Family of Epstein Survivor Fears Trump Will Pardon Maxwell

Time​ Magazine

31-07-2025

The family of the most prominent victim of Jeffrey Epstein has urged President Donald Trump not to pardon his co-conspirator and confidant Ghislaine Maxwell, calling her a 'monster who deserves to rot in prison for the rest of her life.'
'The government and the President should never consider giving Ghislaine Maxwell any leniency,' the brothers of Virginia Giuffre said in a statement, claiming that the jailed British former socialite had 'destroyed many young lives.'
'She must remain in prison—anything less would go down in history as being one of the highest travesties of justice,' they said in a statement.
Maxwell, who was the only person convicted in connection with the sex trafficking ring operated by the late financier Epstein, met last week with officials from the Department of Justice as the Trump administration tries to deal with a backlash over its failure to release the so-called 'Epstein files.'
When asked by reporters about the possibility of a pardon for Maxwell last week, Trump said: 'I'm allowed to do it, but it's something I have not thought about.'
The family issued the statement after Trump said Tuesday that convicted sex offender Epstein 'stole' Giuffre from the President's spa at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, where she had been working when she was 16 during the summer of 2000.
'He took people that worked for me. And I told him, 'Don't do it anymore.' And he did it,' Trump said when questioned by reporters on Tuesday about previous comments on falling out with Epstein over taking employees from his business.
When asked if these employees were young women, the President responded: 'The answer is yes, they were in the spa.' Trump was then asked if one of these employees was Giuffre, to which he said: 'I think she worked at the spa…I think so. I think that was one of the people. He stole her.'
Death threats and financial ruin
Giuffre, who died by suicide in April, said that she met Epstein and his accomplice Maxwell while working at Trump's Mar-a-Lago spa as a teenager.
Her brothers Sky Roberts and Danny Wilson said in the statement on Wednesday that they were 'shocked' to hear Trump's comments. 'It makes us ask if he was aware of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's criminal actions, especially given his statement two years later that his good friend Jeffrey 'likes women on the younger side . . . no doubt about it',' they said.
They also confirmed Giuffre's account of meeting Maxwell in 2000, stressing that it was her who 'targeted and preyed upon' the then-16-year-old. 'Virginia always said that Ghislaine Maxwell was vicious and could often be more cruel than Epstein.
'As the survivor with the most firsthand knowledge of Maxwell and Epstein's operation, Virginia cooperated with the authorities to bring them down,' the family said.
'She endured death threats, threats against the lives of her children and family, financial ruin, and her physical and mental well-being were destroyed. She never backed down; she hoped that her strength would inspire other survivors to find the courage to come forward,' they added.
Epstein has long been at the center of conspiracy theories since his death while in jail in 2019, including from many of Trump's own supporters. Attention to the case and the sex offender's alleged associates has resurfaced in recent weeks after the Department of Justice released a memo saying that an 'Eptsein client list' does not exist, while also confirming that his death was a suicide.
In response to the memo, Trump has attempted to brush off attention on the case. ''Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? This guy's been talked about for years,' Trump said after its release, calling focus on Epstein a waste of time.
The President has since asked the DOJ to request a release of the grand jury testimony made against Epstein in his conviction. A federal judge in Florida rejected one of the requests, but another ruling is pending.