This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . The next check for changes will be
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/25/ghislaine-maxwell-justice-department-meeting
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Justice department deputy head to interview Ghislaine Maxwell again in Florida | Justice department deputy head to interview Ghislaine Maxwell again in Florida |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Imprisoned longtime associate of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is seeking to overturn her criminal conviction | Imprisoned longtime associate of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is seeking to overturn her criminal conviction |
| The deputy US attorney general, Todd Blanche, is due to have a second in-person meeting on Friday with Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted sex trafficker and longtime associate of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. | |
| Blanche had confirmed the two met behind closed doors in Tallahassee, Florida, on Thursday, at the federal prosecutor’s office within the federal courthouse in the state capital. | Blanche had confirmed the two met behind closed doors in Tallahassee, Florida, on Thursday, at the federal prosecutor’s office within the federal courthouse in the state capital. |
| Maxwell’s lawyer, David Oscar Markus, speaking separately after Thursday’s meeting, said: “We had a very productive day today with the deputy attorney general Todd Blanche and Ghislaine Maxwell.” | Maxwell’s lawyer, David Oscar Markus, speaking separately after Thursday’s meeting, said: “We had a very productive day today with the deputy attorney general Todd Blanche and Ghislaine Maxwell.” |
| Images captured by ABC News on Thursday showed Blanche and his entourage, including the acting associate deputy attorney general Diego Pestana, entering the US attorney’s office. | |
| Markus told reporters that Maxwell answered each of Blanche’s questions. “We don’t want to comment about the substance of the meeting for obvious reasons,” he added. | Markus told reporters that Maxwell answered each of Blanche’s questions. “We don’t want to comment about the substance of the meeting for obvious reasons,” he added. |
| Blanche had announced earlier in the week that he had contacted Maxwell’s lawyers to see if she might have “information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims”. | |
| Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence at a federal prison in Tallahassee, after a jury convicted her of sex trafficking in 2021. | Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence at a federal prison in Tallahassee, after a jury convicted her of sex trafficking in 2021. |
| An uproar continues to engulf Donald Trump and calls have intensified for his administration to release all details of the federal investigation into Epstein, while questions remain about whether Maxwell has any fresh light to shed on her former boyfriend’s crimes. | An uproar continues to engulf Donald Trump and calls have intensified for his administration to release all details of the federal investigation into Epstein, while questions remain about whether Maxwell has any fresh light to shed on her former boyfriend’s crimes. |
| Meanwhile, the US supreme court is due to wade into the controversy and decide whether to hear a bid by Maxwell to overturn her criminal conviction. | Meanwhile, the US supreme court is due to wade into the controversy and decide whether to hear a bid by Maxwell to overturn her criminal conviction. |
| Epstein killed himself in 2019 in a jail cell in New York while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. Trump, dogged by questions about his ties to Epstein, headed to Scotland on Friday for a trip that will mix golf with politics mostly out of public view. Protests await the president in the UK over his extreme agenda while scandal nips at his heels in the US. | Epstein killed himself in 2019 in a jail cell in New York while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. Trump, dogged by questions about his ties to Epstein, headed to Scotland on Friday for a trip that will mix golf with politics mostly out of public view. Protests await the president in the UK over his extreme agenda while scandal nips at his heels in the US. |
| Blanche wrote on X that he met Maxwell on Thursday and would continue his interview of her on Friday. The justice department, he said, “will share additional information about what we learned at the appropriate time”. | |
| Although the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, earlier this year had promised to release additional materials related to possible Epstein clients, the justice department reversed course this month and issued a memo concluding there was no basis to continue investigating and there was no evidence of a client list or blackmail. | Although the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, earlier this year had promised to release additional materials related to possible Epstein clients, the justice department reversed course this month and issued a memo concluding there was no basis to continue investigating and there was no evidence of a client list or blackmail. |
| Since then, the department has sought permission to unseal grand jury transcripts from its prior investigations into Epstein and Maxwell. | Since then, the department has sought permission to unseal grand jury transcripts from its prior investigations into Epstein and Maxwell. |
| On Wednesday, US district judge Robin Rosenberg denied one of those requests. | On Wednesday, US district judge Robin Rosenberg denied one of those requests. |
| Sign up to This Week in Trumpland | Sign up to This Week in Trumpland |
| A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration | A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration |
| after newsletter promotion | after newsletter promotion |
| Trump’s name, along with many other high-profile individuals, appeared multiple times on flight logs for Epstein’s private plane in the 1990s, while several media outlets have this month reported previously unpublicized and positive communications from the US president to the high-profile financier. | Trump’s name, along with many other high-profile individuals, appeared multiple times on flight logs for Epstein’s private plane in the 1990s, while several media outlets have this month reported previously unpublicized and positive communications from the US president to the high-profile financier. |
| Meanwhile, the supreme court justices, now on their summer recess, are expected in late September to consider whether to take up the appeal by Maxwell against her conviction in 2021 by a jury in New York for helping Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls. | Meanwhile, the supreme court justices, now on their summer recess, are expected in late September to consider whether to take up the appeal by Maxwell against her conviction in 2021 by a jury in New York for helping Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls. |
| Maxwell’s lawyers have told the supreme court that her conviction was invalid because a non-prosecution and plea agreement that federal prosecutors had made with Epstein in Florida in 2007 also shielded his associates and should have barred her criminal prosecution in New York. Her lawyers have a Monday deadline for filing their final written brief in their appeal to the court. | Maxwell’s lawyers have told the supreme court that her conviction was invalid because a non-prosecution and plea agreement that federal prosecutors had made with Epstein in Florida in 2007 also shielded his associates and should have barred her criminal prosecution in New York. Her lawyers have a Monday deadline for filing their final written brief in their appeal to the court. |
| Some legal experts see merit in Maxwell’s claim, noting that it touches on an unsettled matter of US law that has divided some of the nation’s regional federal appeals courts. | Some legal experts see merit in Maxwell’s claim, noting that it touches on an unsettled matter of US law that has divided some of the nation’s regional federal appeals courts. |
| Mitchell Epner, a former federal prosecutor now in private practice, said there was a chance that the supreme court would take up the case, and noted the disagreement among appeals courts. Such a split among circuit courts can be a factor when the nation’s top judicial body considers whether or not to hear a case. | |
| “The question of whether a plea agreement from one US attorney’s office binds other federal prosecution as a whole is a serious issue that has split the circuits,” Epner said. | “The question of whether a plea agreement from one US attorney’s office binds other federal prosecution as a whole is a serious issue that has split the circuits,” Epner said. |
| While uncommon, “there have been several cases presenting the issue over the years”, Epner added. | While uncommon, “there have been several cases presenting the issue over the years”, Epner added. |
| The justice department wants Maxwell’s criminal case appeal to be rejected. | The justice department wants Maxwell’s criminal case appeal to be rejected. |