Jailed sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell has higher hopes of a release from prison if she tells President Donald Trump what he wants to hear, according to an MSNBC host.
The Last Word host Lawrence O’Donnell claimed that disgraced socialite Maxwell, currently serving a 20-year jail sentence, knows Trump “has the power to release her from prison immediately.”
“Donald Trump can commute her sentence,” O’Donnell said on Tuesday. “Donald Trump can pardon her, he can say she’s been punished enough.”
The host also pointed out that Trump said of Maxwell after she had been jailed, “I wish her well,” but has never commented on any of the victims in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
In 2022, Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse minors. The trial found she had enticed and groomed minor girls to be abused. She pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Last week, Maxwell’s family insisted she did “not receive a fair trial” in a statement released by her siblings.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has announced he is due to meet with Maxwell “in the coming days.” Blanche represented Trump in his 2024 criminal trial in New York City.
On Tuesday, Blanche posted on X, “Justice demands courage. For the first time, the Department of Justice is reaching out to Ghislaine Maxwell to ask: What do you know? At Pam Bondi’s direction, I’ve contacted her counsel. I intend to meet with her soon. No one is above the law—and no lead is off-limits."
Bondi also posted on X, “President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence. If Ghislaine Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say.”
Many in Trump’s MAGA base are angry the official investigation has not been more fully released, and that it did not back up the conspiracy theory of an international pedophile ring linked to Epstein and a client list being kept from the public’s eye.
O’Donnell claimed, “The only reason for Maxwell’s criminal defense attorney to talk to Todd Blanche is to get her out of prison. Any criminal defense lawyer would be able to tell Ghislaine Maxwell exactly what she has to say to get out of prison.”
He clarified, “She has to say Donald Trump knew nothing about it, knew nothing about what we were doing to those girls. And it would be very helpful to Donald Trump if Ghislaine Maxwell was also willing to say something incriminating about other prominent people who knew Jeffrey Epstein, like maybe Bill Clinton.”
The host pointed out that Maxwell had refused to talk to federal prosecutors or the Justice Department in the past.
O’Donnell said, “Ghislaine Maxwell and her criminal defense lawyer now know they are dealing with the most corrupt Department of Justice in American history and the only incentive that Ghislaine Maxwell and her lawyer have to speak to Todd Blanche is to give Todd Blanche the magic words that he can pass on to Donald Trump to get Ghislaine Maxwell out of prison.”
In April, Maxwell asked the Supreme Court to hear an appeal over her criminal conviction.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and the Department of Justice for comment.
