Epstein files: Trump says he hasn't considered Ghislaine Maxwell pardon
'It's something I haven't thought about,' Trump told reporters when asked about the possibility of a pardon for Maxwell. 'I'm allowed to do it, but it's something I have not thought about.'
Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence at a federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida, after being found guilty in 2021 of helping Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls. She is currently appealing her sentence.
Maxwell completed a second day of interviews with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in Tallahassee, Florida, on Friday after the Justice Department reached out to her lawyers to see if she had additional information about the case.
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2:18
Trump administration meets with jailed Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell
David Markus, a lawyer for Maxwell, told reporters she answered questions truthfully, but declined to detail what was discussed.
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'The truth will come out about what happened with Mr. Epstein and she's the person who's answering those questions,' Markus said.
The role of Blanche, the second-highest ranking official at the Justice Department and a former personal lawyer to Trump, was unusual. Senior officials typically do not personally conduct investigative interviews.
3:51
'Release the damn files': Republicans join with Democrats to demand Trump release Epstein files
Trump has been under growing pressure from his supporters and political opponents to release more information about the Justice Department's investigation into Epstein, the disgraced financier who officials ruled died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
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After Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this year promised to release additional materials related to possible Epstein clients and the circumstances surrounding his death, the Justice Department reversed course this month and issued a memo concluding there was no basis to continue investigating and no evidence of a client list.
1:37
Obama slams Trump's 'weak attempt at distraction' from Epstein files in response to election-rigging allegation
Those findings sparked an angry outcry from some of Trump's base of supporters who have long believed the government was covering up Epstein's ties to the rich and powerful.
Asked about the meeting between Blanche and Maxwell, Trump said on Friday he wasn't aware of the details, only that it was taking place.
He then pivoted to other claims, suggesting other high-profile figures should face scrutiny over their ties to Epstein.
'They don't talk about them. They talk about me. I have nothing to do with the guy,' Trump said.
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Trump appeared with Epstein at social events in the 1990s and early 2000s. Trump's name, along with many other high-profile individuals, appeared multiple times on flight logs for Epstein's private plane in the 1990s. Trump has denied ever being on the plane and has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
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Global News
34 minutes ago
- Global News
World juniors case raises consent questions, but appeal unlikely: experts
An appeal by Crown prosecutors of Thursday's acquittal of five hockey players in the high-profile world juniors sexual assault case is unlikely, legal experts say, despite questions about whether consent was properly considered. Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote were found not guilty of all charges after a weeks-long court case that centred on an alleged group sexual encounter in London, Ont., in 2018, in which the players had been accused of non-consensual sex. The Crown has 30 days to decide whether to appeal the decision to a higher court. In her ruling, Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia said she did not find the female complainant, known as E.M. in court documents due to standard a publication ban, 'credible or reliable.' She also dismissed the Crown's argument that E.M. had only consented out of fear. Story continues below advertisement 'This case, on its facts, does not raise issues of the reformulation of the legal concept of consent,' she said in her decision. While those statements and others made by Carroccia have been criticized, even legal experts who take issue with them say they may not be sufficient grounds for an appeal. 'I don't agree with the way that the judge came to her decision, but the decision is really well-reasoned,' said Daphne Gilbert, a legal professor who teaches courses on sexual assault law at the University of Ottawa. 'Appeal standards aren't just that you disagree with the result. You have to to show an error in law. And I don't see an error in law in the decision itself.' 3:56 Why the judge acquitted all 5 former Hockey Canada players in sex assault trial How the legal definition of consent factors in Melanie Randall, a Western University law professor whose research includes women's autonomy rights, said Canada's 'extremely progressive statutory definition of consent' in criminal law means 'we're not looking for the 'no,' we're looking for the 'yes.'' Story continues below advertisement In other words, she said, a judge or jury must take into account the female complainant's own mindset behind her decision to consent to a sexual act, and determine if that consent is truly voluntary, which can be a subjective assessment. The court heard during the trial that E.M., who testified she was drunk and not of clear mind, was in the washroom after she had consensual sex with McLeod on the night in question and came out to a group of men in the room allegedly invited by McLeod in a group chat. It was then that the Crown alleged several sexual acts took place without E.M.'s consent. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Defence lawyers suggested E.M. wasn't as drunk as she said she was, wanted a 'wild night' with the players, was 'egging' them on to have sex with her and accused her of having a 'clear agenda' during the court process, which was a judge-only trial. E.M. pushed back against those claims and at points outright rejected them, saying she was coaxed into staying in the room and was disrespected and taken advantage of by the group, who she said 'could see I was out of my mind.' 'E.M. was unwavering in telling the court that she did not consent, she did not want this, she did not provide her voluntary agreement,' Randall said. Story continues below advertisement 'She explained in excruciating detail why it was complex for her to cope in that situation where she felt threatened and unsure of how to respond, and I think used a lot of strategies of appeasement and acquiescence.' 2:36 World junior trial: Players found not guilty in high-profile sex assault case Although Randall agreed that the decision itself was legally sound, she believes Carroccia 'went much further than she needed to' in the analysis of consent by ruling E.M.'s consent was voluntary. 'The judge basically said one of two things: either she knows better than E.M. does what her own subjective state was, or E.M. is a liar,' Randall said. 'I think those are two very unfortunate and damaging consequences of this decision.' Gilbert said a possible appeal could be launched on the allegation the judge was biased against E.M., but called that 'kind of a nuclear option.' Story continues below advertisement 'Usually you wouldn't accuse a judge of bias from what they write in a judgment, because they're actually making explicit the reasons upon which they made their decision,' she added. 'Bias arguments are more likely to come from attitudes in the courtroom or things that were said in the courtroom that then you felt contributed to a wrongful verdict.' She suggested the judge could have done more to rein in the defence lawyers in their cross-examination of E.M., which the complainant's lawyer Karen Bellehumeur said after the verdict Thursday was at times 'insulting, unfair, mocking and disrespectful.' 'A fair trial is one where decisions are made based on the evidence and the law, not on stereotypes and assumptions, and where the trial process respects the security, equality and privacy rights of the victim, as well as the accused persons,' Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham told reporters outside court Thursday. Toronto lawyer Lorne Honickman told Global News the Crown will likely look 'very, very closely' at the issue of consent in the judge's ruling as it determines its next steps. 'If they believe that there may have been an error there in law, they will take this 30-day appeal period or review period to determine whether or not they want to appeal,' he said. 'Perhaps — and I underline 'perhaps' a hundred times — a higher court will be looking at the issues here and making further determinations.' Story continues below advertisement 2:26 Protestors gather as judge gives ruling in World Junior hockey sexual assault trial Scientific context missing in consent argument In her ruling, Carroccia noted the Crown did not present any scientific evidence or testimony she could consider that would support its claims that E.M.'s had only consented under fear or duress — something scientific experts were also puzzled by. 'I think the complexity of how the complainant responded isn't well understood,' Dr. Lori Haskell, a Toronto-based clinical psychologist who specializes in trauma and abuse and has served as an expert witness in previous trials, told Global News. Story continues below advertisement Haskell cited neuroscientific research that has shown how the brain can shut down parts of the prefrontal cortex that affect decision-making, logic and reasoning in stressful or threatening scenarios. 'They're now in survival brain,' she said of people during situations of real or perceived threats. 'It's easy when you're not in that situation to assume you could (fight or run away), but I think we need to look at, what are similar situations? How do people respond?' She continued: 'I mean, how do men respond to hazing on sports teams? We know young men in universities have been quite traumatized with things done to them.' Without that further context, experts like Gilbert and Randall said the judge's ruling appeared to accept some of the most widely-held myths regarding sexual assault, including arguments made by the defence lawyers that E.M. had 'created a lie' out of regret and embarrassment. 'Although the slogan, 'Believe the victim,' has become popularized as of late, it has no place in a criminal trial,' Carroccia wrote at one point in her decision. 'To approach a trial with the assumption that the complainant is telling the truth is the equivalent of imposing a presumption of guilt on the person accused of sexual assault and then placing the burden on him to prove his innocence.' Story continues below advertisement 0:49 All 5 former World Junior players found not guilty in high-profile sex assault trial London, Ont., defence lawyer Phillip Millar told Global News he felt 'relief' to see that sentiment expressed in the decision. 'I was worried our judicial system has (been) going too far in terms of buying into the 'believe all victims' (idea) before the person has been determined to be a victim by the justice system,' he said. 'What was done is the law of consent was properly applied. You can't redefine consent because it's inconvenient to you, or because you want to retroactively retract it. Just because you're not proud of what you did on a day doesn't give you the ability to redefine what is consent.' Randall and Gilbert noted that acquittals mean the threshold of proving something beyond a reasonable doubt was not met by the Crown, but how Canadians and those in the public realm view the details laid out during the court process may be another question. Story continues below advertisement 'I don't think an appeal is the only strategy here,' Gilbert said. 'I think there's lots of things we can respond to this judgment with that are, you know, powerful things to respond with that aren't necessarily appealing.'
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July 25, 2025 | The three rescued drillers are on their way home after 60 hours deep underground in a B.C. mine. Also, it's looking increasingly unlikely Canada and the U.S. will ink a trade deal by Aug. 1. And the Trump administration's meetings with Ghislaine Maxwell.
Globe and Mail
4 hours ago
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US-China trade talks: Can China reduce its export dependence?
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'We could also discuss the elephant in the room, which is this great rebalancing that the Chinese need to do,' Bessent told financial news network CNBC. He said China's share of global manufacturing exports at nearly 30%, 'can't get any bigger, and it should probably shrink.' China is tackling the same issues — for domestic reasons The issues are not new, and China has been working to address them for years, more for domestic reasons than to reduce its trade surpluses with the U.S. and other countries. Bessent's predecessor as treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, made industrial policy a focus of a trip to China last year. She blamed government subsidies for flooding the global market with 'artificially cheap Chinese products.' The European Union, whose top leaders met their Chinese counterparts in Beijing on Thursday, has cited subsidies to justify EU tariffs on electric vehicles made in China. In the 1980s, the U.S. pressured Japan to boost consumer spending when American manufacturing was overwhelmed by exports from the likes of Toyota and Sony. Economists have long argued that China likewise needs to transform into a more consumer-driven economy. Consumer spending accounts for less than 40% of China's economy, versus close to 70% in the United States and about 54% in Japan. Chinese leaders have spoken about both factory overcapacity and weak consumer spending as long-term problems and have sought over the past 20 years to find ways to rebalance the economy away from export manufacturing and massive investments in dams, roads, railways and other infrastructure. Fierce price wars have prompted critical reports in official media saying that companies are 'racing to the bottom,' skimping on quality and even safety to reduce costs. With strong government support, they've also expanded overseas, where they can charge higher prices but still undercut local competitors, creating a political backlash. Economists say China needs a consumer-driven economy All that competition and price cutting has left China battling deflation, or falling prices. When companies receive less for their products, they tend to invest less. That can lead to job cuts and lower wages, sapping business activity and spending power — contrary to the long-term goal of increasing the share of consumer spending in driving overall growth. To counter that, the government is spending billions on rebates and subsidies for people who trade in their cars or appliances for new ones. But acknowledging a problem and solving it are two different things. Economists say more fundamental changes are needed to boost consumption and rein in overcapacity. Such changes can only come incrementally over time. Private Chinese companies and foreign-invested companies create the most jobs, but they've suffered from swings in policy and pressures from the trade war, especially since the pandemic. Demographic changes are another challenge as China's population shrinks and ages. Many experts advocate expanding China's social safety net, health insurance, pensions and other support systems, so that people would feel freer to spend rather than save for a medical emergency or retirement. Yan Se, an economist at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management, warned at a recent forum that deflation will become a long-term issue if China doesn't step up its welfare benefits. 'Chinese people deserve a better life," he said. Facing external threats, China wants to be more self-reliant One possibility, put forward at the same forum by Liu Qiao, the dean of the business school, would be to change incentives for local government officials, rewarding them for raising consumption or household incomes instead of meeting an economic growth target. He doesn't see that happening nationwide but said it could be tested in a province. 'That would send out a message that China needs a different approach,' he said. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has made transforming the country into a technology superpower a top priority. It's a goal that has gained urgency as the U.S. has tightened restrictions on China's access to high-end semiconductors and other advanced knowhow. Output in high-tech manufacturing is growing quickly, adding to potential overcapacity, just as what happened with the government's encouragement of 'green' technologies such as solar panels and wind turbines. Various industries, including EV makers, have pledged to address the issue, but some local governments are striving to keep money-losing enterprises afloat, reluctant to lose tax revenues and jobs, or to fail to meet economic growth targets. Going forward, the government is calling for more coordination of economic development polices in fields such as artificial intelligence so that not every province champions the same industry. But government moves to counter the impact of higher tariffs tend to support sectors already in overcapacity, and the share of consumption in the economy has fallen in recent years. 'A sustained improvement in household consumption will require greater reform ambition,' the World Bank said in its most recent update on China's economy."
