Maxwell moved to lower security prison in US
Maxwell's move from FCI Tallahassee, a low-security prison, to the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, comes a week after she met with Deputy US Attorney General Todd Blanche, who said he wanted to speak with her about anyone else who may have been involved in Epstein's crimes.
Maxwell's lawyer, David Markus, confirmed she was moved but said he had no other comment. Spokespeople for the US Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Asked during a White House interview with Newsmax about the possibility of pardoning Maxwell, US President Donald Trump said, "I'm allowed to do it, but nobody's asked me to do it."
He added: "I know nothing about the case".
Asked about what was discussed between Maxwell and the deputy attorney general last week, Mr Trump said he believed Mr Blanche "just wants to make sure that innocent people aren't hurt" should documents in the Epstein probe be released.
The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) classifies prison camps such as Bryan as minimum-security institutions, the lowest of five security levels in the federal system.
Such facilities have limited or no perimeter fencing.
Low-security facilities such as FCI Tallahassee have double-fenced perimeters and higher staff-to-inmate ratios than prison camps, according to the bureau.
Asked why Maxwell was transferred, BOP spokesperson Donald Murphy said he could not comment on the specifics of any incarcerated individual's prison assignment, but that the BOP determines where inmates are sent based on such factors as "the level of security and supervision the inmate requires".
Mr Blanche's meeting with Maxwell came as Mr Trump faces pressure from both his base of conservative supporters and congressional Democrats to release more information from the Justice Department's investigations of Maxwell and Epstein.
The department is seeking court approval to release transcripts of law enforcement officers' testimony before the grand juries that indicted Maxwell and Epstein.
Such transcripts are usually kept secret.
Two federal judges in Manhattan are weighing the government's requests.
Lawyers for Maxwell, Epstein, and their alleged victims are due to share their positions on the potential unsealing with the judges in filings on Tuesday.
Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. He had pleaded not guilty.
Neither Mr Markus nor Mr Blanche has provided detailed accounts of what they discussed.
Mr Markus has said Maxwell would welcome relief from Mr Trump.
Maxwell was found guilty at a 2021 trial of recruiting and grooming girls for Epstein to abuse.
She had pleaded not guilty and is asking the US Supreme Court to overturn her conviction.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Journal
11 hours ago
- The Journal
Trump fires official he accuses of 'rigging' report that showed cracks in job market
US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has fired a key economic official, accusing her of manipulating employment data for political reasons after a new report showed cracks in the US jobs market. US job growth missed expectations in July, Labor Department data showed, and revisions to hiring figures in recent months brought them to the weakest levels since the Covid-19 pandemic. Without providing evidence, Trump lashed out at the department's commissioner of labor statistics, writing on social media that the jobs numbers 'were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.' In a separate post on his Truth Social platform, he charged that Commissioner Erika McEntarfer had 'faked' jobs data to boost Democrats' chances of victory in the recent presidential election. 'McEntarfer said there were only 73,000 Jobs added (a shock!) but, more importantly, that a major mistake was made by them, 258,000 Jobs downward, in the prior two months,' Trump said, referring to latest data for July. 'Similar things happened in the first part of the year, always to the negative,' Trump said, insisting that the world's biggest economy was 'booming' under his leadership. He later told reporters 'we need people that we can trust,' accusing the economic official of inflating hiring figures under former president Joe Biden's administration. 'Dangerous precedent' The United States added 73,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.2% from 4.1%, said the Department of Labor earlier Friday. Hiring numbers for May were revised down from 144,000 to 19,000. The figure for June was shifted from 147,000 to 14,000. This was notably lower than job creation levels in recent years. During the pandemic, the economy lost jobs. The employment data points to challenges in the key labor market as companies took a cautious approach in hiring and investment while grappling with Trump's sweeping – and rapidly changing – tariffs this year. The numbers also pile pressure on the central bank as it mulls the best time to cut interest rates. Advertisement With tariff levels climbing since the start of the year, both on imports from various countries and on sector-specific products such as steel, aluminum and autos, many firms have faced higher business costs. Some are now passing them along to consumers. William Beach, who previously held McEntarfer post at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, warned that her firing 'sets a dangerous precedent and undermines the statistical mission of the Bureau.' The National Association for Business Economics (NABE) condemned her dismissal, saying large revisions in jobs numbers 'reflect not manipulation, but rather the dwindling resources afforded to statistical agencies.' 'Firing the head of a key government agency because you don't like the numbers they report, which come from surveys using long established procedures, is what happens in authoritarian countries, not democratic ones,' slammed Larry Summers, former US Treasury secretary under Democratic president Bill Clinton. 'Gamechanger' Heather Long, chief economist at the Navy Federal Credit Union, said Friday's jobs report was a 'gamechanger.' 'The labor market is deteriorating quickly,' said Long, noting that of the growth in July, '75% of those jobs were in one sector: health care.' 'The economy needs certainty soon on tariffs,' Long said. 'The longer this tariff whiplash lasts, the more likely this weak hiring environment turns into layoffs.' It remains unclear when the dust will settle, with Trump ordering the reimposition of steeper tariffs on scores of economies late Thursday, which are set to take effect in a week. A sharp weakening in the labor market could push the Federal Reserve toward slashing interest rates sooner to shore up the economy. On Friday, the two Fed officials who voted this week against the central bank's decision to keep rates unchanged warned that standing pat risks further damaging the economy. Both Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman and Governor Christopher Waller argued that the inflationary effects of tariffs were temporary. They added in separate statements that the bank should focus on fortifying the economy to avert further weakening in the labor market. Putting off an interest rate cut 'could result in a deterioration in the labor market and a further slowing in economic growth,' Bowman said.
RTÉ News
14 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Trump orders firing of US official over jobs market report
US President Donald Trump said he has ordered the firing of a key economic official, accusing her of manipulating employment data for political reasons after a new report showed cracks in the US jobs market. US job growth missed expectations in July, Labor Department data showed, and revisions to hiring figures in recent months brought them to the weakest levels since the Covid-19 pandemic. Without providing evidence, Mr Trump lashed out at the department's commissioner of labour statistics, writing on social media that the jobs numbers "were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad". In a separate post on his Truth Social platform, he charged that Commissioner Erika McEntarfer had "faked" jobs data to boost Democrats' chances of victory in the recent presidential election. "McEntarfer said there were only 73,000 Jobs added (a shock!) but, more importantly, that a major mistake was made by them, 258,000 Jobs downward, in the prior two months," Mr Trump said, referring to latest data for July. "Similar things happened in the first part of the year, always to the negative," Mr Trump said, insisting that the world's biggest economy was "booming" under his leadership. He later told reporters "we need people that we can trust," accusing the economic official of inflating hiring figures under former president Joe Biden's administration. 'Dangerous precedent' The United States added 73,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.2% from 4.1%, said the Department of Labor yesterday. Hiring numbers for May were revised down from 144,000 to 19,000. The figure for June was shifted from 147,000 to 14,000. This was notably lower than job creation levels in recent years. During the pandemic, the economy lost jobs. The employment data points to challenges in the key labour market as companies took a cautious approach in hiring and investment while grappling with Mr Trump's sweeping - and rapidly changing - tariffs this year. The numbers also pile pressure on the central bank as it mulls the best time to cut interest rates. With tariff levels climbing since the start of the year, both on imports from various countries and on sector-specific products such as steel, aluminum and autos, many firms have faced higher business costs. Some are now passing them on to consumers. William Beach, who previously held Ms McEntarfer's post at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, warned that her firing "sets a dangerous precedent and undermines the statistical mission of the Bureau." The National Association for Business Economics condemned her dismissal, saying large revisions in jobs numbers "reflect not manipulation, but rather the dwindling resources afforded to statistical agencies." "Firing the head of a key government agency because you don't like the numbers they report, which come from surveys using long established procedures, is what happens in authoritarian countries, not democratic ones," slammed Larry Summers, former US Treasury secretary under Democratic president Bill Clinton. 'Gamechanger' Heather Long, chief economist at the Navy Federal Credit Union, said the latest jobs report was a "gamechanger". "The labour market is deteriorating quickly," said Ms Long, noting that of the growth in July, "75 percent of those jobs were in one sector: health care." "The economy needs certainty soon on tariffs," Ms Long said. "The longer this tariff whiplash lasts, the more likely this weak hiring environment turns into layoffs." It remains unclear when the dust will settle, with Mr Trump ordering the reimposition of steeper tariffs on scores of economies late Thursday, which are set to take effect in a week. A sharp weakening in the labour market could push the Federal Reserve toward slashing interest rates sooner to shore up the economy. Yesterday, the two Fed officials who voted this week against the central bank's decision to keep rates unchanged warned that standing pat risks further damaging the economy. Both Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman and Governor Christopher Waller argued that the inflationary effects of tariffs were temporary. They added in separate statements that the bank should focus on fortifying the economy to avert further weakening in the labor market. Putting off an interest rate cut "could result in a deterioration in the labor market and a further slowing in economic growth," Ms Bowman said.
RTÉ News
16 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Maxwell moved to lower security prison in US
Ghislaine Maxwell has been transferred from a Florida prison to a lower-security facility in Texas to continue serving her 20-year sentence for helping the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls, the US Bureau of Prisons said. Maxwell's move from FCI Tallahassee, a low-security prison, to the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, comes a week after she met with Deputy US Attorney General Todd Blanche, who said he wanted to speak with her about anyone else who may have been involved in Epstein's crimes. Maxwell's lawyer, David Markus, confirmed she was moved but said he had no other comment. Spokespeople for the US Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Asked during a White House interview with Newsmax about the possibility of pardoning Maxwell, US President Donald Trump said, "I'm allowed to do it, but nobody's asked me to do it." He added: "I know nothing about the case". Asked about what was discussed between Maxwell and the deputy attorney general last week, Mr Trump said he believed Mr Blanche "just wants to make sure that innocent people aren't hurt" should documents in the Epstein probe be released. The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) classifies prison camps such as Bryan as minimum-security institutions, the lowest of five security levels in the federal system. Such facilities have limited or no perimeter fencing. Low-security facilities such as FCI Tallahassee have double-fenced perimeters and higher staff-to-inmate ratios than prison camps, according to the bureau. Asked why Maxwell was transferred, BOP spokesperson Donald Murphy said he could not comment on the specifics of any incarcerated individual's prison assignment, but that the BOP determines where inmates are sent based on such factors as "the level of security and supervision the inmate requires". Mr Blanche's meeting with Maxwell came as Mr Trump faces pressure from both his base of conservative supporters and congressional Democrats to release more information from the Justice Department's investigations of Maxwell and Epstein. The department is seeking court approval to release transcripts of law enforcement officers' testimony before the grand juries that indicted Maxwell and Epstein. Such transcripts are usually kept secret. Two federal judges in Manhattan are weighing the government's requests. Lawyers for Maxwell, Epstein, and their alleged victims are due to share their positions on the potential unsealing with the judges in filings on Tuesday. Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. He had pleaded not guilty. Neither Mr Markus nor Mr Blanche has provided detailed accounts of what they discussed. Mr Markus has said Maxwell would welcome relief from Mr Trump. Maxwell was found guilty at a 2021 trial of recruiting and grooming girls for Epstein to abuse. She had pleaded not guilty and is asking the US Supreme Court to overturn her conviction.
