Newly released transcripts of Ghislaine Maxwell's July interview with the Justice Department reveal a surprisingly frosty relationship between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, despite various reports that the socialites were each other's closest friends.
In transcripts released Friday by the Epstein File Transparency Act, Maxwell said Trump “has always been very cordial and very kind” to her and that she admired his “extraordinary accomplishments in becoming president.”
“That’s the nature of my entire relationship with him,” Maxwell told Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, according to the report. transcript.
Trump was photographed with Maxwell on several occasions due to his long friendship with Epstein: She and Trump hung out together, attended fashion shows together and walked “around town” together, according to the 1997 postcard.
When asked about Trump's relationship with the notorious child sex trafficker, Maxwell was equally coy.
“I don’t know how they met and I don’t know how they became friends,” Maxwell said. “I certainly saw them together and I remember a few times I saw them together, but they were friendly. I mean, they seemed friendly.”
She went on to say that she had only ever seen socialites together in public and never in private, despite the fact that in-flight logs indicated that Trump had flown on Epstein's private jet several times, and e-mail from Epstein's estate, where he said Trump was “with him” on Thanksgiving 2017.
“I think they were friendly as people in a social setting. I don't – I don't think they were close friends, and I certainly never witnessed the president in any – I don't remember ever seeing him at his house, for example,” Maxwell said.
“I’ve never actually seen the president in any way. massage settingEpstein's larger files, released Friday, included a note detailing about 254 masseuses in Epstein's contact files.
“I have never seen the President in any inappropriate environment. The President has never acted inappropriately with anyone. During the time I was with him, he was a gentleman in every way.”
This would be very surprising given that Epstein and Trump allegedly enjoyed engaging in sexually inappropriate behavior in public and were reportedly bonded over “trophy huntingAdditionally, Trump has openly boasted about his sexual entitlement, saying he enjoys “grabbing” women “by the pussy.”
Maxwell was sentenced in 2022 to 20 years in prison for her active role in Epstein's crimes, identifying and grooming vulnerable young women, and normalizing abuse at the hands of her millionaire boyfriend. Maxwell's lawyers have been demanding a pardon from the White House for months, and the former British socialite gave the signal in a court filing earlier this month, she asked the court to release her from captivity.
It's still unclear whether the Justice Department interview was intended as a quid pro quo, but shortly after the exchange of information, Maxwell—one of the century's worst sex offenders—received an extremely lenient transfer: She was sent from a Florida prison to a maximum-security camp in Texas that lawmakers had ordered described as “unsuitable for a sex offender”.
Of course, in the same deposition, the famous manipulator also vehemently denied that “anything inappropriate happened” while she was with Epstein.
“I’ve never seen tears,” Maxwell told Blanche.
Trump has not been charged with any crimes related to Epstein or Maxwell.
