Maxwell denies Epstein kept ‘client list’ and other takeaways from interview

The transcript of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s interview of Ghislaine Maxwell spans more than 300 pages, the audio more than six hours. Upon releasing the materials Friday, Blanche said nothing about his July conversation with the imprisoned accomplice of deceased sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein had been removed “except for the names of victims.”

The two-day session took place in Tallahassee amid unhappiness by some people over the Trump administration’s handling of files related to the sex-trafficking cases against Maxwell and Epstein, whose death in custody while awaiting trial in 2019 was ruled a suicide. The interview covered a range of issues related to Epstein’s connections to powerful public figures, including President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton.

Here are some key takeaways:

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Maxwell said she never saw Trump engaging in inappropriate conduct with Epstein.

“I never witnessed the president in any inappropriate setting in any way,” she said. “The president was never inappropriate with anybody in the times that I was with him. He was a gentleman in all respects.”

Trump was friends with Epstein from the 1980s, when they were neighbors in South Florida, until the early 2000s.

Throughout the July interview, Maxwell repeatedly complimented Trump. The president, she said, was “always very cordial and very kind to me.” Maxwell is asking the Supreme Court to hear an appeal of her 2021 sex-trafficking conviction, and her lawyer has repeatedly discussed the possibility of a pardon, although he has said that was not a condition of her interview with Blanche.

The White House declined to comment on the interview.

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She said she doesn’t believe Epstein killed himself.

Maxwell told Blanche she did not believe the official finding that Epstein’s death in his Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial was a suicide. Although she also said she didn’t believe he was murdered by powerful individuals looking to silence him — speculation she described as “ludicrous.”

“If that is what they wanted, they would’ve had plenty of opportunity when he wasn’t in jail,” she said. “And if they were worried about blackmail or anything from him, he would’ve been a very easy target.”

Instead, Maxwell speculated that Epstein was likely murdered by another inmate over some internal prison dispute.

“Somebody can pay a prisoner to kill you for $25 worth of commissary,” she said. “That’s about the going rate for a hit with a lock today.”

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She said Bill Clinton was close with her but not with Epstein.

Blanche asked Maxwell repeatedly about her and Epstein’s relationships with former President Bill Clinton. She described traveling the globe with Clinton, but said he and Epstein were not friends. She said she did not see Clinton doing anything improper with Epstein.

Maxwell said she traveled to London; Davos, Switzerland; Latin America and Africa with Clinton; and visited Clinton’s home in Chappaqua, New York, several times.

She said she did not recall Clinton visiting Epstein’s house in New York or his properties in New Mexico or Palm Beach. Clinton was her friend, not Epstein’s friend, she said.

“President Clinton liked me, and we got along terribly well,” Maxwell said. “But I never saw that warmth, or however you want to characterize it, with Mr. Epstein.”

A spokesperson for Clinton did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Clinton has said in the past he knew nothing of Epstein’s crimes.

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Maxwell said there was no ‘client list’ of people who associated with Epstein.

Maxwell denied that Epstein kept any incriminating “client list” of powerful associates, as many right-wing influencers and conspiracy theorists have insisted.

“There is no list that I am aware of,” she told Blanche, who asked about the existence of a “black book” or “Epstein list.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi implied in a Fox News interview in February that a “client list” was on her desk awaiting review.

The Justice Department and FBI said in a memo in July that files from Epstein’s sex-trafficking case contained no such list.