WASHINGTON − The Justice Department on Aug. 22 released transcripts of interviews that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche conducted last month with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein’s imprisoned former girlfriend and associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, in which she absolved President Donald Trump of any wrongdoing.
“The President was never inappropriate with anybody,” Maxwell says at one point in the two days of marathon interviews on July 24 and 25. “In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects.”
The release of the redacted documents was accompanied by digital audio files of the interviews conducted by Blanche − the DOJ’s No. 2 official and Trump’s former personal defense lawyer − with Maxwell at a site near the Florida prison where she was serving 20 years for sex trafficking crimes linked to Epstein.
The Trump administration has been heavily criticized in recent weeks over its earlier refusal to release the massive trove of investigative records that the Justice Department and FBI possess in connection with the case. Epstein died by suicide in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting prosecution on sex trafficking charges, prompting a wave of conspiracy theories about who else might be connected to the sex ring he allegedly operated with Maxwell’s help.
David Oscar Markus, Maxwell’s lawyer who was present for the July 24 and 25 interviews, did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment.
Critics have said that Blanche’s two days of interviews with Maxwell, without the case investigators and prosecutors, were likely an attempt to get the former British socialite – who is appealing her conviction – to absolve Trump of any wrongdoing.
In at least some portion of the interviews, Maxwell appears to do just that.
Although Trump and Epstein have both said they were longtime friends before the had a falling-out, Maxwell describes them this way: “I think they were friendly like people arein social settings.”
“I don’t – I don’t think they were close friends or I certainly never witnessed the President in any of – I don’t recall ever seeing him in his house, for instance,” she said referencing Epstein’s residence. “I actually never saw the President in any type of massage setting. I never witnessed the President in any inappropriate setting in any way.”
At another point, Maxwell tells Blanche how much she admires Trump.
“President Trump was always very cordial and very kind to me. And I just want to say that I find – I – I admire his extraordinary achievement in becoming the President now,” said Maxwell. “And I like him, and I’ve always liked him.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DOJ releases transcripts, audio of interviews with Ghislaine Maxwell
