Ghislaine Maxwell said she never witnessed any inappropriate activity by Donald Trump or Bill Clinton, according to a transcript of her meeting last month with the DOJ.
The woman thought to have the most direct knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein’s decades-long sex-trafficking operation claims there was no client list, no blackmail scheme and — to her knowledge — no high-profile Epstein associates who committed illicit acts in connection with the notorious sex-offender’s crimes.
That’s according to an account provided by Epstein’s convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell to a top official of the U.S. Department of Justice during a highly unusual two-day interview session last month, according to a transcript and audio of the conversation released Friday by the DOJ.
« There is no list », Maxwell told Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. « I’m not aware of any blackmail. I never heard that. I never saw it, and I never imagined it. »
Maxwell told Blanche that during her time with Epstein — which ranged from the early 1990s to the mid-2000s — she never witnessed nor heard of any inappropriate or criminal activity by President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton, nor any of the well-known men who associated with Epstein, according to the transcript.
Trump, Maxwell said, was cordial and a « gentleman in all respects » in all of her interactions with him. She described Clinton as a « truly extraordinary » man and a « fantastic ex-president », according to the transcript of the meetings, which took place at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tallahassee, Florida.
The 63-year old Maxwell, who has been incarcerated since her arrest in 2020, also claimed she had been misidentified by a key witness at her criminal trial and insisted she was not involved in the sexual exploitation of minors.
« I did introduce him to women. I did, but not underage women », she said. « And I did look for masseuses, I did. I went to spas and if I met somebody who said she was a masseuse, I did not check their credentials. »
Blanche — who previously served as a personal defense attorney to President Donald Trump — announced his intention to speak with Maxwell in a social media post last month, as the Trump administration sought to quell the self-inflicted controversy surrounding its decision not to release the government’s investigative files on Epstein, after repeatedly promising to do so.
The Department of Justice — in an unsigned memo released last month explaining its decision — said that a « systematic review » revealed no incriminating client list and no evidence « that could predicate an investigation into uncharged third parties. »
Maxwell was granted limited immunity for the interview with Blanche — meaning nothing she said could be used against her, unless she lied. She and her attorneys signed the agreement at the outset of each day of the interview session, the transcript shows.
Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for aiding and participating in Epstein’s trafficking of underage girls, which involved a scheme to recruit young women and girls for massages of Epstein that turned sexual. Federal prosecutors in New York said Maxwell helped Epstein recruit, groom and ultimately abuse girls as young as 14.
Despite her conviction at trial in 2021 — where she declined to take the witness stand — Maxwell claimed in her interview with Blanche that she had been wrongly accused and did not receive a fair trial. She maintained, as she had done previously in a 2016 deposition in a civil case, that she never recruited anyone underage to massage Epstein and never witnessed or participated in any criminal acts, according to the transcript.
« I have no memory . of having seen anybody that resembles a young child, let’s call it what it is, at that house giving him a massage at all », Maxwell said, in reference to Epstein’s Palm Beach home.
« I saw him with a lot of masseuses. I never saw a single masseuse ever look unhappy or not come back or whatever », Maxwell said. « So any time I saw anybody with him, they were happy to be with him. »
Maxwell was indicted in July 2020, during the first Trump administration. Her trial occurred in late 2021, while President Joe Biden was in the White House.
Federal prosecutors charged Maxwell with perjury for alleged lies she told during the 2016 deposition. And the government repeatedly assailed her credibility during her criminal case, citing her « willingness to lie brazenly under oath about her conduct », according to court records.
The perjury counts against her were eventually dropped after her conviction on the more serious charges.
Blanche’s meeting with Maxwell came just days after the Justice Department fired Maurene Comey, a federal prosecutor in New York with the most detailed knowledge of the case. Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, led the criminal prosecution of Maxwell.
The tone of the conversation appeared cordial and non-confrontational, a review of the transcript shows, with Blanche frequently allowing space for Maxwell’s lengthy critiques of the accounts of her accusers.
« I don’t want you to be burdened », Blanche told Maxwell a few hours into the interview. « I want you to just tell the truth the best you can. So I don’t want you to be burdened by what people said at trial or what, you know, the press says about you.
