Ghislaine Maxwell had a tricky time recalling something particular about what occurred between Jeffrey Epstein and quite a lot of highly effective folks, together with President Donald Trump, former President Invoice Clinton, and Invoice Gates.In a two-day interview on July 24 and 25, Deputy Lawyer Basic Todd Blanche peppered Maxwell with questions on her lengthy relationship with Epstein, his enterprise practices, his sexual abuse of women, and conspiracy theories surrounding his life and demise.The Justice Division granted Maxwell an uncommon “queen for a day” proffer settlement, which permits folks to talk to prosecutors with out worrying about dealing with further prison expenses. On Friday, the division made transcripts and audio recordings of the interview public, with some sufferer data redacted.Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for trafficking ladies to Epstein for intercourse. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan additionally accused her of perjury for mendacity about sexual abuse in a deposition, however dropped these expenses after her sex-trafficking conviction. Maxwell is interesting her conviction.Blanche, who was one among Trump’s private attorneys earlier than being appointed second-in-command on the Justice Division, led the two-day interview.Not one of the prosecutors in Maxwell’s prison trial, nor Epstein’s personal sex-trafficking instances, which ended when he died in jail awaiting trial, had been current.Maxwell was represented by her longtime private lawyer, Leah Saffian, and her prison attraction attorneys, David Oscar Markus and Melissa Madrigal.Her solutions within the interview largely hewed to the primary argument her protection attorneys introduced in her Manhattan prison trial: that Epstein compartmentalized his life and that she was not conscious of any potential sexual abuse.”Ghislaine Maxwell is harmless and by no means ought to have been tried, a lot much less convicted, on this case,” Markus mentioned in a press release. “She by no means dedicated or participated in sexual abuse towards minors, or anybody else, for that matter. “Within the interview, Maxwell mentioned she had been acquainted with a number of tech billionaires — together with Elon Musk, Sergey Brin, and Reid Hoffman — however didn’t accuse any of wrongdoing.After the interview, Maxwell was moved from her jail in Florida to a lower-security one in Texas.The Justice Division did not reply to a request for remark from Enterprise Insider.Listed below are the largest takeaways from the transcript of Maxwell’s interview.Maxwell had nothing however reward for TrumpMaxwell advised Blanche she first met Trump shortly after she moved from Europe to the USA in 1990, whereas working for her father, the British media baron Robert Maxwell.”I could have met Donald Trump at the moment, as a result of my father was pleasant with him and preferred him very a lot,” Maxwell mentioned. “And I believe must be mentioned that he additionally very a lot preferred Ivana as a result of she was additionally from Czechoslovakia, the place my dad was from.Maxwell additionally praised the “extraordinary achievement” of Trump’s ascent to the presidency. When journalists requested in latest weeks whether or not he would pardon Maxwell, Trump mentioned, “It will be inappropriate to speak about it.””Trump was all the time very cordial and really type to me,” Maxwell mentioned in her Justice Division interview. “And I simply wish to say that I like his extraordinary achievement in changing into the President now. And I like him, and I’ve all the time preferred him. So that’s the sum and substance of my complete relationship with him.”Requested whether or not “President Trump had executed something inappropriate with masseuses or with anyone in your world, Maxwell responded, “Completely by no means, in any context.”
Donald Trump and his then-girlfriend, Melania Knauss, financier (and future convicted intercourse offender) Jeffrey Epstein, and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell pose collectively on the Mar-a-Lago membership in Palm Seaside, Florida on February 12, 2000.
Davidoff Studios/Getty Photographs
Maxwell mentioned a mysterious feminine billionaire from Ohio was one among Epstein’s enterprise clientsMaxwell denied Epstein had any kind of “shopper listing” of males to whom he organized ladies for intercourse.
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She mentioned Epstein’s purchasers had been rich folks to whom he offered useful monetary companies, and that he took charges for that work.Epstein’s fortune — he had $630 million in belongings on the time of his demise, in line with court docket filings — got here largely from his work for Les Wexner, the Ohio billionaire who beforehand ran Victoria’s Secret, and former Apollo International Administration CEO and Chairman Leon Black.Maxwell mentioned Epstein had one other important shopper, a feminine billionaire whose title she could not keep in mind. “There is a lady in Ohio. I simply cannot consider her title,” Maxwell mentioned on the primary day of her interview.Maxwell mentioned she would verify her notes and attempt to keep in mind her title for the interview’s second day. However she did not revisit the topic on July 25, and Blanche didn’t ask her about it, in line with the interview transcript.Attorneys for Maxwell declined to touch upon the document.Epstein’s companies for Wexner had been intensive, Maxwell mentioned. She mentioned he did every little thing from managing investments to drafting contracts for maids.”He mentioned no element was too small,” Maxwell mentioned. “As a result of every little thing that affected how they lived and the way they managed their life, was one thing that he felt he was — if they need, he could be accountable for.”Maxwell additionally mentioned Epstein offered monetary companies to Johnson & Johnson heiress Elizabeth Johnson and Lynn Forester de Rothschild, a British businesswoman.”I do know that he helped Lynn Forester, who grew to become Lynn de Rothschild,” Maxwell mentioned. “She’ll deny it and he or she has.”A spokesperson for Rothschild has beforehand denied that Epstein offered her any monetary help. Each Wexner and Black have denied any wrongdoing linked to Epstein and have mentioned they remorse their previous associations with him. It isn’t clear what companies Epstein offered to Johnson, who died in 2017 and whose affiliation with Epstein within the Nineties has been beforehand reported.Maxwell mentioned Jeffrey Epstein did not work for intelligence agenciesMaxwell disputed the broadly held concept that Epstein did work for an intelligence company. She mentioned she didn’t consider he labored for Israel’s Mossad, and that the thought he labored for the CIA was “bullshit.””I believe if he was for actual, I believe he would’ve bragged about it to me as a showcase, as a result of he could possibly be a showcase,” Maxwell mentioned. “And if he wasn’t, he may need dropped it like he was cool. And I do not assume — I do not keep in mind him doing both.”Enterprise Insider beforehand spoke to 4 folks with entry to the huge trove of fabric the FBI seized from Epstein’s properties throughout its sex-trafficking investigation, who all mentioned they noticed no indicators of any connections to intelligence businesses.Maxwell mentioned Epstein did not document any blackmail videosMaxwell mentioned she did not consider Epstein ever blackmailed anybody with sexual movies, one other long-held concept.She additionally mentioned he did not have secret cameras in bedrooms or bogs — with one exception.Maxwell mentioned Epstein labored with the police to put in safety cameras in some rooms of his Palm Seaside mansion. He in the end caught an worker stealing cash and fired him.
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“In Palm Seaside, Epstein was having cash stolen. He seen cash was being stolen from his briefcase. And he known as within the Palm Seaside police, and so they — the Palm Seaside police — put in cameras on the place he stored his briefcase,” Maxwell mentioned.Images of Epstein’s Manhattan mansion obtained by The New York Instances seem to point out a digital camera in one among its bedrooms.
Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre, then often called Virginia Roberts, together with Ghislaine Maxwell. This picture was included in an affidavit the place Giuffre mentioned Prince Andrew directed her to have intercourse with him.
Florida Southern District Courtroom
Maxwell disputes among the most damning allegations about her and EpsteinIn the interview, Maxwell mentioned once more that Virginia Giuffre — probably the most outspoken Epstein accusers, who died earlier this 12 months — is a liar.Maxwell mentioned an notorious picture of her, Prince Andrew, and Giuffre in her London residence was fabricated. She mentioned Giuffre’s story about having intercourse with the British royal in her residence did not make sense as a result of her home was actually small.”The concept of him doing something of that nature in my home, that is the dimensions of this room, is so mind-blowingly not conceivable to me,” she mentioned.In 2022, Prince Andrew settled a civil lawsuit the place Giuffre accused him of repeatedly sexually abusing her.Maxwell could not keep in mind Trump sending a birthday letter to EpsteinIn the interview, Blanche repeatedly pressed Maxwell a few guide of letters written by Epstein’s associates and acquaintances for his fiftieth birthday.The celebration came about in 2003, nicely earlier than Epstein was publicly accused of sexual misconduct.The Wall Road Journal reported in July {that a} “bawdy” letter from Trump was included within the guide.”Pleased Birthday — and will each day be one other great secret,” the letter, which featured a drawing of a nude lady and Trump’s signature, mentioned, in line with the Journal.Trump’s attorneys have mentioned the letter doesn’t exist and filed a defamation lawsuit towards the Journal and govt Rupert Murdoch, which stays ongoing.Maxwell mentioned she did not keep in mind a technique or one other whether or not Trump contributed a letter for the guide.”It has been so lengthy,” she mentioned. “I wish to inform you, however I do not keep in mind.”Maxwell, not Epstein, was associates with Invoice ClintonBlanche additionally repeatedly pressed Maxwell about Clinton’s relationship with Epstein. Flight data present the previous president flew on Epstein’s personal jet 26 occasions. In response to White Home customer logs, Epstein visited 17 occasions throughout Clinton’s presidency.Maxwell mentioned that she was the non-public glue of that relationship. Maxwell had attended Chelsea Clinton’s marriage ceremony, and he or she mentioned within the Justice Division interview that she was “very central” to beginning the Clinton International Initiative. She additionally mentioned she discovered Epstein’s portray of Clinton sporting a blue gown “hideous.””President Clinton was my good friend, not Epstein’s good friend,” Maxwell mentioned.Maxwell additionally mentioned she did not see Clinton ever getting a “therapeutic massage” whereas with Epstein, and that she did not consider Clinton had any involvement with Epstein after she left the financier’s orbit within the early 2000s.”President Clinton preferred me, and we bought alongside terribly nicely. However I by no means noticed that heat, or nonetheless you wish to characterize it, with Mr. Epstein — so I did not see that,” Maxwell mentioned. “I did not see President Clinton being eager about Epstein. He was only a wealthy man with a aircraft.”Blanche did not ask about lingering mysteries with Epstein’s financesThe interview transcripts do not present Blanche asking Maxwell about Epstein’s investments with figures like tech billionaire Peter Thiel. Nor do they ask about Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn, Epstein’s longtime private lawyer and accountant, who are actually the executors of his property.Courtroom data filed within the US Virgin Islands present that the property will finally convert right into a successor property, the place Epstein’s remaining belongings can be administered to beneficiaries.It isn’t clear who can be a beneficiary of Epstein’s remaining hundreds of thousands, and whether or not Maxwell will obtain any funds.
