US President Donald Trump has said he has not been asked to pardon disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell following her “truthful” answers to government questions about sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Maxwell was found guilty in December 2021 of luring young girls to massage rooms for paedophile financier Epstein to molest between 1994 and 2004.
The US Department of Justice met with the 63-year-old convicted sex-trafficker last week – interviews in which her lawyer David Markus said his client would “testify truthfully”.
The US government faced a backlash from Mr Trump’s support base following words from Attorney General Pam Bondi that there was no evidence Epstein had a “client list”.
Following the criticisms, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche met with Maxwell over the course of two days – with Mr Blanche saying: “No-one is above the law and no lead is off-limits.”
Mr Markus previously said the disgraced socialite had not been offered a pardon as part of the interview process.
In a short statement ahead of the meetings, the lawyer said: “I can confirm that we are in discussions with the government and that Ghislaine will always testify truthfully.
“We are grateful to President Trump for his commitment to uncovering the truth in this case.”
Questioned on whether he had been asked to pardon Maxwell, the US President told reporters on Monday: “Well, I’m allowed to give her a pardon, but nobody’s approached me with it. Nobody’s asked me about it.
“It’s in the news – that aspect of it – but right now, it would be inappropriate to talk about it.”
During her three-week trial in 2021, jurors heard prosecutors describe Maxwell as “dangerous”, and were told details of how she helped entice vulnerable teenagers to Epstein’s various properties for him to sexually abuse.
She was sentenced to 20 years in prison at the federal court in the southern district of New York (SDNY) in June 2022.
Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.
The death was ruled a suicide.
