Or rather, Ghislaine Maxwell is back in the news again. New transcripts of her conversations with law enforcement just became available, shedding further light on her links to the powerful late financier Jeffrey Epstein. A close look at the transcripts shows her attitude toward making high-profile, personal connections, seen most clearly in her comments about Donald Trump and Bill Clinton. In 2022, Maxwell was convicted on five counts of sex trafficking minors and sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in enabling Epstein’s abuse of teen girls. In-depth interviews that lasted over two days in July 2021.
Maxwell’s testimony was disturbing, per se, but it contradicted her own interviews, in which she insisted that she never witnessed Donald Trump acting inappropriately. The interviews broke down into seven sections the first day and four the second. She made a point of explaining that their encounters were strictly recreation. She said, “I couldn’t imagine the president ever in the type of massage setting. I would be the first to tell you that I never saw the president in any compromising position at all… clearly. The president was never inappropriate with anybody.”
Maxwell’s comments about Trump were notably complimentary. At one point during the wide-ranging transcript, she heaped glowing compliments on him and characterized their working relationship as collegial but not especially tight-knit. She noted, “I don’t know how they met, and I don’t know how they became friends,” adding that while they seemed friendly during their encounters, she did not recall ever seeing Trump at Epstein’s home.
Maxwell painted an upbeat picture of her relationship with Bill Clinton. She claimed that although Clinton “liked me, and we got along terribly well,” she never observed the same level of warmth between him and Epstein. “I never saw that warmth or that… closeness between Bill Clinton and Epstein,” she noted.
The released materials include heavily redacted transcripts and several separate audio recordings of the interviews. They illuminate Maxwell’s social game-playing with VIPs and her role in grooming them for Epstein, like the above victim who caught Ghislaine’s Eye.
Legal experts, including those at The Verge, have pointed out the punitive implications of Maxwell’s statements. Some believe this is exactly the type of information that would serve Trump’s interests, as noted by state attorney Dave Aronberg. He explained that, “From the view that we have from this transcript, Trump is actually receiving all of what he wants. She is arguing that Trump didn’t do anything or at least nothing untoward, nothing criminal. That’s what Trump wants.”
These interviews happened during a broader investigation into Epstein’s activities and his dense network of enablers. Maxwell’s testimony serves not only as a personal account but as a potential reference point for others scrutinizing the relationships within Epstein’s circle.
Maxwell, who is currently 63 years old, has repeatedly professed her innocence on the charges that have been brought against her during her court fight. These newly released transcripts are very likely to shape the public’s perception of her in that regard. They will shape public views of the people she named.