Todd Blanche, the acting US attorney general, has told lawmakers he would not recommend a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex-trafficking crimes. Blanche made the comments during a Senate hearing on Tuesday while testifying before the appropriations subcommittee over budget requests for the justice department.
During an exchange with Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, Blanche was asked whether the justice department could commit to not recommending a pardon for Maxwell. “Yes, I can commit to that, of course,” Blanche, who is a former personal lawyer for Donald Trump, responded. The statement comes as Maxwell exhausted a series of appeals of her conviction, with the US Supreme Court declining to hear her petition in October.
Earlier this year, Maxwell appeared before the House oversight and reform committee but invoked her fifth amendment right and refused to answer questions. Her attorney told lawmakers that she would only speak if granted clemency. In April, reports emerged that committee members were divided over whether Trump should consider a pardon for Maxwell in exchange for her cooperation in the Epstein investigation.
Last year, the justice department dispatched Blanche to interview Maxwell about the Epstein case. The interview, conducted over two days in July, was followed by the release of transcripts and audio recordings. Shortly after, Maxwell was transferred from a low-security prison in Florida to a minimum-security camp in Texas, a move experts described as “unprecedented”. Reports have since surfaced that Maxwell is “much happier” at the Texas facility and may be receiving favourable treatment. During Tuesday’s hearing, Blanche denied that Trump personally sent him to interview Maxwell and said he did not know whether she was receiving better treatment.
The possibility of clemency for Maxwell has long outraged survivors and their advocates. Spencer Kuvin, chief legal officer of Goldlaw, which has represented numerous Epstein survivors, said: “Any talk of clemency for Ghislaine Maxwell in exchange for testimony turns justice on its head – it risks rewarding the very person who helped enable the abuse.”
During the hearing, Van Hollen also raised concerns from survivors who said they were “extremely frustrated” that Blanche had not met with them. Blanche responded that he had met with many lawyers for survivors. However, a group of 17 Epstein survivors released a statement on Tuesday saying Blanche “has not met with any of us”. They added: “We should not have to be this persistent to engage with DOJ – the department responsible for handling the Epstein files, protecting their privacy, and answering for years of secrecy and failure.”
