Ghislaine Maxwell will not be pardoned, Donald Trump's acting Attorney General vowed Tuesday under a grilling from senators over his jailhouse sit-down with Jeffrey Epstein's madam.
Senate Grilling Over Maxwell Interview
Todd Blanche was pressed by Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen on whether the Justice Department would rule out recommending a pardon for Epstein's co-conspirator, who is serving 20 years in a Texas prison camp. 'I can commit to that,' Blanche told the Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing, previously scheduled to examine the Justice Department's budget request.
Blanche faced repeated questions over the two-day interview he conducted with Maxwell in July 2025, as the Trump administration scrambled to contain public fury over its handling of the Epstein files. A week after the sit-down, Maxwell was quietly transferred from a low-security Florida lockup to a cushier minimum-security camp in Texas, igniting suspicion of a backroom deal.
Questions Over Trump's Involvement
Democratic Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island asked: 'Why did Trump send you down to talk to her?' Blanche shot back: 'You think President Trump called and asked me to go interview a witness in federal prison?' He denied any involvement in Maxwell's imprisonment and defended his interview with the jailed British socialite, stating that the senator could review the public transcript.
Records of the interview show Maxwell, who socialized with Trump alongside Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s, gushed about the President and swore she had never seen him behave inappropriately with anyone. 'I actually never saw the President in any type of massage setting,' Maxwell said. 'I never witnessed the President in any inappropriate setting in any way. The President was never inappropriate with anybody. In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects.'
Trump's Stance on Pardon
The Trump administration said at the time that the interview was aimed at flushing out anyone else involved in Epstein's crimes. Trump told reporters last year that he had no plans to pardon Maxwell. 'I'm allowed to do it, but nobody's asked me to do it,' he said. 'I know nothing about the case.'
Trump had spent months under mounting pressure to release the Epstein files following Pam Bondi's botched document drop at the start of 2025. The then-AG invited MAGA influencers to the White House to collect glossy binders of Epstein material, only for the contents to turn out to be documents already in the public domain, a fiasco quickly dubbed binder-gate. Trump eventually relented to widespread public pressure, including from Republican lawmakers, and signed the Epstein Transparency Act into law in November, despite branding it a Democratic 'hoax.'
Maxwell was found guilty at a 2021 trial of recruiting and grooming girls for Epstein to abuse. She had pleaded not guilty and her subsequent appeals to the Supreme Court have fallen on deaf ears. Epstein was found hanged in his Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide, though conspiracy theories have swirled ever since.
