CNN
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\n The Department of Justice said Tuesday it has reached out to Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s former associate Ghislaine Maxwell for a meeting amid backlash over the administration\u2019s handling of files related to Epstein.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cJustice demands courage. For the first time, the Department of Justice is reaching out to Ghislaine Maxwell to ask: what do you know? At @AGPamBondi\u2019s direction, I\u2019ve contacted her counsel. I intend to meet with her soon. No one is above the law\u2014and no lead is off-limits,\u201d Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in an X post<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Blanche added in a statement posted by Attorney General Pam Bondi on social media<\/a> that if \u201cGhislane Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say.\u201d Blanche said he anticipates meeting with Maxwell soon.\n <\/p>\n \n Maxwell\u2019s attorney told CNN they \u201care in discussions with the government\u201d on the matter. \u201cGhislaine will always testify truthfully. We are grateful to President Trump for his commitment to uncovering the truth in this case,\u201d attorney David Oscar Markus said.\n <\/p>\n \n President Donald Trump<\/a> said Tuesday he didn\u2019t know about the DOJ\u2019s plans to reach out to Maxwell but that it \u201csounds appropriate,\u201d while praising Blanche.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI didn\u2019t know that they were going to do it. I don\u2019t really follow that too much. It\u2019s sort of a witch hunt,\u201d Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, repeating his efforts to put to rest the Epstein story.\n <\/p>\n \n But the drumbeat for transparency around the case is growing louder among Republicans on Capitol Hill, with the House Oversight Committee expected to subpoena Maxwell \u201cas expeditiously as possible,\u201d a committee source told CNN on Tuesday.\n <\/p>\n \n Maxwell was sentenced in 2022 to 20 years in federal prison<\/a> for carrying out a years-long scheme with Epstein to groom and sexually abuse underage girls. She has continued to appeal her conviction.\n <\/p>\n \n A potential meeting and testimony come on the heels of a request <\/a>from the Justice Department to a federal judge to make public years-old grand jury testimony against Epstein, which took place behind closed doors. Two judges have given the department until Tuesday to provide more information on that request, including why officials are seeking the disclosure and whether Maxwell objects to it. A person close to her said she would oppose release of materials related to her and Epstein.\n <\/p>\n \n A judge in Maxwell\u2019s case asked her legal team to weigh in by August 5.\n <\/p>\n \n The request to unseal the materials was made at Trump\u2019s direction in the wake of a Wall Street Journal report<\/a> about a 2003 birthday letter for Epstein that bore Trump\u2019s name and an outline of a naked woman. The president has denied the letter came from him and is suing the newspaper\u2019s publisher<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Bondi had long vowed to release as many documents in the Justice Department\u2019s possession as possible, but in a memo<\/a> earlier this month, she announced there is no evidence Epstein kept a \u201cclient list\u201d or was murdered \u2014 and that the department does not plan to release any new documents in the matter.\n <\/p>\n