US Justice Department official meets with Epstein associate Maxwell

25 Jul 2025 03:15AM (Updated: 25 Jul 2025 03:16AM)

WASHINGTON: Deputy US Attorney General Todd Blanche met with Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, at the US Attorney’s Office in Tallahassee, Florida, ABC News reported on Thursday (Jul 24).

Images captured by ABC showed Blanche and his team, including Acting Associate Deputy Attorney General Diego Pestana, entering the federal courthouse that houses the office.

The meeting was expected after Blanche said earlier this week he had contacted Maxwell’s lawyers to ask whether she had “information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims.” He said at the time that he anticipated meeting with her “in the coming days.”

Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year sentence in federal prison in Tallahassee after being convicted of sex trafficking in 2021. She is appealing her sentence.

Her lawyer, David Oscar Markus, previously confirmed discussions with the government but did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

Conservative political commentator Rogan O’Handley, also known as DC Draino, from left, social media content creator Chaya Raichik and conservative political commentator Liz Wheeler hold up binders with a cover titled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1,” with Jack Posobiec at the White House, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, in Washington. (Photo:AP/Evan Vucci)

TRUMP FACES PRESSURE TO RELEASE EPSTEIN FILES

President Donald Trump and his administration are under growing pressure from supporters to release more information about the Justice Department’s investigation into Epstein, who died by suicide in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial.

Attorney General Pam Bondi had earlier pledged to release additional materials linked to Epstein’s alleged clients. However, the department reversed course this month, concluding there was no justification for continuing the investigation and no evidence of a client list or blackmail operation.

Since then, the department has sought court approval to unseal grand jury transcripts from its previous investigations into Epstein and Maxwell.

On Wednesday, US District Judge Robin Rosenberg rejected one such request, ruling it did not meet the criteria for making grand jury materials public.

Trump’s name, along with those of other high-profile individuals, appeared multiple times on flight logs for Epstein’s private jet in the 1990s. Some of those records, including ones with Trump’s name, were released by the Justice Department earlier this year.