NEW: Deputy AG to Meet With Ghislaine Maxwell?

Last week, Donald Trump ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to release all of the data possible from the investigations into both Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Bondi petitioned two courts to release the grand jury transcripts, but that has a couple of wrinkles. The bigger wrinkle would be that Maxwell is appealing her conviction and twenty-year sentence, which could theoretically result in a new trial — and judges are loath to expose grand jury testimony in such cases (and also generally). 

Also last week, Maxwell’s allies floated a trial balloon with the Daily Mail to exchange testimony before Congress about Epstein’s operations for some unspecified consideration. That sounded more like a desperation move, an offer with low odds of getting someone’s attention. Lo and behold, however, it seems to have paid off. Maxwell will get a visit from no less than the Deputy Attorney General to have a chat about what Maxwell might want to disclose (via Yashar Ali):

Today, Attorney General Pam Bondi shared a statement from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche reading: ‘This Department of Justice does not shy away from uncomfortable truths, nor from the responsibility to pursue justice wherever the facts may lead.’

Referencing the Epstein files, Blanche added: ‘President 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.

‘Therefore, at the direction of Attorney General Bondi, I have communicated with counsel for Ms. Maxwell to determine whether she would be willing to speak with prosecutors from the Department.

‘I anticipate meeting with Ms. Maxwell in the coming days.  Until now, no administration on behalf of the Department had inquired about her willingness to meet with the government. That changes now.’

Er … why? And why now? Don’t forget that Trump was president when Maxwell and Epstein got indicted in 2019. Six years down the road is a long time to take an interest in Maxwell’s potential proffer. This would be something that prosecutors and defense attorneys would have discussed at the time, even if Epstein’s death made Maxwell the only significant prosecutorial target in the Epstein-Maxwell trafficking ring. 

And why send Blanche? This is a job for the US Attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York, where Maxwell’s trial took place. Currently, Jay Clayton serves as US Attorney for SDNY, but even he doesn’t need to be personally involved. Under normal circumstances, Clayton would send one of his deputies to flesh out the parameters of a proffer before wasting his time talking to someone already convicted of sex trafficking. Sending the second-in-command at the Department of Justice for this chat seems odd, if not very odd.  

For an administration that wants us to quit talking about Jeffrey Epstein, they keep working hard to give us more discussion material.

Why not just wait for two federal judges to release the grand jury transcripts, as Bondi requested? Won’t those provide the answers that Blanche would get from a meeting with Maxwell? Probably not, since the judges are unlikely to release them while the Supreme Court considers Maxwell’s appeal. Even if they do, however, the transcripts aren’t likely to be very useful in providing more transparency. The Associated Press talked to two former federal prosecutors who warn that these records likely won’t have much other than investigator summaries:

Naftalis said Southern District prosecutors present just enough to a grand jury to get an indictment but “it’s not going to be everything the FBI and investigators have figured out about Maxwell and Epstein.”

“People want the entire file from however long. That’s just not what this is,” he said, estimating that the transcripts, at most, probably amount to a few hundred pages.

“It’s not going to be much,” Krissoff said, estimating the length at as little as 60 pages “because the Southern District of New York’s practice is to put as little information as possible into the grand jury.”

“They basically spoon feed the indictment to the grand jury. That’s what we’re going to see,” she said. “I just think it’s not going to be that interesting. … I don’t think it’s going to be anything new.”

Both ex-prosecutors said that grand jury witnesses in Manhattan are usually federal agents summarizing their witness interviews.

In other words, the grand jury transcripts are likely to be a dry hole. And with pressure mounting on Capitol Hill for a show of transparency — largely based on Bondi’s public declarations — the DoJ may be forced to deal with Maxwell to get her to testify in the House and/or Senate to put all the cards on the table. 

That won’t be free, either, and that’s where the cautionary tale of Alex Acosta looms large. If the DoJ wants to use Maxwell as the vehicle for transparency and exposure, that means someone will have to cut a deal with one of the most notorious child-sex-traffickers of all time. And that’s likely why Blanche has gotten stuck with this duty … because no one with any future ambitions in politics would touch it.