Ghislaine Maxwell is set to meet with federal prosecutors as the U.S. Department of Justice seeks potential information she may have about crimes committed against Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, according to a Justice Department request and remarks by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Blanche said on social media that the FBI and the DOJ would hear Maxwell’s account if she has information that could help investigators.
Maxwell, a former British socialite and Epstein’s former girlfriend, is serving a 20-year sentence after her conviction in the federal case involving Epstein. She is currently housed at a low-security federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida, the Associated Press reported. Her attorneys have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court after lower courts upheld her convictions last fall.
The interview request comes as the Justice Department faces backlash from some supporters of President Donald Trump who believe there was a cover-up connected to Epstein. The AP reported that the Justice Department initially said two weeks earlier it would not release any more evidence about the Epstein investigation, and later changed course “at Trump’s urging.” Investigators have also sought court action that would unseal transcripts from the grand jury sessions that led to indictments against Epstein and Maxwell.
Blanche framed the planned meeting in terms of whether Maxwell can provide information about potential crimes against victims. He said, “if Ghislane Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say,” and he said he anticipated meeting with Maxwell in the coming days.
Maxwell’s legal position has remained that she is innocent and had no knowledge that Epstein, or anyone else, was sexually abusing teenagers. The AP reported that Maxwell did not testify at her trial, though she gave two lengthy depositions years earlier and repeatedly disputed accusations that Epstein trafficked accusers to powerful men, including Prince Andrew.
Defense counsel said the government has been in discussions with Maxwell’s team. In a statement reported by the AP, one of her lawyers, David Oscar Markus, said Tuesday that they were in discussions with the government and added, “Ghislaine will always testify truthfully.”
For context, the AP described how Maxwell grew up as the daughter of Robert Maxwell, a British billionaire and former member of Parliament who published through a media empire that included the Daily Mirror and Macmillan. As a college student, she became close friends with Britain’s Prince Andrew, who later invited her to royal residences, including Windsor Castle. After Robert Maxwell died in 1991, investigators accused him of embezzling funds from pension plans tied to his companies.
In the Epstein case, prosecutors said Maxwell helped carry out abuse by bringing young women to Epstein’s homes and by performing household duties including hiring people to give massages. The AP reported that Maxwell later said in a deposition nearly a decade earlier that, “As far as I’m concerned, everyone who came to his house was an adult professional person.” Police and prosecutors said many of those “masseuses” were underage girls who were paid for sexual acts, and Maxwell was not charged until 2021.
Epstein was arrested in 2006 in Palm Beach, Florida, after girls, including students from a local high school, spoke to police, and he pleaded guilty in 2008 to a single charge of procuring a person under 18 for prostitution, serving 13 months in jail. At Maxwell’s trial, four women testified that Maxwell groomed them as teenagers to participate in sexual acts with Epstein and sometimes participated in the abuse, and a jury convicted her of sex trafficking, conspiracy and transportation of a minor for illegal sexual activity.