July 22 (UPI) — A top U.S. Justice Department official said he aims to soon sit down with Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell “in the coming days” as some lawmakers and the president’s political base push for greater transparency in Epstein’s case.
Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday in a social media post that Attorney General Pam Bondi directed him to inquire with Maxwell, the longtime friend and business associate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, to see if she is willing to meet to go over details in the case.
“I have communicated with counsel for Ms. Maxwell to determine whether she would be willing to speak with prosecutors from the Department,” Blanche wrote on X in a post by Bondi, who has been criticized by conservatives and President Donald Trump’s “MAGA” crowd over her handling of Epstein case documents.
It said he anticipates meeting with Maxwell “in the coming days.”
Ghislaine Maxwell, currently serving a 20-year prison sentence on sex-trafficking charges, was convicted and sentenced in June 2022 and was denied a review by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year. However, the Justice Department urged the high court to reject Maxwell’s appeal.
A federal judge in April 2022 declined to overturn Maxwell’s conviction for her role in Epstein’s sex trafficking scheme.
On Tuesday, Maxwell’s attorney said the Department of Justice did reach out and expressed gratitude over the announcement.
“I can confirm that we are in discussions with the government and that Ghislaine will always testify truthfully,” Maxwell attorney David Oscar Markus wrote on social media around 8:30 a.m.
“We are grateful to President Trump for his commitment to uncovering the truth in this case.”
It arrived the same day a congressional subcommittee approved a motion to direct its chairman to subpoena Maxwell.
The Trump administration and Bondi’s Justice Department have seen backlash from Trump’s political supporters and lawmakers demanding critical details and other information in the Epstein case, which has sparked scores of conspiracy theories over his August 2019 death in prison ruled to be suicide.
In a follow-up post, Blanche claimed that “for the first time, the Department of Justice is reaching out to to Ghislaine Maxwell to ask: what do you know?”
“I intend to meet with her soon,” he added. “No one is above the law — and no lead is off-limits.”
On Monday, two conservative senators expressed support over the idea of further intervention in the case.
A Senate Judiciary Committee member, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-M.o., said the Justice Department “ought to do full transparency, and we ought to have hearings on it.” His Republican colleague, Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, told CNN he would “love to see Maxwell testify.”
Meanwhile, the president stated his belief that the public’s interest in the Epstein files was a “scam” and a “hoax” created by his political opponents to distract from his perceived success.
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