“You know, I haven’t heard the name in so long… I can say this: I’d have to take a look at it,” said President Donald Trump Monday when asked about potentially pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell.
“I would have to take a look.”
While Trump said he hadn’t heard Maxwell’s name in some time, the British socialite now serving a 20-year-sentence for her role in a scheme to “to sexual exploit and abuse multiple minor girls with Jeffrey Epstein over the course of a decade,” as described by the U.S. Department of Justice, has been in the headlines frequently this year. First, because the DOJ and Federal Bureau of Investigation released a controversial memo over the summer about the Epstein case and second because she was appealing to overturn her conviction.
This week, the U.S. Supreme court rejected her appeal. CNN’s Kaitlan Collins noted that the only way for Maxwell to go free now would be a pardon from Trump before asking him if he would consider it.
Maxwell was a longtime associate of Epstein, a financier who was known for making connections with wealthy, famous and powerful people. Trump is one of the famous alleged Epstein associates, and the president has said that the two knew each other in the 1980s and 1990s – when they moved in the same New York and Florida social circles – but that they stopped speaking in the early 2000s. There are photos circulating online that show Trump, Epstein and Maxwell together.
A 2003 “birthday book” for Epstein released by the House Oversight Committee this year reportedly assembled by Maxwell contained letters allegedly from Trump, former President Bill Clinton and more. Trump has denied that the letter attributed to him, which is typed out inside a doodle of a woman’s torso and allegedly signed by Trump, is authentic.
When Epstein died in his prison cell in 2019, he was already a convicted sex offender. Though officials have said Epstein died by suicide, many people have been skeptical of that assessment. There have also been rumors of a “client list” that Epstein had.
FBI Director Kash Patel himself questioned the Epstein investigation narratives before taking on his current role. With the announcement that the public shouldn’t expect more information about the case, Patel, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Trump faced backlash from both sides of the political aisle. Trump has downplayed the issue in public statements and social media posts.
“I have had more success in 6 months than perhaps any President in our Country’s history, and all these people want to talk about, with strong prodding by the Fake News and the success starved Dems, is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax,” he said in a July Truth Social post, for example.
In July, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche also said in an X post that he planned to interview Maxwell for more information about Epstein.
“Trump has told us to release all credible evidence. 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,” said Blanche.
Maxwell was interviewed over the summer. During the interviews, she said that Epstein and Trump knew each other but were not close friends. As for herself, Maxwell said that she first met Trump in 1991 and that her father, late publisher Robert Maxwell, was a fan of Trump.
“As far as I’m concerned, President Trump was always very cordial and very kind to me,” she said.
The New York Times noted that she also defended Epstein at times and denied allegations of sex trafficking during the interview. Around the same time, she was moved from a moved from a prison in Florida to a lower-security federal prison camp in Texas.
Regarding the Supreme Court’s rejection of Maxwell’s attempt to appeal her conviction, Trump said: “I don’t know anything about it,” and added that he would “have to speak to the DOJ,” before deciding about whether to pardon her.
“I have a lot of people who have asked me for pardons,” the president added.
Laura Loomer, a conservative media personality and Trump ally, took to X Monday to urge the president not to pardon Maxwell.
“I strongly advise AGAINST anyone lobbying the Trump admin and the DOJ to Pardon Ghislaine Maxwell. Do not do it,” she said. “I repeat. Do not do it. There will be no coming back from that. I repeat again.
For the love of God. Do Not Do It.”
Loomer also accused Democrat lawmakers of using the Epstein files as a political game to “get Trump” in a Tuesday X post.