Ghislaine Maxwell set for second meeting with Deputy AG Todd Blanche
July 25 (UPI) -- Ghislaine Maxwell, associate of child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, is meeting with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche Friday to answer more questions about her knowledge of Epstein's crimes and who may have associated with him.
The two met Thursday and spoke for six hours at a federal courthouse in Tallahassee, Fla. Friday's meeting is a continuation of the questioning. Blanche is a former defense attorney of President Donald Trump.
Before leaving for Scotland Friday, Trump brushed off questions about Epstein.
"I have nothing to do with the guy," Trump said of Epstein. He socialized with Epstein for years before falling out with him in the mid-2000s.
Trump said reporters should focus on those who allegedly spent time with Epstein, such as former President Bill Clinton and ex-Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who was also once the president of Harvard.
People "don't talk about them. They talk about me," he complained.
"You should focus on Clinton. You should focus on the president of Harvard, the former president of Harvard, you should focus on some of the hedge fund guys," CNBC reported that Trump said.
"I'll give you a list. These guys lived with Jeffrey Epstein, I sure as hell didn't."
When asked if he would pardon Maxwell, who has served five years of a 20-year sentence for finding and grooming young girls for Epstein's abuse, Trump said, "It's something I haven't thought about."
"I'm allowed to do it," he added.
Maxwell's attorney David Oscar Markus said Maxwell was "hoping for another productive day."
"Ghislaine has been treated unfairly for over five years now," he added.
"If you looked up scapegoat in the dictionary, her face would be next to the definition next to the dictionary definition of it," he said. "So, you know, we're grateful for this opportunity to finally be able to say what really happened, and that's what we're going to do yesterday and today."
"We just ask that folks look at what she has to say with an open mind, and that's what Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has promised us, and everything she says can be corroborated, and she's telling the truth," Markus said.
"She's got no reason to lie at this point, and she's going to keep telling the truth."
Markus refused to comment on the nature of the questioning.
On social media, Blanche said he would reveal what he learned from Maxwell "at the appropriate time."
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that a recent review of Epstein-related documents by the Justice Department and FBI allegedly found that Trump's name appeared several times in the files.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., during a press conference on Wednesday, said making the Epstein files public needs to be done in a way that protects the victims mentioned, some of whom are minors.
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