Washington — Todd Blanche, the second-highest rating official on the Justice Division, mentioned Tuesday that he plans to satisfy with Ghislaine Maxwell “within the coming days” in regards to the case involving convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“Justice calls for braveness. For the primary time, the Division of Justice is reaching out to Ghislaine Maxwell to ask: what are you aware?” Blanche wrote on social media. He added that he contacted Maxwell’s attorneys on the path of Lawyer Basic Pam Bondi. “I intend to satisfy together with her quickly. Nobody is above the regulation — and no lead is off-limits,” Blanche wrote.
On Capitol Hill, a subcommittee of the Home Oversight and Reform Committee accredited a movement from GOP Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee that directs the committee’s chairman to subpoena Maxwell to seem for a deposition, a sign of lawmakers’ curiosity in talking to Epstein’s former companion.
Blanche, who was President Trump’s non-public protection legal professional earlier than becoming a member of the Justice Division, mentioned that the division and the FBI proceed to face by a memo launched earlier this month that concluded Epstein didn’t have a “shopper listing” and confirmed that he died by suicide. The memo, which detailed the findings of a overview of Epstein’s case, additionally mentioned there was no “credible proof” that the disgraced financier blackmailed outstanding folks.
The Justice Division and FBI additionally mentioned they might not launch any extra details about Epstein’s case, and famous that the overview didn’t uncover proof that may immediate an investigation into uncharged third events.
“President Trump has informed us to launch all credible proof,” Blanche mentioned in a second statement shared by Bondi. “If Ghislane Maxwell has details about anybody who has dedicated crimes in opposition to victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say.”
The deputy legal professional normal mentioned the Justice Division in prior administrations had not requested about her willingness to satisfy with the federal government, and he anticipates “assembly with Ms. Maxwell within the coming days.”
David Oscar Markus, Maxwell’s lawyer, mentioned in a statement, “I can affirm that we’re in discussions with the federal government and that Ghislaine will all the time testify in truth. We’re grateful to President Trump for his dedication to uncovering the reality on this case.”
Mr. Trump informed reporters that he didn’t learn about Blanche’s bid to talk with Maxwell however mentioned it “sounds applicable to do.”
“It is kind of a witch hunt,” he mentioned within the Oval Workplace. “Only a continuation of the witch hunt.”
Maxwell was an affiliate of Epstein’s and convicted in 2021 for her function in serving to Epstein recruit, groom and abuse underage ladies. She is presently serving a 20-year prison sentence. Her attorneys have requested the Supreme Courtroom to take up an enchantment of her conviction.
Blanche’s outreach to Maxwell’s attorneys comes after the Justice Division asked a federal court in New York on Friday to unseal transcripts from grand jury proceedings involving Epstein. He was indicted in 2019 on one depend of intercourse trafficking of minors and one depend of conspiracy to commit intercourse trafficking of minors.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Epstein sexually exploited and abused dozens of underage ladies from 2002 by 2005, and labored with others who arrange sexual encounters with victims at Epstein’s residences in Manhattan and Palm Seaside, Florida.
He died by suicide whereas in federal custody earlier than his trial. Epstein had been arrested in Florida in 2006 and pleaded responsible to 2 state prostitution expenses in 2008.
Along with asking the court docket to launch the grand jury transcripts associated to Epstein’s indictment, the Justice Division additionally requested it to make public grand jury transcripts related to Maxwell’s case. U.S. District Judges Paul Engelmayer and Richard Berman, who’re dealing with Maxwell and Epstein’s circumstances, respectively, each ordered the Justice Division to submit extra filings to the court docket about its request to unseal the grand jury information. The judges gave the defendants — in Epstein’s case, his consultant — and victims till Aug. 5 to put out their positions on the proposed disclosure.
Whether or not the transcripts turn into public will likely be as much as the judges overseeing the circumstances, although the information will doubtless be closely redacted to protect data associated to victims. If the Justice Division’s requests are granted by the court docket, the fabric is unlikely to be accessible instantly, and it might be weeks or months earlier than it’s unsealed.
Federal guidelines sometimes require issues earlier than a grand jury to be stored secret.
The president and his administration have been coping with backlash from Mr. Trump’s allies that arose after the Justice Division launched the memo about Epstein.
Some high administration officers, reminiscent of Vice President JD Vance and FBI Director Kash Patel, steered earlier than Mr. Trump’s reelection that Democrats had been intentionally concealing details about Epstein and his purported listing of purchasers. However now, with the Justice Division underneath Mr. Trump’s management, a few of his allies are skeptical of its declare that there’s nothing left to reveal.
Mr. Trump has tried to downplay the give attention to Epstein and lashed out at a few of his supporters, calling them “weaklings” who’ve been fooled by Democrats. He referred to claims about Epstein because the “Jeffrey Epstein Hoax.”
Epstein and Mr. Trump moved in the identical social circles in New York and Florida from the late Nineteen Eighties to the early 2000s. They had been pals for years, till they’d a falling out round 2004. Mr. Trump has beforehand acknowledged he crossed paths with Epstein in Palm Seaside, however mentioned in 2019 following Epstein’s arrest that they have not spoken in 15 years.
Final week, the president lashed out at a story in the Wall Street Journal that chronicled the pair’s relationship, which the president has mentioned ended earlier than Epstein’s first arrest in 2006. The Journal reported that Mr. Trump had signed a “bawdy” letter to Epstein within the early 2000s to mark his fiftieth birthday that mentioned, partially, “might on daily basis be one other great secret.” CBS Information has not independently seen or verified the letter.
Mr. Trump known as the letter “faux” and filed a defamation lawsuit in opposition to the Journal’s writer, mum or dad firm Information Company, its chief Rupert Murdoch and the reporters who wrote the Epstein story. Mr. Trump is searching for at the least $20 billion in damages.
