A curious answer by Donald Trump about Ghislaine Maxwell’s unusual jail move has been singled out for questioning by both experts and political foes.
On Tuesday, CNN host Kaitlan Collins directly asked President Trump if he was aware of Maxwell’s prison transfer to a lower-security facility and if he “personally approved” it.
“I didn‘t know about it at all, no,” Trump claimed. “I read about it just like you did.” He added of the jail switch, “It is not a very uncommon thing.”
Collins followed up by asking if Maxwell is “credible,” which prompted Trump to praise his former personal lawyer Todd Blanche, now the deputy attorney general, who interviewed Maxwell in jail twice last month.
“He’s a very talented man,” Trump said of Blanche. “I didn’t talk to him about it but I will tell you that whatever he asked would be totally appropriate.”
Trump repeated, “It’s not an uncommon thing to do that.”
He added—cryptically—that Blanche “probably wants to make sure that, you know, people that should not be involved or aren’t involved are not hurt by something that would be very, very unfortunate, very unfair to a lot of people.”
Trump continued, “I know this. I didn‘t discuss it with him, but anything he talked about with her or the fact that he did that, not unusual, number one, and most importantly, is something that would be totally above board.”
However, not all were so convinced by Trump’s assertions that Maxwell’s prison transfer is nothing out of the ordinary.
After years in a federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida, Maxwell was moved to a minimum-security federal prison in Bryan, Texas, days after meeting with Blanche. The prison camp, dubbed “Club Fed,” includes a full gym, yoga classes, and a “puppy program.”
Elie Honig, CNN’s senior legal analyst, told Collins he was doubtful about Trump not knowing the details of Maxwell’s prison transfer. Honig added the transfer would have required a special waiver due to the severity of the 63-year-old’s crimes.
“It’s almost impossible that Ghislaine Maxwell just happened, by coincidence, to be moved to a better facility a week or so after she met with Todd Blanche,” Honig said.
“You would need specific authorization, you would need a waiver, because Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence, because she is a convicted child sex offender. And the suggestion the president seemed to be making, that it just happens in the usual course of business—no, it does not.”
Rep. Jasmine Crockett also told Collins on CNN’s The Source she did not believe Trump had no knowledge of Maxwell’s prison upgrade.
“I don‘t think that there‘s a lot that the president is personally aware of, so him being clueless is on brand,” the Texas Democrat said. “But in this particular set of circumstances where he is personally looking out for himself, I absolutely believe that he was knowledgeable about this.”
Crockett added, “I‘m sure that this didn‘t happen behind his back. And clearly he is not complaining about it. That’s one thing that he didn’t do. He didn‘t say, ‘I’m the commander in chief and somehow they did this and they did not notify me.’ He did not seem like he was upset. So in my opinion, he probably did know about it.”
She continued: “He is concerned about himself. We know for a fact that he is in the Epstein files, and personally, I don’t think that it’s a big secret that’s the reason they wanted to cover up.”
Robert Hood, a former Bureau of Prisons chief of internal affairs, labeled Maxwell’s transfer to NBC News a “travesty of justice.”
“To relocate a sex offender serving 20 years to a country club setting is offensive to victims and others serving similar crimes,” he said.
Vito Maraviglia, a retired federal prison special investigative agent, told the network, “The logic to me is not there. It doesn’t pass the smell test.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
On Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance will host senior Trump administration officials at his house to discuss Blanche’s interview with Maxwell, according to reports. Among the attendees will be FBI Director Kash Patel, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, and Attorney General Pam Bondi, along with Blanche.
The deputy attorney general’s two-day interview of Maxwell, spanning nine hours, was recorded, with the White House reportedly discussing releasing the tapes.
CNN reports that one aim of Wednesday’s meeting is to craft a “unified response” to the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case and the interview of his accomplice Maxwell, which may include Blanche holding a press conference or even appearing on Joe Rogan’s podcast.
