Ghislaine Maxwell, the partner of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, completed a second day of questioning Friday, sharing information on about 100 different people with the Department of Justice.
Maxwell, who was convicted of child sex trafficking in connection with the disgraced financier in 2021, met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche for about three hours on Friday at a courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida.
She also sat down with Blanche to answer questions for about six hours on Thursday as the DOJ tries to control the fallout from its handling of the Epstein files.
Maxwell’s lawyer David Oscar Markus said after the meetings that his client was asked about maybe “100 different people” in connection with Epstein. He said she did not hold anything back.
Markus also said that she was asked about “every possible thing you could imagine—everything."
The meeting between the top Trump official and Maxwell was announced by the Justice Department amid mounting pressure for the administration to release more information on the case after it said there was no Epstein client list and indicated there would be no further prosecutions in a recent memo.
President Donald Trump has tried to distance himself from Epstein amid outrage from his MAGA base over the DOJ’s backtracking on releasing files, a promise the president made on the campaign trail.
A bombshell report this week by the Wall Street Journal alleged that Attorney General Pam Bondi briefed Trump in May that his name was in the files multiple times, as were other names.
On Friday, the president would not rule out pardoning Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022 for facilitating and participating in the sex trafficking of teenage girls.
When asked by a reporter about the possibility of a pardon while he was departing the White House, Trump said simply that he had not thought about it.
“It’s something I haven’t thought about,” Trump said. “I’m allowed to do it, but it’s something I have not thought about.”
Maxwell’s lawyer said in Florida on Friday that his team has not spoken to Trump about a potential pardon but indicated they will push for one.
“We hope he exercises that power in a right and just way,” Markus said.
Her lawyer said that the sit-downs this week were Maxwell’s first opportunity to answer questions about what happened.
“The truth will come out about what happened with Mr. Epstein, and she’s the person who’s answering those questions,” he said.
Critics have argued that Maxwell, who has a lot riding on how she responds, is an unreliable witness.
She was charged with two counts of perjury for allegedly making false statements under oath during a 2016 civil case, but those charges were dropped after she was convicted.
Blanche has also been criticized for meeting with Maxwell alone, as he previously served as Trump’s personal defense attorney before being tapped for a top position in the DOJ.
On Friday, Trump not only acknowledged that he is “allowed” to pardon Maxwell as president, but he also tried to scapegoat others as he denies he ever had a close relationship with Epstein.
