Trump DOJ's 'Far Outside The Norm' Meeting With Ghislane Maxwell Should Raise Eyebrows, Former Prosecutor Warns

The closed-door meeting between the US Department of Justice's second-in-command and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell on Thursday is being described as "far outside the norm."

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche—formerly Donald Trump's personal attorney and now the second-ranking official at the DOJ—spent Thursday huddled with Maxwell and her lawyer. The DOJ is exploring whether Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for grooming and trafficking underage girls to the late Jeffrey Epstein, is willing to reveal more information about her former boyfriend amid widespread demands for public disclosure on details of the sex trafficking operation.

"If Todd Blanche...is personally meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell in prison, it suggests something far outside the norm," defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor Duncan Levin told the NY Post.

"This isn't some career prosecutor following protocol," he said. "It's a direct line from Trump's inner circle to one of the most infamous inmates in the country."

Blanche's unprecedented involvement has heightened speculation about whether the outreach to Maxwell is in the interest of justice or politics.

The cooperation of Maxwell, a former friend of Trump whom the president previously said he "wishes well," could potentially lead to a reduced sentence, presidential commutation or even pardon. The incentive to supply information that may be favorable to the Trump administration casts further doubt on Maxwell's already questionable credibility. In 2022 the DOJ noted in court papers that Maxwell demonstrated a "significant pattern of dishonest conduct."

The interview comes amid heightened pressure to reveal more details of the case, particularly following reports that Trump's name appears in the Epstein files, albeit in an unspecified context. But given the suspicion raised by the personal entanglements between Trump and Blanche, Trump and Epstein, and Trump and Maxwell — critics don't anticipate public demands for transparency will be satisfied by whatever information may be forthcoming.

Trump has called the controversy surrounding his interaction with Epstein a hoax, but Blanche has stated his commitment to justice, writing that "No one is above the law — and no lead is off-limits," on X earlier this week.

"Ghislaine honestly answered every question that Todd Blanche asked," her lawyer David Oscar Markus posted following Thursday's interview. "And she will continue to do so. We are grateful that the government is trying to uncover the truth."