High DOJ official plans to fulfill with Ghislaine Maxwell about Epstein case as Home panel pursues subpoena

Washington — Todd Blanche, the second-highest rating official on the Justice Division, mentioned Tuesday that he plans to fulfill with Ghislaine Maxwell “within the coming days” in regards to the case involving convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“Justice calls for braveness. For the primary time, the Division of Justice is reaching out to Ghislaine Maxwell to ask: what have you learnt?” Blanche wrote on social media. He added that he contacted Maxwell’s attorneys on the course of Lawyer Common Pam Bondi. “I intend to fulfill together with her quickly. Nobody is above the legislation — and no lead is off-limits,” Blanche wrote. 

On Capitol Hill, a subcommittee of the Home Oversight and Reform Committee authorized a movement from GOP Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee that directs the committee’s chairman to subpoena Maxwell to look for a deposition, a sign of lawmakers’ curiosity in talking to Epstein’s former companion.

Blanche, who was President Trump’s non-public protection lawyer earlier than becoming a member of the Justice Division, mentioned that the division and the FBI proceed to face by a memo launched earlier this month that concluded Epstein didn’t have a “shopper checklist” and confirmed that he died by suicide. The memo, which detailed the findings of a evaluate of Epstein’s case, additionally mentioned there was no “credible proof” that the disgraced financier blackmailed outstanding folks. 

The Justice Division and FBI additionally mentioned they might not launch any extra details about Epstein’s case, and famous that the evaluate didn’t uncover proof that will immediate an investigation into uncharged third events. 

“President Trump has advised us to launch all credible proof,” Blanche mentioned in a second assertion shared by Bondi. “If Ghislane Maxwell has details about anybody who has dedicated crimes towards victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say.”

The deputy lawyer basic mentioned the Justice Division in prior administrations had not requested about her willingness to fulfill with the federal government, and he anticipates “assembly with Ms. Maxwell within the coming days.”

David Oscar Markus, Maxwell’s lawyer, mentioned in a press release, “I can affirm that we’re in discussions with the federal government and that Ghislaine will at all times testify honestly. We’re grateful to President Trump for his dedication to uncovering the reality on this case.” 

Maxwell was an affiliate of Epstein’s and convicted in 2021 for her function in serving to Epstein recruit, groom and abuse underage women. She is at present serving a 20-year jail sentence. Her attorneys have requested the Supreme Courtroom to take up an attraction of her conviction.

Blanche’s outreach to Maxwell’s attorneys comes after the Justice Division requested a federal court docket in New York on Friday to unseal transcripts from grand jury proceedings involving Epstein. He was indicted in 2019 on one depend of intercourse trafficking of minors and one depend of conspiracy to commit intercourse trafficking of minors.

Federal prosecutors alleged that Epstein sexually exploited and abused dozens of underage women from 2002 by way of 2005, and labored with others who arrange sexual encounters with victims at Epstein’s residences in Manhattan and Palm Seaside, Florida.

He died by suicide whereas in federal custody earlier than his trial. Epstein had been arrested in Florida in 2006 and pleaded responsible to 2 state prostitution fees in 2008.

Along with asking the court docket to launch the grand jury transcripts associated to Epstein’s indictment, the Justice Division additionally requested it to make public grand jury transcripts related to Maxwell’s case.

Whether or not the transcripts turn out to be public will probably be as much as the judges overseeing the circumstances, although the data will doubtless be closely redacted to defend data associated to victims. If the Justice Division’s requests are granted by the court docket, the fabric is unlikely to be obtainable instantly, and it may very well be weeks or months earlier than it’s unsealed.

Federal guidelines sometimes require issues earlier than a grand jury to be stored secret.

The president and his administration have been coping with backlash from Mr. Trump’s allies that arose after the Justice Division launched the memo about Epstein.

Some high administration officers, equivalent to Vice President JD Vance and FBI Director Kash Patel, steered earlier than Mr. Trump’s reelection that Democrats have been intentionally concealing details about Epstein and his purported checklist of purchasers. However now, with the Justice Division beneath Mr. Trump’s management, a few of his allies are skeptical of its declare that there’s nothing left to reveal. 

Mr. Trump has tried to downplay the concentrate on Epstein and lashed out at a few of his supporters, calling them “weaklings” who’ve been fooled by Democrats. He referred to claims about Epstein because the “Jeffrey Epstein Hoax.”

Epstein and Mr. Trump moved in the identical social circles in New York and Florida from the late Nineteen Eighties to the early 2000s. They have been pals for years, till that they had a falling out round 2004. Mr. Trump has beforehand acknowledged he crossed paths with Epstein in Palm Seaside, however mentioned in 2019 following Epstein’s arrest that they have not spoken in 15 years. 

Final week, the president lashed out at a narrative within the Wall Avenue Journal that chronicled the pair’s relationship, which the president has mentioned ended earlier than Epstein’s first arrest in 2006. The Journal reported that Mr. Trump had signed a “bawdy” letter to Epstein within the early 2000s to mark his fiftieth birthday that mentioned, partly, “could each day be one other great secret.” CBS Information has not independently seen or verified the letter. 

Mr. Trump referred to as the letter “faux” and filed a defamation lawsuit towards the Journal’s writer, guardian firm Information Company, its chief Rupert Murdoch and the reporters who wrote the Epstein story. Mr. Trump is in search of no less than $20 billion in damages.