The United States Department of Justice has released transcripts of an interview between Ghislaine Maxwell, the former partner of child sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein, and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Maxwell praised Trump and insisted she never saw him engage in any inappropriate behavior amid scrutiny over his past ties to Epstein.
Maxwell stated, “I actually never saw the president in any type of massage setting. 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.”
She also complimented Trump for his behavior and his “extraordinary achievement in becoming the president now”. Maxwell added, “Trump was always very cordial and very kind to me. I like him, and I’ve always liked him.”
The transcripts were released after Blanche met with Maxwell to determine if she had information about anyone who had committed crimes against victims.
Maxwell denied having any knowledge of a so-called “client list,” a subject of conspiracy theories on the US right. The release of the transcripts is likely to reignite questions about how the Justice Department has handled information about the Epstein case.
The family of Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s highest-profile accusers, called on the Trump administration not to show Maxwell any leniency.
“She must remain in prison — anything less would go down in history as being one of the highest travesties of justice,” Giuffre’s relatives wrote in a statement. Giuffre died by suicide in April.
The Epstein case has become a source of speculation and conspiracy theories among Trump’s supporters.
Several members of the Trump administration had previously been strong promoters of the conspiracy theory that Epstein maintained a “client list” as blackmail against powerful figures, including FBI Director Kash Patel.
However, Patel has since backtracked, and the FBI and Department of Justice issued a joint memo stating that no such list exists.
A Quinnipiac poll in July found that 63 percent of people in the US disapprove of Trump’s handling of the issue. Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking convictions.
Following her meeting with Blanche, Maxwell was moved from a low-security federal prison in Florida to a minimum-security camp in Texas, with the government not explaining the reason for the change.