President Trump on Tuesday said he was not aware of the Justice Department’s outreach to Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted sex offender and associate of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, but he suggested he was OK with it amid outcry from some of his supporters for more information surrounding Epstein.
“I don’t know about it, but I think it would be something that sounds appropriate to do it,” Trump said when asked about an announcement from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche that he had contacted Maxwell’s lawyers about an interview.
Trump also brushed off a question about whether he was concerned that Blanche, his former personal attorney, would be the one speaking with Maxwell given Trump’s connection to Epstein.
“He’s a very talented person. He’s very smart,” Trump said of Blanche. “I didn’t know they were going to do it. I don’t really follow that too much. It’s sort of a witch hunt.”
Trump then went on an extended tangent about the 2016 election and his claims that there was wrongdoing by Obama White House officials.
Blanche said in a statement early Tuesday he has communicated with Maxwell’s counsel “to determine whether she would be willing to speak with prosecutors from the Department.”
“I anticipate meeting with Ms. Maxwell in the coming days,” Blanche said. “Until now, no administration on behalf of the Department had inquired about her willingness to meet with the government. That changes now.”
Maxwell, a longtime associate of Epstein, was convicted in 2021 on sex trafficking charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Earlier this year, Maxwell urged the Supreme Court to review her case. The Justice Department had pushed the court to reject that appeal.
The Trump administration, and the Justice Department in particular, has faced backlash from the president’s MAGA base and some lawmakers in Congress who have pushed for more information to be released around Epstein’s case.
Epstein, accused in several cases of sex trafficking young girls, ran in high-powered circles with figures that included Trump, former President Clinton, Britain’s Prince Andrew and other celebrities and ultrawealthy people.
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