Ghislaine Maxwell has told the deputy attorney general that she does not believe Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide while in prison before he could be put on trial for trafficking charges of his own.
In newly released transcripts of her interview with Todd Blanche, the co-conspirator of the late sex offender also said she had no idea who killed him, pointed to the “dereliction of duty” of the prison system, and said she thought it “ludicrous” to believe an outside actor would have murdered Epstein behind bars out of fear of blackmail as they would have had plenty of opportunity when he was not in jail.
Epstein was found dead in his prison cell while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges on August 10, 2019. The disgraced financier’s death was officially ruled a suicide.
His sudden death and previous connections to wealthy and powerful individuals — including Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and Britain’s Prince Andrew — created a storm of conspiracy theories that persist to this day. They largely revolve around a “client list” and the potential to blackmail those on it.
Maxwell, the former British socialite currently serving 20 years in jail for her role in Epstein’s sex trafficking operation, gave the testimony to Blanche over two days from July 24 at a courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida, near where she was then incarcerated.
Blanche began his questioning concerning the death of Epstein by asking if Maxwell had been at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York during that period. To which Maxwell responded that she had not.
Blanche clarified that her responses would be what she believed based on her relationship with and knowledge of Epstein over many years, to which she replied that there was another influence on her opinion regarding his death.
“There's a third component to that,” she said, “Which is having experienced now, the mismanagement and inefficiencies and total dereliction of duty at the Bureau of Prisons.”
Blanche acknowledged that and continued, saying that he wanted to be careful about asking her to speculate, because anybody could do that, and he didn’t believe that was fair to her.
Referencing subsequent reports into the death of the late sex offender, Blanche said: “Do you — so you think he was — he did not die by suicide, given all the things we just talked about.”
Maxwell replied: “I do not believe he died by suicide, no.”
Blanche followed up: “And do you believe that — do you have any speculation or view of who killed him?”
Maxwell said: “I — no, I don't.”
The deputy attorney general asked: “And I ask that because, if you don't believe that there's any truth to the allegations of blackmail or that he had kind of a list, or that he had reasons to have people hate him, why would somebody kill him in prison?”
Maxwell replied: “In prison, where I am, they will kill you or they will pay — somebody can pay a prisoner to kill you for $25 worth of commissary. That's about the going rate for a hit with a lock today.”
Blanche said: “So that goes to the third reason, which is kind of the mismanagement,” to which Maxwell responded, “Yes.”
Noting that she was referring to the “shortcomings of the Bureau of Prisons,” Blanche continued: “Which is a little bit different than my — from my question is, which is, do you think there was somebody on the outside of prison, so putting aside, what could happen on the inside on the outside of prison, who would -- who wanted him dead so badly that he would've, or she would've, you know, caused him to be killed on the inside?”
Maxwell replied: “I think that's — I don't see that. I think, is it possible? Of course it's possible. But I don't know of any reason why, and I don't believe in the blackmail or in any of this. I don't think Epstein had a hit on like that. If it is indeed murder, I believe it was an internal situation.”
Blanched asked: “You don't have any reason, firsthand knowledge, or even speculation, it sounds like, to think that he was … that he was killed to kind of silence him or to keep him from going public about people he knew about?”
Maxwell responded: “I don't, no, because I think that is just part of the story that's been created that started back in 2008, '09.”
Her answer refers back to the initial investigation into Epstein in Florida that began more than a decade before the federal charges against him and his death in custody.
Blanche then said: “What is important to me is whether, you know, if — is the idea that he didn't die by suicide, that's one thing. But if to the extent that folks believe that he was murdered to keep him quiet or because he had information on rich and powerful people, that's what I — do you have any reason to believe that that's true?”
Maxwell replied: “I do not have any reason to believe that. And I also think it's ludicrous, because if that — I also happen to think if that is what they wanted, they would've had plenty of opportunity when he wasn't in jail. And if they were worried about blackmail or anything from him, he would've been a very easy target.”
After Maxwell’s two-day interview with the Department of Justice she was relocated to a minimum security prison camp in Texas.
