Epstein victim Annie Farmer issues urgent warning to Trump amid talks of clemency deal with Ghislaine Maxwell
Annie Farmer, one of four abuse victims whose testimony helped convict Jeffrey Epstein 's madam in 2021, believes that any clemency deal with Maxwell would not only betray those harmed by the pair's abuse, it would also be seen as an 'admission of guilt' by the president.
'I think it would be devastating. It would feel like a slap in the face,' she told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.
'This case, on so many levels, is about people using their power to get away with things.'
Maxwell, 63, who's serving a 20-year sentence in Florida, met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche at the federal prison in Tallahassee last week as the Trump administration continues to take heat over its alleged 'cover-up' of the Epstein files review.
Now efforts are underway - including by Congress - to release more records and to have Maxwell testify about what she knows about Epstein and his circle of high-powered friends.
Her legal team had claimed she's ready to speak 'truthfully' about the Epstein case and his inner circle.
But Farmer has warned Blanche of Maxwell's 'charm' and said anything she says should be treated with 'a lot of skepticism'.
'She would be only sharing information if she has something to gain. It is problematic at best,' she said.
'I think she was so good at doing what because she was very charming, very disarming.
'[She] seemed very interested and seemed like a trustworthy character which is why she gained the access she did, which is why young girls and women trusted her.
'That is part of what frightens me. She can come off as someone who is very charming'.
Over the two days of questioning with Blanche, Maxwell was reportedly asked about 100 powerful friends of Epstein, including Britain's Prince Andrew and Elon Musk.
Her attorney David Oscar Markus on Friday said Maxwell has not asked for anything in exchange for speaking with the government about what she knows.
But Trump had added to the fervor when he refused to rule out invoking his presidential pardon powers for Maxwell last week.
'I'm allowed to do it, but it's something I haven't thought about,' the president said.
That prospect has raised difficult questions for Trump as Maxwell was indicted on two counts of perjury, though those charges were dismissed after her criminal conviction.
In their sentencing memo, prosecutors said that Maxwell had engaged in a' significant pattern of dishonest conduct', and Judge Alison Nathan admonished Maxwell for her 'lack of candor' about her finances.
Farmer said it would be hard to believe 'there would be trustworthy information coming from her'.
'She's lied about me, she's lied about my family,' she said. 'I'm not one to give her the benefit of the doubt'.
To Farmer, who was just 16 when she was abused by Epstein and Maxwell, the lack of consultation with the victims this time around feels like history repeating itself.
'It doesn't sit well that this is all happening without any involvement from the people they asked to testify in her case, or other victims.
'It's hard not to be anxious.'
Any potential arrangement in the case, she says, would likely be like 'sweetheart deal no.2' - referring to Epstein's notorious non-prosecution agreement in 2008.
Under the deal, the pedophile served just 15 months in a low security prison where he used an email account with 'vacation' in the handle, such was his contempt for the law.
'Ever since Epstein got the sweetheart deal the first time we have been left out of a process that was done behind closed doors and led to a poor outcome,' Farmer said.
'This could be a sweetheart deal no.2 and that is terrifying for the people who she's harmed, she's threatened.
'I'm really really hoping that's not what's occurring but it's hard not to be worrying'.
Now Farmer's 'very fearful' that Trump would pardon Maxwell to save himself, no matter how bad it might look.
'For this to happen because powerful people in Washington are willing to barter with someone else that has a history of being a very privileged person and not taking into account the voices of the victims, it would be another iteration of that.
'Because she's been a known individual with this information for so long and this is a new maneuver in the context of a backlash against the admin it's hard not to see it as not just about giving information or further investigation.
'It feels it would be about protecting powerful people'.
Farmer worries that Maxwell still poses a danger to society and issued a direct plea to Trump and the federal government about the possibility of offering her clemency.
'Please don't cut a deal with Maxwell. That would be interpreted by the general public as an admission of guilt,' she said.
'If you truly are not implicated please don't allow this predator who not only assisted in procuring girls for Epstein but participated in the abuse, don't let her face any other sentence than the one she was given by a jury of her peers.
'If she gives us the names of five men who were there one time, and she's freed.
'That's not a win. That would feel like a loss to a lot of the people who were harmed.
'She had a trial and was found guilty and she's serving the sentence she deserves'.
Farmer was just 16 when she met Epstein and Maxwell, who she was introduced to by her older sister Maria, an aspiring artist who was working for them in 1996.
After accepting an invitation to fly from her home in Arizona to see them in New York, Epstein rubbed Farmer's hand and leg while they went to see a movie.
She brushed it off but on a second trip to see Epstein and Maxwell in New Mexico, things took a dark turn.
One morning Epstein came into her bed and asked for a cuddle and another time Maxwell persuaded Farmer to give the pedophile a foot massage.
Maxwell also persuaded Farmer to take off her clothes and bra as Maxwell massaged her.
Farmer did not tell her sister out of fear she would ruin her arrangement with Epstein and Maxwell.
But then the pair sexually assaulted Maria and the two sisters opened up to each other and realized they were both victims of the twisted pair.
Earlier this year Maria Farmer sued the US government for failing to properly investigate her claims against Epstein and Maxwell.
She said that she first reported the pair to the FBI in 1996 when she and her sister were assaulted.
Maria Farmer reported them again to the FBI in 2006 when Epstein was investigated by police in Palm Beach, Florida.
Speaking to DailyMail.com, Annie Farmer said she agreed with her sister and felt like the FBI's handling of their story had been a 'failure'.
She said: 'It sends a message that what occurred to you was not a big deal
'I had a fear that this behavior could continue and a fear I knew something about these very powerful people that they would not want known.
'The fact that holding onto that and believing it wasn't of interest or concern to law enforcement, that's a problem.
'Now looking back it's most upsetting because of everything they went on to do, which was my fear'.
Farmer also now supports the release of more Epstein files, even though she has in the past been wary of doing so because she didn't want it to affect Maxwell's appeal of her conviction.
Maxwell is currently asking the US Supreme Court to consider her case after an appeal court ruled against her.
Farmer said: 'Not every single thing has to be released for there to be more transparency but there are pieces of information they've held onto that have not helped people in terms of understanding this (sex trafficking) operation or getting closure or holding other people accountable'.
Should Maxwell be released, Farmer and other Epstein victims would have a 'sense of fear' that she may seek retribution.
In the 1990s, Maxwell threatened to burn all of Maria Farmer's artwork and that she would destroy her career.
Farmer said: 'There is a sense of not knowing what she's capable of
'She's still well connected, she still has access to a lot of resources. It's a scary thing to live under that uncertainty'.
The White House said it wouldn't comment on the possibility of a pardon for Maxwell.
The Department of Justice declined to comment.
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Reuters
a minute ago
- Reuters
What you need to know about Trump, Epstein and the MAGA fracture
July 29 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is facing a political furor over his administration's handling of unreleased files from Jeffrey Epstein's criminal case. Here are some facts about Epstein and the current fracture between Trump and his supporters in the conservative MAGA movement: The Brooklyn-born Epstein, a former high school math teacher who later founded consulting and financial management firms, cultivated the rich and famous. He was known for socializing with politicians and royalty. Trump knew Epstein socially in the 1990s and early 2000s. During the 2021 trial of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, the financier's longtime pilot, Lawrence Visoski, testified that Trump flew on Epstein's private plane multiple times. Flight logs presented as evidence at the trial showed Trump's name on a list of passengers on the plane at least six times in 1993 and 1994. Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing. In a January 9, 2024, social media post, opens new tab, Trump wrote, "I was never on Epstein's Plane." Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking and sentenced to 20 years in prison. She lost an appeal and is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to consider overturning her conviction. In 2008, Epstein served 13 months in jail and pleaded guilty to a Florida state felony prostitution charge. In July 2019, the Justice Department charged Epstein with sex trafficking minors, including sexually exploiting and abusing dozens of girls, in New York and Florida between 2002 and 2005. He pleaded not guilty. Epstein died by suicide on August 10, 2019, at age 66 in a Manhattan jail cell, an autopsy concluded. He was never tried on the 2019 charges. Epstein's friendships with the political, business, and cultural elite spurred conspiracy theories, including that other prominent people were involved in Epstein's alleged sex trafficking and that his death was not a suicide. In several interviews, Trump left open the possibility that Epstein may not have died by suicide. During the 2024 presidential campaign, when a Fox News reporter asked Trump whether he would "declassify the Epstein files" if elected, Trump said, "Yeah, yeah, I would." In February, Fox News asked Attorney General Pam Bondi whether the Justice Department would be releasing what a reporter called a list of Epstein's clients. Bondi said, "It's sitting on my desk right now to review." Later that month, in what it called the "first phase of declassified files," the Justice Department released 200 pages of mostly already-public material, including the flight logs. Bondi said the office would soon release the remaining documents. On July 7, the Justice Department published a memo concluding that Epstein had killed himself and said there was "no incriminating client list." That prompted a rare fracture among Trump's supporters, who have said the federal government is concealing records to protect wealthy and influential people. Trying to contain the fallout, Trump defended Bondi and accused his supporters in a Truth Social post of falling for a hoax. With backlash from his base not abating, Trump on July 17 requested that Bondi ask a federal judge to unseal grand jury transcripts from Epstein's case. Two federal judges in Manhattan are weighing the Justice Department's requests to unseal transcripts from the grand juries that indicted Epstein and Maxwell. Todd Blanche, the No. 2 official in the Justice Department, met with Maxwell for two days to see if she had information about others who may have been involved in Epstein's crimes.
The Independent
3 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump won't rule out pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell. Can anyone trust her?
Over the course of a decade, Ghislaine Maxwell 'facilitated and participated in the sexual abuse of multiple young girls' alongside her partner Jeffrey Epstein while enjoying a 'life of extraordinary luxury and privilege,' according to federal prosecutors. From 1994 to 2004, Maxwell and Epstein worked together to groom young girls — some as young as 14 years old — and enticed them to travel to Epstein's properties, prosecutors said. During a monthlong trial in 2021, survivors testified in federal court in Manhattan that Maxwell had groomed them, took their passports, and sexually abused them. Four victims testified. Prosecutors argued she had lured them into a false sense of security by presenting as a 'glamorous, older woman' who normalized a culture of abuse and silence that shrouded her and Epstein, according to a sentencing memorandum. The federal judge overseeing the case said Maxwell 'played a pivotal role' in their abuse. Four years later, President Donald Trump has, notably, nothing negative to say about the case against a woman he knows, the accusations against her, or the jury's verdict. The president — whose years-long relationship with Epstein and revived allegations of abuse involving the convicted sex offender are under intense public scrutiny — has not ruled out pardoning Maxwell. Maxwell, who is now 63, is not scheduled to be released from prison until 2040. She appealed her conviction to the Supreme Court, which the Department of Justice opposes. Her best chance of early release is a presidential pardon, and legal experts warn that his public statements suggesting that a pardon is even remotely on the table could encourage Maxwell to do anything she can to secure one. Her attorney David Markus said she would 'welcome' one. It's unclear whether anyone involved with Maxwell's case — from Justice Department interviews to the president's public musings on a potential pardon — have considered the impacts to her victims. Former Justice Department pardon attorney Liz Oyer says those discussions have been 'shockingly overlooked.' 'Nobody is talking about how the victims may feel even by these discussions being had,' she told All Rise. Teresa Helm, who had testified against Maxwell, told MSNBC the consequences of a pardon 'would mean the complete crumbling of this justice system that should first and foremost stand for, fight for and protect survivors.' Pardoning Maxwell would be 'extremely problematic and would be a huge loss for individuals like myself,' witness and Epstein accuser Annie Farmer told the BBC. On August 11, Maxwell is scheduled to sit for a jailhouse deposition sought by the GOP-led House Oversight Committee. In a letter to the committee, her attorneys have asked for some immunity protections — and made another appeal to Trump for clemency. 'If Ms. Maxwell were to receive clemency, she would be willing — and eager — to testify openly and honestly, in public, before Congress in Washington, D.C.,' according to the letter, Maxwell's legal team provided to The Independent. 'She welcomes the opportunity to share the truth and to dispel the many misconceptions and misstatements that have plagued this case from the beginning.' Her attorneys insist she did not receive a fair trial, which served as a 'scapegoat' after Epstein's death. The Independent has requested comment from Maxwell's attorneys. A central question is whether she is telling the truth. Trump's own Justice Department in 2020 said she 'brazenly' lied under oath. The judge who oversaw her federal criminal case said she failed to show any 'acceptance of responsibility' for her actions. Oyer told CBS News that Maxwell is likely 'desperate to get out from under that sentence,' adding that 'it's hard to really believe that the Justice Department would rely on anything that she might have to say. 'She has a live criminal appeal. It doesn't make sense that she'd jeopardize it unless she gets some kind of immunity,' wrote journalist Jacob Shamsian, who extensively covered Maxwell's cases. 'And if she does, how can you trust her? She has every incentive in the world to get out of her 20-year sentence.' Democratic Senators Dick Durbin and Sheldon Whitehouse have sought a public commitment that the Justice Department will not advocate for a pardon or commute Maxwell's sentence. The senators called it 'highly unusual' for deputy attorney general Todd Blanche — Trump's former criminal defense attorney — to interview Maxwell, rather than the prosecutors who are familiar with the case. The Trump administration fired Maurene Comey, one of the prosecutors who successfully brought the case against Maxwell, and who questioned witnesses and abuse survivors who testified against her. Durbin and Whitehouse warned that her 'documented record of lying and her desire to secure early release' may lead her to 'provide false information or selectively withhold information in return for a pardon or sentence commutation.' When charges were first announced in July 2020, Trump — whose friendship with Epstein spanned roughly the same time period at the center of Maxwell's case — claimed that he wasn't 'following the case' but said 'I wish her well.' 'I just wish her well, frankly,' he told reporters at the White House at the time. 'I've met her numerous times over the years, especially since I lived in Palm Beach and I guess they lived in Palm Beach. But I wish her well, whatever it is.' Last week, when asked whether he was considering pardoning her in exchange for her cooperation in the Epstein investigation, Trump said he was 'allowed to do it.' Later, he said he 'can't talk about pardons' while Blanche continues to speak with Maxwell. On Saturday, he said it was 'no time to be talking about pardons,' and on Monday, he stressed that he was 'allowed' to pardon Maxwell, 'but nobody has approached me with it.' Maxwell's trial was largely seen as the public reckoning against Epstein that the convicted sex offender never received. Epstein died in his jail cell in 2019 following his arrest before his own trial on sex trafficking charges. 'Ms. Maxwell is not punished in place of Epstein,' New York District Judge Alison Nathan said at her sentencing hearing in 2022. 'Ms. Maxwell is being punished for the role that she played.' Nathan called Maxwell's conduct 'heinous and predatory,' and the 20-year prison sentence imposed on her was intended to 'acknowledge the harm that Ms. Maxwell has caused.' The cases were also enmeshed in wider conspiracy theories amplified by the president and his allies that powerful Democratic figures are trafficking children, claims at the center of so-called 'Pizzagate' and QAnon communities that infected wider Republican politics. But the Trump administration's failure to release so-called 'files' surrounding the Epstein case, which critics had hoped to reveal public figures who exploited and abused young girls while, has fueled allegations that the president is participating in a cover up. After handing binders of mostly previously released evidence in the Epstein case to far-right influencers in February, Bondi reportedly told Trump his name appeared in unreleased files. The Justice Department had reportedly worked around clock to clear 100,000 files connected to the case for public release — but never released them. Elon Musk — who earlier this year tossed what he called a 'bomb' into his falling out with Trump by accusing the president of being in the 'files' — has amplified allegations that Maxwell intends to implicate Democratic officials in the investigation. The idea goes: spurious evidence presented by Maxwell would reaffirm the president's claims he did 'nothing wrong' during his relationship with Epstein while a guilty Trump reaps praise from his base for taking down pedophiles. On his X account, Musk responded to a viral post detailing the allegations with a bullseye emoji. Any revelations from Maxwell's testimony with the help of Trump, who is desperate to change the conversation, could generate a generate a storm of distractions. A pardon quid pro quo would risk political blowback for Trump and his enablers while adding more fuel to allegations of a cover up. Inflaming the tension is a report from The Wall Street Journal that accused the president of writing a bawdy birthday card to Epstein in 2003, which allegedly included 'several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman,' with a birthday wish that 'may every day be another wonderful secret.' Trump has denied ever writing such a note and sued the newspaper, its publishers and the journalists whose bylines appeared on the story for $10 billion. The person who could speak to the authenticity of that message and allegations against Trump is Maxwell, who allegedly asked for birthday greetings from Epstein's friends and put them together in a book for him. During a two-day interview with Blanche, Maxwell answered questions about 'about 100 different people' with potential ties to the Epstein ring, according to her attorney. In exchange, Maxwell was offered a limited form of immunity that would prevent prosecutors from using statements against her in a criminal case. Following her interview with Blanche, Markus said she answered 'all of the questions truthfully, honestly and to the best of her ability.'
The Independent
3 minutes ago
- The Independent
Joe Rogan accuses Trump of ‘gaslighting' over the Epstein files as schism with president grows
Joe Rogan has accused President Donald Trump of 'gaslighting' his supporters over the Epstein files. The podcaster, who has previously been supportive of the president, slammed the administration's handling of the information regarding the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a 25 July episode of the Joe Rogan Experience with guest Mike Baker, a former CIA covert operations officer. 'This one's a line in the sand, because this is one where there's a lot of stuff about, you know, when we thought Trump was going to come in and a lot of things are going to be resolved, going to drain the swamp, going to figure everything out, and when you have this one hardcore line in the sand that everybody had been talking about forever, and then they're trying to gaslight you on that,' said Rogan. Trump supporters grew furious earlier this month when the administration released a memo rejecting conspiracy theories regarding Epstein's death by suicide in a Manhattan jail in August 2019. The memo stated that there was no 'client list' and that no more information about the case would be released. The Epstein files have been the subject of a litany of conspiracy theories, mostly stemming from the right. Following their public breakup, billionaire and former Trump adviser Elon Musk claimed that Trump is in the files in a since-deleted tweet. Trump participated in an interview with Rogan lasting nearly three hours shortly before the 2024 election, and the podcaster endorsed the then-presidential candidate ahead of his victory. Rogan is just one of a number of conservative media personalities to slam Trump in connection with the Epstein files. As he discussed the Epstein case and the surrounding conspiracy theories with Baker, Rogan mentioned the footage from Epstein's cell in Manhattan, where both the FBI and the Department of Justice found that he had died by suicide. 'Metadata from raw Epstein prison video shows approximately two minutes and 53 seconds were removed from one of the two stitched together clips. The cut starts off at the missing minute,' said Rogan. 'So a guy like that decides, yeah, he's gonna off himself,' Baker responded. 'But here's the thing ... these guys that are all involved in this are still, they've been around for a long time, and they have this mentality that existed before the Internet, where you could just kind of put stuff out there, and you wouldn't have all these psycho sleuths out there that are gonna go over everything with a fine-tooth comb, especially guys who are tech wizards who can look at the metadata, and you can figure this kind of stuff out,' said Rogan. 'They've called the recess on Capitol Hill because they figured by the time they come back in September, everybody will have moved on from this. I think they are wrong,' Baker replied. 'This feels like and just looks like that one of those handful of conspiracies, again, you go to JFK or whomever, that's just gonna hang around,' he added.
