Feds to interview Epstein associate for second day

U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday said he planned to interview Ghislaine Maxwell, an associate of high-profile sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, for a second day on Friday. The Justice Department would release information about what it learned at the appropriate time, he said Thursday. Blanche previously said he would ask Maxwell about possible evidence against Epstein’s clients.

Maxwell’s lawyer, David Markus, on Thursday told reporters that the first day of the interview was productive. Blanche and Maxwell spoke all day, and she answered every question fully without invoking any privileges, Markus said in remarks broadcast by WFLA-TV.

Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of conspiring to entice and transport minors for sex and of sexually trafficking them. Epstein died in prison in 2019 before his trial concluded.

What else is happening related to the Epstein case? House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer on Wednesday said he issued a subpoena to Maxwell for a deposition to occur at a federal prison in Tallahassee, Fla., on Aug. 11. The Justice Department would help facilitate the deposition, he said.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi is also waiting for a response to a motion she filed July 18, requesting that grand jury proceedings from Epstein and Maxwell’s federal trials be unsealed. A Florida judge on Wednesday denied her request to unseal transcripts from Epstein’s 2008 sex offender conviction. President Donald Trump asked her to request the information to end what he characterized as a ridiculous amount of publicity given to the Epstein case.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s report for more details on the judge’s denial of Bondi’s request.