release any additional documents related to the investigation.
Trump's spokesperson, Steven Cheung, denied the claims in the Journal report and dismissed the story.
In an emailed statement this week, Cheung said that 'the fact is that the President kicked him [Epstein] out of his club for being a creep.'
Meanwhile, the House Oversight Committee voted 8-2 on Wednesday to subpoena the justice department for the Epstein files, with three Republicans joining all Democrats in the vote.
The committee also subpoenaed Maxwell to testify before committee officials on 11 August.
As the DoJ's meeting with Maxwell reportedly approached on Thursday, skepticism around her credibly was growing among lawmakers.
Mike Johnson, the Republican House speaker, questioned whether Maxwell could be trusted.
And Dan Goldman, a Democratic New York representative, said in a post on X on Tuesday: 'Ghislaine is looking for a pardon, and who would be better to give it to her than a co-conspirator now in the Oval Office.'
Edward Helmore contributed reporting.