By Chris Lefkow, AFP
An undated trial evidence image obtained December 8, 2021, shows British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and US financier Jeffrey Epstein. Photo: AFP / US District Court for the southern district of New York
The US Department of Justice is seeking to interview Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned accomplice of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, officials said on Tuesday (US time), as President Donald Trump struggles to quell a furore over the handling of the explosive case.
The former British socialite is currently serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking minors on behalf of Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial in his own pedophile trafficking case.
"President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence" about the Epstein case, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement on X.
The surprise announcement marked the Trump administration's latest effort to defuse spiralling anger among the Republican's own supporters over what they have long seen as a cover-up of Epstein's crimes and high-level connections.
Blanche said an FBI review of the evidence against Epstein, a wealthy financier whose powerful friends once included Trump, had found nothing to suggest new leads.
But if Maxwell "has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say", said Blanche, who was formerly Trump's personal lawyer.
"No one is above the law - and no lead is off-limits."
David Oscar Markus, Maxwell's lawyer, confirmed on X that he was in discussions with the government and said "Ghislaine will always testify truthfully".
"We are grateful to President Trump for his commitment to uncovering the truth in this case," Markus added.
Maxwell is the only former Epstein associate who was convicted in connection with his activities, which right-wing conspiracy theorists allege included trafficking young models for VIPs.
Trump's conspiracy-minded supporters have been obsessed with the Epstein case for years and have been up in arms since the FBI and Justice Department said on 7 July that Epstein had committed suicide while in jail, did not blackmail any prominent figures, and did not keep a "client list."
Trump has tried a variety of measures to placate his base, including by ordering Attorney General Pam Bondi to try to obtain release of grand jury testimony in Epstein's aborted New York case.
At a White House meeting with the Philippine's president on Tuesday, Trump dismissed the entire Epstein scandal as "a witch hunt."
US President Donald Trump Photo: ANNA MONEYMAKER
Epstein prosecutor fired
However, the president's MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement has long held as an article of faith that "Deep State" elites were protecting Epstein's associates in the Democratic Party and Hollywood - although not Trump himself.
While no evidence has emerged of any wrongdoing by Trump, the president had a close friendship with Epstein and he sued the Wall Street Journal last week after it published a story about a raunchy letter he purportedly sent to Epstein for his 50th birthday.
The latest developments come just days after the federal prosecutor who handled Epstein's and Maxwell's sex trafficking cases was abruptly fired by the Trump Justice Department.
Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI director James Comey, a prominent Trump critic, was dismissed on 16 July from her position as an assistant US attorney in Manhattan.
US Speaker Mike Johnson Photo: AFP / Drew Angerer
The furore over Epstein has derailed business in the US House of Representatives, where Speaker Mike Johnson is sending lawmakers home early to derail demands by Democrats for a vote to release the "Epstein files."
Epstein was found hanging dead in his New York prison cell while awaiting trial on charges that he sexually exploited dozens of underage girls at his homes in New York and Florida.
The FBI and New York medical examiner ruled his death a suicide but the determination has done little to quell speculation in right-wing circles that he was murdered.
Among those with connections to Epstein was Britain's Prince Andrew, who settled a US civil case in February 2022 brought by Virginia Giuffre, who claimed he sexually assaulted her when she was 17.
Giuffre, who accused Epstein of using her as a sex slave, committed suicide at her home in Australia in April.
Billionaire Elon Musk accused President Donald Trump on X last month of being in the "Epstein files" after the pair had a falling out, but he later deleted his posts.
-AFP
