The Division of Justice (DOJ) on Friday launched a transcript and audio recordsdata of Deputy Lawyer Common Todd Blanche’s interview with Ghislaine Maxwell, a former affiliate of convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Blanche sat down with Maxwell over the course of two days. The transcript of the primary day’s interview on July 24 totals 263 pages, whereas the second day, July 25, is 66 pages. The transcripts are calmly redacted. The interviews have been led by Blanche, who beforehand served as Trump’s private lawyer.
Blanche interviewed Maxwell in course-correction following public uproar over an preliminary resolution from the DOJ and FBI to not launch any further details about the Epstein matter.
Within the interview, Maxwell tells the Justice Division she “never saw” Trump “in any inappropriate setting.” Trump’s critics have recommended he’s reluctant to launch extra details about Epstein’s case as a result of he’s named within the recordsdata.
“I think they were friendly like people are in social settings,” Maxwell mentioned of Trump’s relationship with Epstein. “I do not — I do not assume they have been shut mates or I actually by no means witnessed the president in any of — I do not recall ever seeing him in his home, as an example.
“I actually never saw the president in any type of massage setting,” she added. “I never witnessed the President in any inappropriate setting in any way. The president was never inappropriate with anybody. In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects.”
Launch of the transcript comes because the DOJ additionally launched a primary tranche of hundreds of pages paperwork from the Epstein recordsdata to the Home Oversight and Authorities Reform Committee on Friday, pursuant to the panel’s subpoena of the DOJ. The transcript of Maxwell’s interview was included in that launch to the committee, a spokesperson mentioned.
Maxwell, a longtime affiliate of Epstein, was convicted in 2021 on intercourse trafficking fees and sentenced to twenty years in jail. Earlier this yr, Maxwell urged the Supreme Courtroom to evaluate her case. The Justice Division had pushed the courtroom to reject that enchantment.
Blanche first requested Maxwell to clarify her relationship with Epstein, from the primary time they met till his demise. Maxwell dropped Trump’s title shortly into her response, saying that when she visited New York in 1990, she “may have met Donald Trump at that time” as a result of her father, who had bought the New York Day by day Information, was pleasant with him.
“Trump was always very cordial and very kind to me. And I just want to say that I find — I — I admire his extraordinary achievement in becoming the President now. And I like him, and I’ve always liked him. So that is the sum and substance of my entire relationship with him,” Maxwell mentioned.
Maxwell mentioned the final time she noticed Trump in particular person was “mid 2000s maybe” and mentioned she “absolutely never” heard Epstein or anyone else say Trump had executed something inappropriate with masseuses or anybody in that world.
Blanche requested her to make clear if she met Trump earlier than she met Epstein and she or he confirmed. He then requested her about different well-known politicians or individuals who have been in Epstein’s life within the early ’90s, and Maxwell responded with former Rep. Tom McMillen (D-Md.), Henry Rosovsky of Harvard College and Tom Pritzker, cousin of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D).
Blanche advised Maxwell in the beginning of the interview, “Whatever you talk about today, you have what’s called immunity. So that means that the words that you say today, we cannot use against you in a case in chief, if we were ever to bring one. Okay?”
He added that the exception is “if you say something today that’s not true, that’s a lie, we can bring a prosecution against you for what’s called false statements.” And he mentioned he wouldn’t promise to speak to judges that labored on her case.
