By the Staff of AFP
Two important stories on the Jeffrey Epstein pedophile ring circulating in late August did not receive anywhere near the attention they deserved. We want to make that right and highlight the importance of these stories to show that the rich and politically connected should not be able to get away with one of the worst crimes out there: abusing children.
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In the first story, the Department of Justice on Aug. 21 quietly dropped the entire unedited transcript of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s interview with convicted sex trafficker and Epstein confidante Ghislaine Maxwell.
The second news item is on the House Oversight Committee’s announcement that it would be subpoenaing top U.S. officials, including former President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary to get to the bottom of the heinous crimes committed by Epstein and his wealthy and politically connected benefactors.
In regard to the transcript of Maxwell’s interview, which totaled over 400 pages, the talks were conducted by Blanche (a longtime friend of Trump) and several FBI agents on July 24-25.
At the beginning, Maxwell was informed by Blanche that she could be prosecuted for lying to federal officers, so she had to “tell the truth.”
Some of the more controversial claims made by Maxwell included:
- Maxwell said former President Bill Clinton “never, absolutely never went” to Epstein’s private island, the notorious site for sexually abusing minor girls. Two witnesses—Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre and former Clinton aide Doug Band—dispute this, saying they know for a fact Clinton was at Epstein’s island on at least one occasion in 2003.
- Maxwell claimed Epstein made his fortune providing unorthodox, out-of-the-box financial advice to top billionaire industrialists and money men like Leon Black—a ridiculous claim considering Epstein had little if any experience in the field.
- In one telling back-and-forth, Maxwell denied Epstein worked with any intelligence agency or that he blackmailed anyone.
As for the House Oversight Committee, investigators on Aug. 18 met behind closed doors with Bob Barr, the attorney general in the first Trump administration when Epstein was convicted of sex crimes for a second time and was found hanged to death in his prison cell before his trial had even been scheduled.
No official transcript has been released of Barr’s testimony, but Oversight issued a statement saying that Barr denied knowing anything about a client list, that he never saw Trump’s name on any documents related to Epstein, and that Barr believed Epstein committed suicide.
On Aug. 26, Oversight Committee investigators met with Alberto Gonzales behind closed doors. Gonzales was attorney general under President George W. Bush in 2008 when Epstein was prosecuted for sex trafficking for the first time and received a sweetheart deal that one Florida prosecutor said was related to Epstein’s work with U.S. intelligence. No transcript or statement had been released on Gonzales as AFP goes to press.
The committee has also subpoenaed Epstein’s estate, demanding a wide range of documents by Sept. 8, including the so-called “birthday book” that purportedly featured a crude drawing by Trump, logs of contacts made to Epstein, flight records, and other financial documents.
AFP will continue to cover this issue as the story unfolds, regardless of who may be featured in the damning information.
