Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, called for the transcripts and recordings of the Justice Department’s interviews with Ghislaine Maxwell from July 24 and July 25 to be released.
Maxwell, Jeffery Epstein’s former confidante and girlfriend, is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking.
In a letter to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, obtained by the Washington Examiner, Durbin said the DOJ should not commit to offering a pardon or commutation of Maxwell’s sentence in exchange for information, crediting “serious questions about the potential for a corrupt bargain between the Trump administration and Ghislaine Maxwell.”
Durbin’s letter was also co-signed by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), another member of the Judiciary Committee.
However, since Democrats are in the minority and have no subpoena power, the letter may carry little weight with Blanche. The letter reflected how Democrats are trying to keep pressure on the Trump administration over the Epstein files, a matter that has upset many of President Donald Trump’s supporters.
The letter from Durbin said the meetings between Blanche and Maxwell were “highly unusual” and should have been conducted by line prosecutors with more knowledge of the case and those who better understand whether Maxwell was lying or telling the truth.
Durbin wrote that because Blanche conducted the interviews, it led him and Whitehouse to believe they were “another tactic to distract from DOJ’s failure to fulfill Attorney General Bondi’s commitment that the American people would see ‘the full Epstein files.'”
Durbin also said there were “serious concerns that Maxwell may provide false information or selectively withhold information, in return for a pardon or sentence commutation.”
Durbin’s letter also requested a list of the names and titles of everyone present during the interviews and questioned why the DOJ believes Maxwell would be truthful when the Trump administration argued in court about her “willingness to brazenly lie under oath about her conduct.”
More requests listed in the letter include the complete terms of Maxwell’s offer of limited immunity and for the Microsoft SharePoint file, which Blanche’s office reportedly obtained to log mentions of Trump in the files.
While it’s unlikely that the Democratic senators will receive any information they requested, the letter called for greater transparency from the Trump administration.
“The victims and survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have been repeatedly let down by the criminal justice system,” the letter said. “Rather than engaging in this elaborate ruse, DOJ should simply release the Epstein files, as Attorney General Bondi promised to do.”
Trump hasn’t dismissed the idea of pardoning Maxwell, telling reporters Friday that he’s “allowed to do it, but it’s something I haven’t thought about.” However, Republican House members have expressed concerns about pardoning her.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has criticized the Trump administration for not releasing the Epstein files and questioned whether Maxwell’s interview was motivated by the hope of being pardoned.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said Sunday that he’s also wary of granting Maxwell a pardon.
“I think she should have a life sentence at least,” Johnson said on NBC News’s Meet the Press.
DOJ HIT WITH TRUMP-EPSTEIN FOIA REQUEST FROM DEMOCRAT-ALIGNED GROUP
When asked about the idea of a pardon, Johnson said he would “have great pause about that, as any reasonable person would.”
