 "The clamour for releasing the Epstein files has overshadowed Trump’s desperate bid to highlight the success of his first six months in power because it’s not his rivals but his own base, which is up in arms. File image")
What can be seen as a major relief for US President Donald Trump, infamous sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, claimed that she never saw Trump in “any inappropriate setting”. The US Department of Justice on Friday released the transcript and audio recording of Maxwell’s interview conducted by Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Blanche said the materials were being released “in the interest of transparency”, providing links to the transcript and to audio files. The release includes documentation of a two-day interview that was conducted on July 24 and 25.
The material released by Blanche includes redacted transcripts for both days, along with multiple audio recordings – seven separate parts plus test recordings for day one, and four parts plus test recordings for day two. It is pertinent to note that after the interview was conducted, the US Department of Justice granted Maxwell limited immunity to allow her to discuss her criminal case, but did not promise anything in exchange for her testimony.
“The most important part of this agreement is that this isn’t a cooperation agreement, meaning that by you meeting with us today, we’re really just meeting,” Blanche told Maxwell. He added: “I’m not promising to do anything.”
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The 63-year-old was a longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein and was convicted on five counts, including sex trafficking of minors. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022 for helping Epstein sexually abuse teenagers. Meanwhile, Epstein died by suicide in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
In the transcript released by the Department of Justice, Maxwell said that she never saw Trump do anything inappropriate. Not only this, but she also repeatedly showered praise on the current American president. The revelation by Maxwell has the potential to provide some relief to Trump and his circle, who have been facing demands to release the Epstein Files .
“I actually never saw the president in any type of massage setting. I never witnessed the president in any inappropriate setting in any way. The president was never inappropriate with anybody,” Maxwell said. However, she did affirm a social relationship between Trump and Epstein.
“I don’t know how they met, and I don’t know how they became friends. I certainly saw them together, and I remember the few times I observed them together, but they were friendly. I mean, they seemed friendly,” she said. “I think they were friendly, like people are in 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,” he added.
Maxwell questioned Bill Clinton
The Justice Department also questioned Maxwell extensively about Epstein’s ties with former US President Bill Clinton , who was known to have travelled multiple times on Epstein’s plane and – like Trump – has denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of wrongdoing.
“President Clinton liked me, and we got along terribly well. But I never saw that warmth or that … that warmth, or however you want to characterise it, with Epstein,” she said of Clinton’s contacts with Epstein. Maxwell maintained that she did not remember Trump having been in Epstein’s 50th birthday book , which she assembled.
In July, The Wall Street Journal reported that the book’s collection of letters included one with Trump’s name on it. The president has repeatedly denied writing the note and filed a lawsuit accusing the Journal of libel. Maxwell said she saw some parts of the birthday book before her trial, during its discovery phase. “There was nothing from President Trump,” she averred.
Maxwell also denied remembering any picture of a naked woman, a detail the WSJ previously reported. Maxwell said Epstein did not know what to do to celebrate his 50th, and she suggested a birthday book like “my mom did … for my dad”. She added, “He said, I love that idea.”
After the interview with Blanche, Maxwell was moved from the low-security federal prison in Florida, where she had been serving a 20-year sentence, to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas. Neither her lawyer nor the federal Bureau of Prisons has explained the reason for the move, which raised eyebrows among Trump critics.