Epstein survivor: Maxwell pardon would be ‘huge error'

The Hill

2 days ago

Jeffrey Epstein survivor Haley Robson said that President Trump would make a 'huge error' if he were to pardon Epstein's close confidant, convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
'I don't think Ghislaine has anything to say. I think it's all rubbish. I think it's dishonesty. It's a huge mistake for her to have the move in the first place, if you pardon her, they'll be making a huge error,' Robson said in an interview with CNN released on Tuesday.
Earlier this month, Trump said in an interview with Newsmax that he had not been asked about a pardon for Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence on sex trafficking charges.
When asked about granting clemency for Maxwell, the British socialite and Epstein's longtime associate, in exchange for her testimony, the president said 'I'm allowed to do it. But nobody's asked me to do it.'
Robson, who was introduced to Epstein by a classmate, said she met the convicted sex offender and the late, disgraced financier in 2002 as a 16-year-old in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Robson was asked to give Epstein a massage, and he then started masturbating in front of her. She rejected his advances, but the disgraced financier then offered her $200 for each girl she recruited.
'I think at the moment, it was an act of me trying to just survive and get out of the situation, because I didn't know what to expect next. I didn't know what was going to happen,' Robson told CNN, adding that she recruited girls for two years.
Last month, Maxwell was quietly transferred from a federal prison in Florida to a prison camp in Texas.
The transfer came as her legal team appeals her case to the Supreme Court.
Maxwell sat for two interviews with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in Tallahassee in July, as the Trump administration faced increased pressure to release more documents related to Epstein's case. Maxwell's lawyer previously said he had not spoken to the president about a potential pardon.
Maxwell's move to Federal Prison Camp Bryan spurred an investigation from House Judiciary Democrats, who argue the transfer creates 'the strong appearance that it is attempting to cover up the full extent of the relationship between Trump and Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 in New York as he awaited trial.