Vice-President JD Vance is reportedly set to host a meeting on Wednesday evening at his residence with senior Trump administration officials to discuss their strategy for handling the ongoing scandal surrounding convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The gathering, first detailed by CNN, is expected to include Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
Sources familiar with the meeting told CNN and ABC News that the officials will discuss whether to release the transcript of the Justice Department's recent interview with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's associate and a convicted sex trafficker. Two weeks ago, the department sent Blanche, a former personal lawyer to Donald Trump, to interview Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking and other crimes. The interview lasted two days, and details have not been made public. According to ABC News, the administration is considering releasing the transcripts as soon as this week.
On Wednesday, Alicia Arden, who filed a police report against Epstein in 1997 accusing him of sexual assault, appeared at a news conference and urged the government to release all files related to the Epstein case. “I’m tired of the government saying that they want to release them. Please just do it,” she said. Arden was joined by her lawyer, Gloria Allred, who also called for the release of the entire transcript of Blanche's interview with Maxwell. Last week, Maxwell was quietly transferred from a Florida prison to a lower-security facility in Texas, a move Trump claimed he “didn't know” about.
The Trump administration has faced mounting pressure and bipartisan backlash after the Justice Department announced it would not release additional documents related to Epstein, despite earlier promises by Trump and Bondi. On Tuesday, the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed the Justice Department for files related to the Epstein investigation and issued subpoenas for depositions from several prominent figures, including former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and multiple former attorneys general and FBI directors. Axios noted that Trump's former Labor Secretary Alex Acosta was absent from the list, despite his involvement in the 2008 plea deal with Epstein. Allred also called for Acosta, Blanche, and Bondi to be subpoenaed.
Maxwell, found guilty in December 2021, is appealing her conviction to the Supreme Court, citing Epstein's plea agreement. Her attorneys have also opposed the government's request to unseal grand jury transcripts related to the Epstein case, arguing that “Jeffrey Epstein is dead. Ghislaine Maxwell is not.”
