Epstein files latest: Maxwell may avoid subpoena as Trump says he hasn’t thought about pardoning her

Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell is unsure whether she will comply with a recent congressional subpoena to testify about his abuse of girls and whether others were involved, amid continued pressure for the government to disclose more about the case.

“We have to make a decision about whether she will do that or not,” her attorney David Oscar Markus told Politico. “That’s been scheduled for the week of August 11th and we haven’t gotten back to them on whether we’ll do that.”

Josh Marcus has the story.

With his administration scrambling to explain why it isn’t releasing files from an investigation that its own members and supporters have said for years should be made public, the president spent the past two weeks reigniting old conflicts with foes ranging from Rosie O’Donnell to Barack Obama.

John Bowden has the story.

David Oscar Markus, a lawyer for Maxwell, told reporters Friday in Tallahassee, Florida, where the meetings took place, that his client discussed ‘100 different people’ with the Justice Department.

“Ghislaine answered every single question asked of her over the last day and a half, she answered those questions honestly, truthfully, to the best of her ability,” Markus, said outside the federal courthouse.

“She was asked about maybe about 100 different people. She answered questions about everybody and she didn’t hold anything back,” the attorney continued. “She never invoked a privilege. She never refused to answer a question. So we’re very proud of her.”

Ghislaine Maxwell was granted a form of limited immunity to talk during her meetings with Department of Justice officials, according to reports.

The British socialite and former ex-girlfriend of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein met with Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche on multiple occasions this week and she initiated the meetings, according to ABC News.

The so-called proffer immunity is commonly granted to those who prosecutors are seeking cooperation from in a criminal case. Maxwell was tried, convicted and sentenced in 2022 over her role in Epstein’s scheme to abuse underage girls.

Rachel Dobkin has the story.

The conspiracies began circulating before the proverbial ink was dry. Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire financier and convicted child sex offender, “dead after ‘apparent suicide’ in New York jail”, ran the headline in The Washington Post on 11 August 2019 (single quote marks theirs). The Boston Globe too described it as an “apparent suicide”. “Epstein’s jail death gets US scrutiny,” said The Philadelphia Inquirer.

When FBI agents arrested Epstein after his private jet landed in New Jersey a month earlier and charged him with sex-trafficking minors in Florida and New York, his victims waited to learn the truth. After his death, the voices clamouring for transparency got louder. As did those claiming conspiracy.

A year on, when his former girlfriend, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, was arrested by the FBI at a secluded property in New Hampshire, they didn’t stop. And they didn’t quieten when Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse minors.

Alex Hannaford has the story.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee sent a letter on Friday to lawyers representing Jeffrey Epstein’s estate to obtain a copy of a 2003 book compiled by Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell for the late financier’s 50th birthday that allegedly contains a sexually suggestive card from President Donald Trump.

The president has denied writing the card and has sued the Wall Street Journal, which first reported on its alleged existence, for defamation.

Democrats on the Committee asked for a “complete, unredacted copy” by August 10.

“The American people deserve the truth about who was a part of Epstein’s closest circle of friends. Most importantly, the American people deserve to know who was involved in Epstein’s trafficking network and if they are in positions of power in our government,” Ranking Member Robert Garcia, a Democrat from California, said in a statement.

It makes perfect sense that President Trump is hoping for five days away from the Epstein fallout firestorm that has landed him in hot water not just with Democrats but his own MAGA base over the Justice Department’s stonewalling on the release of all the Epstein files, as Trump and AG Pam Bondi had promised.

Well, Scotland may not be far enough for that.

Sure, Trump will meet with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer early next week, but the vast majority of his known itinerary on the trip — which is estimated to cost taxpayers $10 million — consists of visits to his Scottish golf resorts. One, Trump Turnberry and the other Trump International in Aberdeen, where he is set to open a brand new course that will be named for his late mother, Mary Anne McLeod Trump, who was born in Scotland.

And that’s the problem for Trump, thanks to a particular member of the Royal family who happens to be a golf-loving frequenter of his courses, is Scotland’s Earl of Inverness — and who also happens to be tainted by his past close friendship with Jeffrey Epstein … Prince Andrew.

Speaking to Fox News Friday night, Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, amplified claims from the Trump administration that former President Barack Obama and his officials were part of a conspriacy to keep Trump from the White House with the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied that his government interfered with the 2016 election.

Obama, through a spokesperson, called the allegations “bizarre and ridiculous,” adding they were “a weak attempt at distraction.”

These allegations come as the Trump administration is embroiled in controversy surrounding its handling of files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.