Ghislaine Maxwell' lawyer said he is ‘finally able to ‘reveal what really happened'
There are questions about the aim of the meetings with a Democrat saying it 'really stinks'. Donald Trump had earlier said if she had incriminating information 'the Justice Department will hear what she has to say'.
As the US President left for a visit to the UK on Friday, he was asked if he was considering pardoning Maxwell, the accomplice of the late Jeffrey Epstein. He replied he 'hadn't thought about' it but also said the he was 'allowed to do it'.
The comments comes as the Wall Street Journal, which last week claimed that Mr Trump had written a happy birthday note to Epstein in 2003, has now reported that former president Bill Clinton did the same.
The tumult over the Epstein files has consumed the Trump administration for three weeks after the Justice Department said it would not release any more files on the matter and there was no Epstein 'client list'.
It's split the MAGA base, many of who have consumed years of rumours and theories about who and what is contained within the files and whether it's the tip of a wider scandal. Yet no evidence has emerged to suggest that was the case.
Last week, more images emerged of Donald Trump with the pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. A newspaper also reported the US president was told his name was in the files.
The White House has pushed back on the reports. Due to how many people Epstein knew, it's likely many people's names are contained in the files and there is no suggestion of wrongdoing simply by being mentioned, that includes Mr Trump.
Despite the Justice Department saying there was no 'client list,' as he boarded Air Force One for Scotland on Friday, Mr Trump said there was a 'list' of Epstein associates.
'You should focus on (Bill) Clinton. You should focus on the (former) president of Harvard, you should focus on some of the hedge fund guys. I'll give you a list,' he said.
Again there is no evidence of any wrongdoing by those Mr Trump mentioned.
On Friday, US deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche said he would meet Ghislaine Maxwell for a second day of questioning at a federal courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida, close to where she is imprisoned for sex trafficking including that of a minor among other crimes.
After Thursday's meeting, Mr Blanche, who was previously Mr Trump's personal lawyer, said on X that 'The Department of Justice will share additional information about what we learned at the appropriate time'.
Maxwell 'finally able to say what really happened'
Maxwell's lawyer, David Oscar Markus, told reporters after the meeting with Mr Blanche that 'she answered all of the questions truthfully, honestly and to the best of her ability.'
He said that 'if you looked up scapegoat in the dictionary,' Maxwell's face would be there.
'We're grateful for this opportunity to finally be able to say what really happened, and that's what we're going to do, yesterday and today.
'We just ask that folks look at what she has to say with an open mind, and that's what Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche has promised us, and everything she says can be corroborated, and she's telling the truth.
'She's got no reason to lie at this point, and she's going to keep telling the truth,' Mr Marcus claimed.
Maxwell meeting 'really stinks'
On Capitol Hill, Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal said it was a 'secret meeting' that 'really stinks' and looked like 'some kind of cover up'.
There have been calls for the meeting to be recorded.
Democrat Congressman Robert Garcia, who is on the House Oversight Committee, said the meeting was 'incredibly suspicious' and 'dangerous' and he was concerned no members of the committee were present.
'She probably wants a pardon from Donald Trump, and so her meeting with Trump's Department of Justice cannot be trusted, and anything she says must be corroborated with documents and records from the actual Epstein files,' he said.
Claim Clinton also sent Epstein birthday message
On Thursday, US time, the Wall Street Journal reported that Bill Clinton, who was US president during much of the 1990s, also sent Jeffrey Epstein a message for his now infamous 50th birthday album.
His reported message read: 'It's reassuring isn't it, to have lasted as long, across all the years of learning and knowing, adventures and (not legible word) and also to have your childlike curiosity, the drive to make a difference and the solace of friends'.
Mr Clinton has not commented but a spokesman said he stopped associating with Epstein years before his arrest and was not aware of his claims. Mr Trump, who has denied he also sent a message for the book, has also said he cut ties prior to Epstein's; legal issues and in fact barred him from Mar-a-Lago.
It's been reported that many other notable people wrote notes for the birthday book including fashion designer Vera Wang.
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Last week he accused former president Barack Obama of "treason" over how his administration treated intelligence about Russian interference in US elections nine years ago, drawing a rebuke from an Obama spokesperson. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028 The uproar over disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is undermining public trust in the Trump administration, as well as Republican hopes of retaining control of Congress in the 2026 mid-term elections, two congressmen say. Republican Representative Thomas Massie and Democratic Representative Ro Khanna, who want the House of Representatives to vote on their bipartisan resolution requiring full release of the government's Epstein files, said the lack of transparency is reinforcing public perceptions that the rich and powerful live beyond the reach of the judicial system. "This is going to hurt Republicans in the mid-terms. 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