Following First Lady Melania Trump’s surprise statement earlier this month regarding Jeffrey Epstein – the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender – Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell allegedly sent a “mystery” USB drive to the U.S. Department of Justice.
That’s according to a new report from the Daily Beast. Citing a letter from Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, to federal judge Paul Engelmayer, the outlet said Clayton confirmed receipt of the package from Maxwell. He also reportedly asked the court to give the government until June 5 to file a response.
Maxwell’s mystery USB appeared seven days after Melania’s surprise speech on April 9, the Daily Beast said. Even President Donald Trump and administration aides were surprised by the first lady’s statement, the outlet claimed.
“The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today,” Melania said. “The individuals lying about me are devoid of ethical standards, humility and respect. I do not object to their ignorance, but rather I reject their mean-spirited attempts to defame my reputation.”
While the contents of the USB are unknown, the Daily Beast said the timing has “raised eyebrows across Washington.”
As photos show, Trump and Melania were in the same social circle as Epstein and Maxwell, who both visited Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. Maxwell even reportedly met victim Virginia Giuffre when she was working there as a 17-year-old.
Epstein’s connections to wealthy and powerful people such as Trump, former President Bill Clinton and more, have been one of the reasons behind the push for the government to release documents related to the late sex offender, who was accused of sex trafficking before he died in a Manhattan jail cell in July 2019.
Millions of documents were released last year, even after former Attorney General Pam Bondi and Federal Bureau of Investigation leadership said no more files on Epstein would be released. Bondi’s stance on the Epstein case resulted in backlash and Trump announced this month that she would be replaced as AG by Todd Blanche, former deputy attorney general.
E-mail records show that Melania apparently interacted with Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year-prison sentence for acting as Epstein’s accomplice in sexually abusing minors, on at least one occasion.
“Dear G! How are you?” read a 2002 email message believed to be from Melania to Maxwell. “Nice story about JE in NY mag. You look great in the picture.”
Per the Associated Press, Melania seemed to reference the email during her statement on Epstein this month: “My polite reply to her email doesn’t amount to anything more than a trivial note,” she said.
Last year, Maxwell was interviewed by Blanche as part of the Trump administration’s review of the Epstein files. She was also moved to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas.
Clayton’s letter said that Maxwell’s FedEx package had a ship date of April 16 and that it contained “a USB drive with the defendant’s amended motion and exhibits.” He said that Maxwell cited about 50 exhibits to support her claims, but that there were only 33 were included in the package.
“Upon an initial review, the amended motion seems to have some overlap with the defendant’s claims in her original motion,” said Clayton, per the Daily Beast.
It added that he also said: “Although the claims raised appear to be equally meritless, the arguments pressed by the defendant appear to be fact and document intensive and thus the Government is not in a position to assess how much of the new material is truly duplicative.”
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif), ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, said in a Thursday statement that Committee Chair Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) revealed that some Republican members of the Committee are considering supporting a pardon of Maxwell in exchange for further cooperation in providing information about Epstein. He called the notion of pardoning Maxwell “outrageous.”
“She is a sexual abuser who facilitated the rape of women and children. This is a shameful way to treat survivors. Oversight Democrats are united in opposing any pardon,” Garcia said. U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) also sent a letter in opposition to any potential pardon of Maxwell.
Chair James Comer said in an interview Wednesday that the committee is divided over a potential pardon, POLITICO reported. It said the president has not ruled out the possibility of a pardon.
