(NewsNation) — The Justice Department’s interview with Jeffrey Epstein blockociate Ghislaine Maxwell has ended after two days, and her attorney told NewsNation they were “very grateful” for the opportunity.
“This was a thorough, comprehensive interview by the deputy attorney general,” David Oscar Markus told NewsNation. “No person and no topic were off-limits. We are very grateful. The truth will come out.
“She didn’t say, ‘Don’t ask me about that. I am not going to talk about this person.’ She was asked about maybe 100 different people. She answered questions about everybody, and she didn’t hold anything back.”
Maxwell’s case is receiving renewed scrutiny as public pressure mounts for the Trump administration to release more of the government’s files on Epstein.
Ghislaine Maxwell meets with DOJ
Maxwell was convicted of *** trafficking in connection with Epstein in 2021 and is serving a 20-year prison sentence. She is currently appealing her conviction to the Supreme Court. Epstein died in jail awaiting trial on related charges in 2019.
When asked if Maxwell has an incentive to tell Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche what he wants to hear, Markus said his client wants to tell the truth because lies could be corroborated or disproven and result in additional charges.
“No, because she wants to tell the truth, because the truth can be corroborated or disproven if she lies; they could charge her with lying,” Markus said.
The attorney noted that previous perjury charges against Maxwell were dropped. He said the Southern District of New York “had a very specific view of the case and charged her in a way that we believe was disproven and wrong.”
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Tenerife, Mort du magnat et homme politique britannique Robert Maxwell. Ici, sa fille Ghislaine Maxwell sur le yacht de son père “Le Lady Ghislaine”. Elle sera, au début des années 2000, la compagne de l’homme d’affaires Jeffrey Epstein (Photo by Mathieu Polak/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images) -
FILE – Audrey Strauss, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, points to a photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, during a news conference in New York, on July 2, 2020. Maxwell faces the likelihood of years in prison when she is sentenced for helping the wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein ***ually abuse underage girls. The sentencing hearing, Tuesday, June 28, 2022, in New York will be the culmination of a prosecution that detailed how Epstein and Maxwell flaunted their riches and blockociations with prominent people to groom vulnerable girls and then exploit them. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File) -
From left, American real estate developer Donald Trump and his girlfriend (and future wife), former model Melania Knauss, financier (and future convicted *** offender) Jeffrey Epstein, and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell pose together at the Mar-a-Lago club, Palm Beach, Florida, February 12, 2000. (Photo by Davidoff Studios/Getty Images)
Markus was asked Thursday about the possibility of a reduced sentence or a pardon. He said she’s just answering questions for now.
“[Blanche] took a full day and asked a lot of questions,” Markus said outside a federal courthouse in Tallahblockee, Florida, Thursday afternoon. “Miss Maxwell answered every single question. She never stopped. She never invoked a privilege. She never declined to answer. She answered all the questions truthfully, honestly and to the best of her ability.”
He added that Maxwell hasn’t asked for “anything,” including a pardon.
“This is not a situation where we’re asking anything in return for testimony or anything like that. Of course, everybody knows that Miss Maxwell would welcome any relief. She’s been in very difficult conditions for five years, and so she would welcome any relief. It’s the right thing to do and and we have faith that the right thing will happen sooner rather than later,” he said.
Blanche said in a Thursday post on X that the Department of Justice will share additional information about what it learned “at the appropriate time.”
On Wednesday, the United States House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena Maxwell.
The interview with Maxwell in Florida comes as the Trump administration is facing increasing pressure to release more information from the Epstein files after the Justice Department earlier this month released a memo concluding Epstein died by suicide and did not keep a client list. Attorney General Pam Bondi had previously said such files were on her desk.
The memo led to mblockive outrage from within the Republican Party. While the White House has tried to move on and distract from it, and Republican leaders have tried to contain furor among GOP lawmakers, calls for the release of more Epstein-related materials have only grown.
Trump says he hasn’t thought about pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell
On Friday, President Donald Trump told reporters he wasn’t considering granting Maxwell clemency.
“It’s something I haven’t thought about it. I’m allowed to do it, but it’s something I have not thought about,” Trump told reporters when asked about a pardon or clemency for Maxwell.
“I certainly can’t talk about pardons,” he later added, while leaving the White House for a trip to Scotland.
Trump also told reporters he was “never briefed” on his name being in the Epstein files.
When questioned on the Maxwell-Blanche meeting, Trump told reporters they should be focused on other Epstein blockociates and topics, including the release of do***ents related to former President Barack Obama and the investigation into Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 election.
“I don’t know about the meeting. I know it’s taking place, and he’s a fantastic man. He’s a great attorney,” Trump said of Blanche.
Trump, Epstein and Maxwell used to socialize but had a falling out. In the run-up to her 2021 trial, Trump told reporters he wished Maxwell well but in recent weeks has sought to change the subject if asked about her or Epstein.
Trump later suggested he has a list of people who were blockociated with Epstein, other than him, that he could give to the media.
The president said twice that he didn’t want to talk about a pardon for Maxwell. He insisted that he never went to Epstein’s private island. He then continued to name others he thinks were blockociated with Epstein.
NewsNation’s Ashley Soriano and partner The Hill contributed to this report.
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