The US Justice Department has asked lawyers for Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell if she would be willing to speak with prosecutors, and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche says he expects to meet with her in the coming days.
The decision to request a meeting with Maxwell comes as Attorney General Pam Bondi has faced mounting pressure from US President Donald Trump’s supporters to release additional materials related to Epstein, who died in a jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
“President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence,” Blanche said in a statement posted on X.
He added that if Maxwell “has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say”.
Blanche said he has been in touch with Maxwell’s lawyers to see if she is willing to speak with prosecutors.
“I anticipate meeting with Ms Maxwell in the coming days,” he added.
David Oscar Markus, a lawyer for Maxwell, acknowledged the contact.
“I can confirm that we are in discussions with the government and that Ghislaine will always testify truthfully. We are grateful to President Trump for his commitment to uncovering the truth in this case. We have no other comment at this time,” Markus said.
Some of Trump’s most staunch supporters in recent weeks have called on Bondi to resign after she back-tracked on a promise she made earlier this year that the department would release additional materials including “a lot of names” and “a lot of flight logs” in connection with Epstein’s clients.
After releasing only a select number of records that failed to shed new light on the case, the department and the FBI released a joint memo earlier this month that poured cold water on long-running conspiracy theories about Epstein by saying there was “no incriminating client list” or any evidence of blackmail.
Since then, at Trump’s direction, Bondi and Blanche have asked a federal court for permission to unseal grand jury transcripts in the cases of both Epstein and Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 of five federal charges related to her role in Epstein’s alleged sexual abuse of underage girls.
However, legal experts including one of Epstein’s former laywers, Alan Dershowitz, have said that those transcripts will not likely contain the types of materials being sought by Trump’s supporters.
A judge could also deny the request.
In an interview on Fox News Sunday, Dershowitz called on the Justice Department to release other materials such as FBI reports of interviews with Epstein’s victims.
He also urged the government to grant Maxwell immunity so that she could potentially testify before Congress about Epstein’s crimes.
https://thewest.com.au/news/crime/us-justice-dept-asks-maxwell-to-speak-to-prosecutors-c-19441381
