Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell appears to be angling for a pardon from President Donald Trump after she ‘didn’t hold back’ during secret questioning from the Justice Department.
Maxwell, 63, completed a second day of interviews with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Friday afternoon.
Attorney David Oscar Markus claimed that his client spoke with Blanche about ‘100 different people’ related to Epstein’s child sex trafficking ring.
‘They asked about every possible thing you could imagine – everything,’ Markus claimed.
He also said Maxwell is being used as the ‘scapegoat’ in the entire Epstein case and has been ‘treated unfairly for the last five years.’
Her attorney said that they had not put in a formal request with the White House for a pardon for Maxwell following the conclusion of Day 2 of questioning.
But Markus didn’t rule out taking that action in the future, saying ‘things are happening so quickly.’
‘The president said earlier he has the power to do so, we hope he exercises that power in the right way,’ he said of a potential commutation.
Trump refused to rule out invoking his presidential pardon powers for Maxwell when asked on Friday morning.
‘I’m allowed to do it, but it’s something I haven’t thought about,’ he said.
Attorney David Oscar Markus said Friday that his client Ghislaine Maxwell has been used as the ‘scapegoat’ in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case
Ghislaine Maxwell, 63, is serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in Epstein’s child sex trafficking crimes and is held at the low-security Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee, Florida
Blanche flew down to Florida on Wednesday as President Donald Trump‘s administration continues to take heat for the alleged ‘cover-up’ of the Epstein files review.
The No. 2 at the Justice Department met at the courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida on Thursday with Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for her crimes.
After their meeting, he announced on X that he would have a second day of meetings with Maxwell and her attorney on Friday.
Markus said on Friday that Maxwell has not asked for anything in exchange for speaking with the government about what she knows.
‘No offers have been made,’ he assured. ‘We haven’t asked for anything.’
‘She literally answered every question,’ Markus went on. ‘She was asked maybe about 100 different people, she answered questions about everybody and she didn’t hold anything back.’
Over the course of two days, Maxwell and her attorney have spent more than nine hours answering Blanche’s questions.
It’s not clear when or if the DOJ will release what was learned in the meetings.
Markus said Maxwell is grateful to have had the chance to sit-down with Blanche.
‘This was the first opportunity she’s ever been given to answer questions about what happened,’ Markus said. ‘The truth will come out about what happened with Mr. Epstein and she’s the person whose answering those questions.’
Maxwell is continuing to appeal her sex trafficking conviction.
The latest effort was opposed by the DOJ last week as she sought for the Supreme Court to take up the case, arguing that she shouldn’t have been charged due a 2008 plea deal Epstein struck with the court.
Outside the courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida on Friday, July 25, 2025, a crop plane flew overhead with a banner reading: ‘Trump and Bondi are protecting predators’
Maxwell was the longtime girlfriend and associate of Epstein, she was convicted on child sex trafficking charges, among others
On Thursday after their meeting with Blanche, Markus said that Maxwell answered every question the deputy AG had for his client.
Outside the courthouse in Tallahassee on Friday a plane flew overhead with a banner reading: ‘Trump and Bondi are protecting predators.’
Markus detailed the poor conditions he says his client has experienced over the last five years since Epstein’s death in prison on August 10, 2019.
He said Maxwell was ‘treated like an animal’ in prison and ‘woken up every 15 minutes.’
Then, in what appeared to be an angle for a pardon, Markus was highly complimentary toward Blanche’s questioning and praised Trump for being the ‘ultimate deal maker.’
He said that the president is likely unaware that his DOJ opposed the appeal of Maxwell’s case on the grounds that she was protected under Epstein’s plea deal.
‘I don’t think President Trump knows that the Justice Department took the position that that promise shouldn’t be upheld,’ Markus said.
‘President Trump is the ultimate deal maker, he knows that a promise made on behalf of the government should bind the government.’
