Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein now serving a 20-year sentence for her role in his sex-trafficking operation, has broken her silence in a two-day interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche—an interview whose transcript was released to the public on August 22, 2025. The records, which were made public as the Trump administration faced mounting criticism over its handling of the Epstein case, reveal Maxwell’s repeated denials of ever seeing former President Donald Trump behave inappropriately around Epstein or his circle.
According to The Independent and Los Angeles Times, the interview took place in July 2025 at a courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida. Just a week after the interview, Maxwell, 63, was quietly moved from a low-security federal prison in Florida to a minimum-security prison camp in Bryan, Texas, to continue serving her sentence. The reason for the transfer was not explained by her lawyers or the Bureau of Prisons, though one of her attorneys, David Oscar Markus, insisted Maxwell was “innocent and never should have been tried, much less convicted.”
The newly released transcripts show Maxwell unequivocally defending Trump. “I actually never saw the President in any type of massage setting,” she said, according to the transcript. “I never witnessed the President in any inappropriate setting in any way. The President was never inappropriate with anybody. In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects.” When pressed by Blanche if she had ever heard Epstein or anyone else say that Trump “had done anything inappropriate with masseuses or with anybody in your world,” Maxwell replied, “Absolutely never, in any context.”
Maxwell, who first met Trump in the 1990s through her father, British newspaper magnate Robert Maxwell, described Trump as “always very cordial and very kind to me.” She went on to praise his “extraordinary achievement in becoming the President now,” adding, “I like him, and I’ve always liked him. So that is the sum and substance of my entire relationship with him.”
The interview also addressed persistent rumors about a so-called “client list” or “black book” of Epstein’s famous associates. Blanche asked Maxwell directly about the existence of such a list. Her response was categorical: “There is no list.” This denial echoed a recent joint memo from the FBI and Justice Department, which stated that no such list exists, despite public statements to the contrary by Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier in the year.
Maxwell also denied claims that she ever recruited masseuses from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate to give Epstein private massages. When asked specifically about the possibility, Maxwell responded, “I don’t recall. Is it possible? Yes. But I don’t remember—that. So I don’t want to—I don’t recall that, but it’s possible.” She further stated, “I’ve never recruited a masseuse from Mar-a-Lago for that, as far as I remember. I can’t ever recollect doing that.”
One of the most explosive allegations in the Epstein saga has been that Maxwell was paid $30 million by Epstein between 1999 and 2007 for recruiting young women. Maxwell flatly rejected this claim in her interview: “That is categorically false, correct,” she told Blanche.
On the subject of Epstein’s death in a New York jail cell in August 2019, Maxwell expressed her own doubts about the official conclusion of suicide. “I do not believe he died by suicide, no,” she said. However, she offered no theory as to who might have been responsible, adding, “I have no reason to believe that. And I also think it’s ludicrous, because if that—that is what they wanted, they would’ve had plenty of opportunity when he wasn’t in jail.” Maxwell speculated that if Epstein had been killed, it would have been the result of “an internal situation” within the prison, noting, “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.”
The interview also touched on Maxwell’s connections to other high-profile figures. She asserted that former President Bill Clinton “never, absolutely never went” to Epstein’s private island, adding, “There’s no way he would’ve gone—I don’t believe there’s any way that he would’ve gone to the island, had I not been there. Because I don’t believe he had an independent friendship, if you will, with Epstein.” Maxwell also denied introducing Epstein to Prince Andrew or Sarah Ferguson, calling claims to the contrary “a flat untruth.”
Maxwell’s trial in 2021 brought to light harrowing testimony from four women who described being abused as teenagers in the 1990s and early 2000s at Epstein’s homes. She was convicted of multiple charges, including conspiracy to entice minors to travel for illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors for illegal sex acts, transporting a minor for illegal sex acts, sex trafficking conspiracy, and sex trafficking of a minor. Despite these convictions, Maxwell has continued to maintain her innocence and is widely believed to be seeking a presidential pardon—a possibility that Trump has not definitively ruled out.
The release of the interview transcript was part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to project transparency amid fierce backlash from both Republicans and Democrats over its refusal to disclose a trove of records related to the Epstein case. The administration’s handling of the investigation has been a lightning rod for criticism, with many accusing officials of failing to deliver on promises of full disclosure and accountability.
On August 22, 2025, the Justice Department began sending Epstein-related files to the House Oversight Committee after a subpoena from lawmakers. The committee has said it intends to make the records public following a thorough review and redaction of victims’ identities and any child sexual abuse material. “The Committee intends to make these records public after thorough review to ensure any victims’ identification and child sexual abuse material are redacted,” a spokesperson for Oversight Committee Chair James Comer told the Associated Press. “The Committee will also consult with the DOJ to ensure any documents released do not negatively impact ongoing criminal cases and investigations.”
While the Justice Department and FBI have stated that no further disclosures are forthcoming, public frustration remains high. The case has become a focal point for conspiracy theories and political controversy, with both sides of the aisle demanding greater transparency and accountability. Trump himself has attempted to distance his administration from the scandal, dismissing critics and urging his supporters not to fall for what he called the “Jeffrey Epstein hoax.”
As the House Oversight Committee reviews the newly released documents, the public awaits answers to lingering questions about Epstein’s connections, his death, and the powerful individuals who orbited his world. For now, Maxwell’s denials and the administration’s latest disclosures have done little to quell the storm of speculation and outrage that continues to swirl around one of the most notorious criminal cases of the past decade.
