To address unanswered issues about the case that have stoked a fervent right-wing backlash, top Justice Department officials have reached out to attorneys for Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein who is serving a prison sentence for sex trafficking.
Early on Tuesday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche posted on social media that he had asked to speak with the disgraced former socialite, Mr. Epstein’s devoted accomplice and enabler, who also had contacts with the wealthy and influential individuals he courted, including President Trump.
In a social media message, Mr. Blanche said, “I have spoken with Ms. Maxwell’s attorney to find out if she would be open to speaking with Department prosecutors.”
He misspelled Ms. Maxwell’s first name and stated that he was following Mr. Trump’s directive to make all reliable evidence public. “If Ghislane Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say,” he wrote.
The announcement was made just days after The Wall Street Journal revealed that Mr. Trump had sent Mr. Epstein a sultry birthday greeting in 2003 in which he declared his close connection with him, and hours before a major committee in the Republican-controlled House decided to subpoena Ms. Maxwell. The offer is the most recent in a series of desperate attempts by Trump aides to avert a political disaster that was sparked by Attorney General Pam Bondi’s declaration earlier this month that she was closing the Epstein probe.
In the midst of a victory lap following the passing of Mr. Trump’s major domestic policy program, the Republican-controlled Congress is now faced with a contentious political issue due to the unanticipated fervor surrounding the case. Democrats on a crucial panel threatened to demand a vote on a proposal linked to Epstein, preventing House Republicans from moving forward with an immigration package and a repeal of Biden-era rules.
The agency has not disclosed any information on an interview with Ms. Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence in federal prison after being found guilty of sex trafficking and other offenses by a Manhattan jury in 2022.
According to Mr. Blanche, the extremely rare action was taken for reasons other than looking into malefactors who had not yet been charged. According to his statement, the department’s July 6 memo, which declared Mr. Epstein’s death in the jailhouse to be a suicide and reversed its plan to release further information, is still as correct now as it was back then.
He said that no evidence has been found to support a probe against uncharged third parties.
Additionally, there are signs that Ms. Maxwell will not testify against Mr. Trump and his crew. Mr. Trump had a long-standing social relationship with the financier and his fixer, Ms. Maxwell, despite his attempts to disassociate himself from the matter. Additionally, Mr. Blanche, a former criminal defense attorney for Mr. Trump, is friendly with Ms. Maxwell’s attorney, David Oscar Markus.
Mr. Markus posted on social media, saying, “I can confirm that we are in discussions with the government and Ghislaine will always testify truthfully,” without mentioning that perjury was one of the original charges against Ms. Maxwell.
“We appreciate President Trump’s dedication to finding the truth in this case,” he continued.
Since taking office, Mr. Trump has reinterpreted criminality to fit his own agenda. He has done this by pardoning criminals he likes and by downplaying the crimes of fraud and corruption, most notably by granting clemency to the Jan. 6 rioters and dropping bribery charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams.
Ms. Maxwell requested that the Supreme Court consider an appeal of her criminal conviction in April. She claimed in her brief to the court that she could not be prosecuted criminally because of a 2007 agreement made by federal prosecutors in Florida, which stated that government attorneys would not bring charges against any of Mr. Epstein’s co-conspirators.
“The nonprosecution agreement did not bind the entire Justice Department in this case prosecutors in New York from bringing charges against her,” the Justice Department argued in a reply brief, urging the court to reject the appeal. Whether the justices will hear the case has not been made public.
The right-wing media’s intense pressure to handle the Epstein scandal has shifted to congressional Republicans who are feeling the heat from Mr. Trump’s supporters.
Ms. Maxwell was subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee shortly after Mr. Blanche made his offer. Tennessee Republican Representative Tim Burchett, who has advocated for the Trump administration to make more of its documents related to Mr. Epstein’s case public, introduced the motion.
Republican leaders have hinted that they may not be able to discuss the Epstein case until after a scheduled five-week recess, while Speaker Mike Johnson has stated that he wanted to give Mr. Trump some breathing room on the subject.
For his side, Mr. Blanche portrayed the Maxwell move as a courageous demonstration of his dedication to openness, even though it came with an unknown danger.
“Courage is necessary for justice,” he posted on social media.
Abbie VanSickle, Michael Gold, and Adam Goldman from Washington, as well as Matthew Goldstein and Benjamin Weiser from New York, contributed to the reporting.
