The buzzing sound of a small plane flying over the federal courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida, on Friday alerted the sweating group of reporters who were waiting for a meeting involving a high-ranking Justice Department official and Ghislaine Maxwell.
The banner on the plane proclaimed, “Trump and Bondi are safeguarding predators.”
This accusation reflected the worries of those present as Todd Blanche, the top deputy to Attorney General Pam Bondi, wrapped up a second remarkable day of questioning with Ms. Maxwell, who previously worked as a fixer for the financier Jeffrey Epstein and is now incarcerated on sex trafficking charges.
According to her attorney, during her interview, Ms. Maxwell responded to inquiries about around 100 individuals, although it was not clear if these included victims, associates, or others connected to her sex trafficking case.
Ms. Maxwell is seeking to have her 20-year sentence overturned, reduced, or for a pardon. When asked by President Trump if he would consider pardoning her, he responded, “I have the authority to do so, but it’s not something I’ve given thought to.” He made these comments before departing for Scotland, conveying his well wishes to her.
When pressed for more information about the interview with Ms. Maxwell upon arriving in Scotland, he added, “I am not aware of anything regarding the conversation.” He went on to say, “Clearly, this is not the moment to discuss pardons.”
Mr. Blanche has characterized his trip as an impartial fact-finding endeavor, stating that he would disclose the details of the discussions “at the appropriate time”—yet he has also indicated that the federal criminal investigation into subjects beyond Ms. Maxwell and Mr. Epstein is now closed. Based on that criteria, new interviews would seem to have a role that goes beyond regular law enforcement, unless new incriminating evidence has surfaced, according to both current and former officials.
The department provided Ms. Maxwell with conditional immunity to discuss the case, but that protection would not be valid if she provided false statements during her interviews, as reported by a source familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The total duration of the interview was roughly eight to ten hours.
The discussions between Blanche and Maxwell have raised alarms among Trump critics, who point out that he could potentially grant Ms. Maxwell leniency.
Senator Charles Schumer, the leader of the Democrats, questioned whether Mr. Blanche had offered Ms. Maxwell “some form of a corrupt deal to help her exonerate Donald Trump.”
Teresa Helm, a survivor of abuse by Mr. Epstein and a witness against Ms. Maxwell, was straightforward about the implications of such an agreement in an interview with MSNBC on Friday. “It would signify the total collapse of a justice system that should primarily serve, advocate for, and protect survivors,” she stated, noting that the government had additionally charged Ms. Maxwell with perjury among other accusations.
"She ought to remain incarcerated," stated Lisa Lloyd, 65, the sole demonstrator outside the courthouse. "This is unjust. Anyone who values fairness in the legal system should be outraged by this."
A representative from the Justice Department opted not to provide a comment.
Certain conservative news platforms that usually support Mr. Trump have started to change their stance on Ms. Maxwell — whom they once labeled as a child sex offender — implying that she may now be credible in revealing details about the case. Recently, a host on Newsmax, who has previously lauded Mr. Trump, even proposed that Ms. Maxwell “might just be a victim” who did not receive a fair trial.
The Friday meeting with Ms. Maxwell commenced at 9 a.m. and wrapped up in the early afternoon, at which point one of her attorneys, David Markus, approached reporters to state that she had sincerely “answered every single question posed to her over the past day and a half.”
Mr. Markus, who maintains a cordial relationship with Mr. Blanche, mentioned that Justice Department officials “inquired about virtually everything conceivable.”
Ms. Maxwell was interrogated about “perhaps a hundred different individuals,” he noted, without specifying who they were. “She didn’t withhold any information.”
There have been no offers of leniency, and Mr. Markus indicated that he was not seeking a reciprocal arrangement for his client’s willingness to answer questions.
“We haven’t communicated with the president or anyone else regarding a pardon just yet,” Mr. Markus remarked. “This morning, the president stated that he possessed the authority to grant one. We are hopeful that he utilizes that authority.”
Ms. Maxwell has appealed her conviction to the Supreme Court, contending that she should not have faced charges in the sex trafficking case due to a nonprosecution agreement made by federal prosecutors in Florida in 2007. This agreement assured that potential co-conspirators would not be charged, but Ms. Maxwell maintains it should have also shielded her from prosecution in New York.
Congress has summoned her to testify in August. According to Mr. Markus, Ms. Maxwell has yet to make a decision regarding her participation.
Late Thursday, Mr. Blanche posted on social media, stating that the department would “provide more information about what we discovered at the appropriate time.”
In May, Ms. Bondi and Mr. Blanche, both former attorneys for Mr. Trump, informed him that his name was among several high-profile individuals identified in the Epstein documents, as per sources familiar with the meeting. This was part of a broader update on the Epstein case being reevaluated by F.B.I. agents and prosecutors.
While in Scotland, Mr. Trump refuted these claims, asserting, “No, I was never, never briefed.”
The significance of the mentions of Mr. Trump remains unclear. However, the briefing highlights private discussions within the West Wing during a time when the president's team is urgently seeking to quell discontent among Trump supporters, who feel that he and some of his senior associates misled them with campaign promises to release the files.
The top two appointees from the F.B.I. under Mr. Trump were among those who firmly believed that there was more to discover in the files before assuming their government positions. Earlier this year, Ms. Bondi referred to the files as important material that required careful examination.
Mr. Trump has already been mentioned in documents related to the investigation that have been released to the public. He was once friends with Mr. Epstein until they experienced what Mr. Trump has characterized as a falling-out in the early 2000s. In February, Ms. Bondi shared a collection of binders about the Epstein files at the White House that contained phone numbers for some of the president’s family members, including his daughter.
"In the course of our routine briefing, we informed the president about the findings," Ms. Bondi and Mr. Blanche stated in response to inquiries regarding the briefing that occurred in May. "Nothing in the files justified any further investigation or prosecution."
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