President Trump was noncommittal when asked Monday about a potential pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned former associate of Jeffrey Epstein, saying he has the power to do it but no one has asked about it.
“I am allowed to give her a pardon, but nobody’s approached me with it. Nobody’s asked me about it,” Mr. Trump said. “It’s in the news about that aspect of it. But right now it would be inappropriate to talk about it.”
Maxwell is currently in a federal prison in Florida serving a 20-year sentence after she was convicted of sex trafficking and conspiracy in 2021 for crimes she committed with deceased sex offender Epstein, who was her lover.
She is appealing both her conviction and sentence.
Maxwell last week sat for two days of interviews with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and reportedly answered questions about nearly 100 people allegedly connected to Epstein.
Mr. Trump could float a pardon for her in exchange for her cooperation on the allegations that Epstein trafficked underage girls for sex with wealthy and powerful men. Republicans and Democrats are clamoring for the Justice Department to release its Epstein files, with both sides thinking their rivals will be implicated in Epstein’s depravity.
On Monday, tech billionaire and one-time close Trump ally Elon Musk posted a bullseye emoji in response to a post on X suggesting that Maxwell will receive a pardon in exchange for implicating Democrats with Epstein’s crimes.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that he will not support a pardon for Maxwell, saying he has “great pause” about the idea. The Louisiana Republican called Maxwell’s sentence “a pittance,” saying she should spend life in prison.
Maxwell’s attorneys said Friday that they had not spoken with Mr. Trump or anyone at the White House about a potential pardon.
“The president this morning said he has the power to do so,” Maxwell’s attorney David Markus said Friday. “We hope he exercises that power in a right and just way.”
“We haven’t asked for anything. This is not a situation where we are asking for anything in return for testimony or anything like that,” Mr. Markus said. “Of course, everybody knows Ms. Maxwell would welcome any relief.”
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, Kentucky Republican, subpoenaed Maxwell last week after the panel voted to compel her testimony.
Also, on Monday, Mr. Trump offered a confusing explanation for his falling out with Epstein, saying the New York financier was “inappropriate” and “hired help,” but did not elaborate on what exactly transpired between the two.
“He did something that was inappropriate. He hired help, and I said, ‘Don’t ever do that again,’ and he did it again and I threw him out of the place, persona non grata,” Mr. Trump told reporters in Scotland during a meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “I’m glad I did if you want to know the truth.”
It was a new version of why Mr. Trump severed ties with Epstein, a jetsetting millionaire who was convicted in Florida of soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008 and ultimately died in a New York City jail in 2019 while facing federal sex trafficking charges.
Mr. Trump and Epstein were longtime friends before they had a falling out over a real estate deal in 2004. The president banned Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago club in 2007 after Epstein reportedly propositioned the teenage daughter of a club member.
Since the Justice Department this month declined to release its Epstein files, Mr. Trump has been hounded by questions about his ties to Epstein.
Mr. Trump was angered by the question and did not offer any further explanation or explain what he meant when he said Epstein “hired help.” Instead, the president simply said the break with Epstein was “old history” that he didn’t want to “waste time” talking about it.
