Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe questioned the veracity of statements made by Ghislaine Maxwell during an interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche after transcripts were released on Friday.
“It‘s so suspicious. When you listen to the tapes, you get the sense that Ghislaine Maxwell went into that room knowing what information she had to deliver to get their attention and to get their approval and to get some sort of benefit that she is pursuing from the administration,” McCabe said during a Friday appearance on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront.”
“And the administration, in the form of Todd Blanche, went into that room knowing what information he needed, which was what she was going to say about Donald Trump‘s involvement or non-involvement and both sides delivered to each other’s satisfaction,” he added.
The transcript and audio of Maxwell’s interview were released Friday for public review. The longtime partner of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein said she believes he died by suicide in prison and that there was no client list.
Maxwell also said she doesn’t remember receiving a birthday card from President Trump for Epstein’s 50th birthday as reported by the Wall Street Journal, adding that she never saw the president in an inappropriate setting.
“Ghislaine Maxwell, unprompted, spoke glowingly of the president, referred to him only in the most respectful term, which you know, is obviously the way that he prefers to be treated,” McCabe, who served under both former President Obama and Trump, said.
“Nothing about this process was conventional or normal, but it does seem that both the administration and Ghislaine Maxwell got exactly what they wanted from it,” the Trump critic continued.
After meeting with Blanche earlier this summer, Maxwell was moved to a federal prison in Texas that houses just over 600 inmates, most of whom are convicted of nonviolent crimes.
Some lawmakers have raised questions about the transfer following her interview with Justice Department officials amid Maxwell’s attempts to appeal her conviction with the Supreme Court.
The public has also scrutinized the Trump administration for failing to release files tied to Epstein’s dealings as promised by the president on the campaign trail.
House Republicans in Congress have subpoenaed government officials for testimony in an effort to uncover more details about the case. On Friday, the Justice Department also turned over its first batch of files related to the case to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
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