The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday released 300 pages of transcripts from Ghislaine Maxwell’s July interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, a move widely viewed as an attempt by President Donald Trump’s administration to defuse public anger over its handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Maxwell, a former associate and girlfriend of Epstein who was convicted of sex trafficking and sentenced to 20 years in prison, was interviewed over two days in a Florida courthouse. Following the interview, she was transferred from a standard correctional facility to a minimum-security prison camp offering significantly greater privileges.
The released material is heavily redacted and, according to legal observers, sheds little new light on the long-running controversy. In the available portions, Maxwell denied ever witnessing Donald Trump engage in any inappropriate behavior and rejected claims that she recruited girls from Trump’s Mar-A-Lago estate, a claim made by victim Virginia Giuffre.
Maxwell also asserted that former President Bill Clinton was “her friend, not Epstein’s,” and denied that Clinton ever visited Epstein’s private island. She said it was “possible” that Epstein did not commit suicide but dismissed speculation that he worked for a foreign intelligence service. Similarly, she denied her father, the late media mogul Robert Maxwell—who received a state funeral in Israel despite not being a citizen—had ties to Mossad. When asked about her own potential connection to the agency, she replied, “Well, not deliberately,” an ambiguous remark that has fueled further speculation.
Critics have argued that the transcript release, paired with Maxwell’s transfer to a more lenient facility despite her 20-year sentence, has not quelled anger among Trump’s supporters. Many in his political base have expressed frustration since last month when the administration formally closed the Epstein case, despite years of calls for a deeper investigation. Trump has since labeled the case a “Democrat hoax,” even though he and his administration had previously promoted the need for extensive inquiries.