Ghislaine Maxwell given ‘limited immunity' in meetings with deputy attorney general: reports
The British socialite and former ex-girlfriend of convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, met with Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche on multiple occasions this week.
The so-called proffer immunity is commonly granted to those that prosecutors are seeking cooperation from in a criminal case. Maxwell was tried, convicted and sentenced in 2022 for sex trafficking underage girls.
Such an agreement allowed Maxwell to answer questions from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche – which her attorneys claimed she did fully – sources close to the matter told ABC.
Her responses to those questions would not be able to be used against her at a later stage, the sources added.
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The Independent
14 minutes ago
- The Independent
The Daily Show jokes that Trump is going after famous Black people in an effort to deflect interest away from Epstein
The Daily Show lambasted President Trump for using a series of targeted verbal attacks to distract attention from the Jeffrey Epstein debacle. 'Trump is going to target every exceptional Black person he can think of,' returning correspondent Jessica Williams said on Jon Stewart 's show Monday night while highlighting that in recent weeks, Trump has singled out Beyonce, Oprah, and former Vice President Kamala with threats. 'We're about a week away from him saying that Urkel did 9/11? Urkel! 'Did he do that?' No, Jon, no, he didn't. He was nowhere near the towers that day,' an Emmy-nominated star joked about the famous child actor who appeared on the '90s sitcom 'Family Matters.' Steve Urkel, a character played by Jaleel White, became associated with the catchphrase 'Did I do that?' which typically followed acts of clumsiness. Williams joked that Trump may even start going after other notorious Black celebrities, including Michael Jordan and Michael B. Jordan. 'He better watch his back. I'm scared for him,' she teased about an imaginary 'Michael C Jordan' on the topic. Williams, an actor and a comedian, formerly appeared as a series regular on the Nickelodeon series 'Just for Kicks' in 2006, before becoming The Daily Show 's youngest correspondent at 22 years old in 2012. Earlier in the show, Stewart spoke on the Epstein scandal after the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, met with Ghislaine Maxwell last week. The former socialite is currently serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted for her role in helping Epstein recruit, groom, and abuse underage girls. The talk show host then suggested that the president is trying to downplay his relationship with Epstein and any mishandling of the documents relating to the disgraced financier's case. During the show, Stewart showed a Truth Social post, where Trump lashed out at Beyoncé, Oprah, and former Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday, demanding that 'they should all be prosecuted!' for 'illegally endorsing' the Democrats in the 2024 presidential election. 'Kamala, and all of those that received endorsement money, BROKE THE LAW,' Trump wrote. Williams, who joined in at the end of the segment, called out the president's 'b*****t' before adding that she had 'had it with Trump.' 'He's got to come clean about Epstein,' she insisted. It was reported earlier this month that in May, Attorney General Pam Bondi told Trump that his name appeared in the files. The president has since filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal 's parent companies, News Corp and Dow Jones, following the newspaper's publication of the president's alleged birthday letter to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The president has consistently denied any wrongdoing regarding his friendship with Epstein. On Sunday, Trump suggested that the Democrats are focused on conspiracy theories. He claimed that 'all they know how to do is talk and think about conspiracy theories and nonsense.' The president is currently on his final day of his visit to Scotland, where he told a reporter to scrap any ideas of his alleged involvement. "Oh, you gotta be kidding with that," Trump said. "No, had nothing to do with it. Only you would think that. That had nothing to do with it."
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Ghislaine Maxwell is not a victim. And if she is pardoned, it won't be for the sake of justice
Roll up! Roll up! The Ghislaine Maxwell Rehabilitation Tour is coming to town. You may think Jeffrey Epstein's associate and former girlfriend is now behind bars for good reason but, according to some big brains in the Maga-sphere, poor old Maxwell may have suffered a terrible miscarriage of justice. Maxwell 'just might be a victim', Newsmax anchor Greg Kelly mused on air recently. 'She just might be. There was a rush to judgment … All right, granted, she hung out with Jeffrey Epstein, and I know that's apparently not good, but she's in jail. For how long now? Twenty years.' To discuss this further, Kelly brought on Alan Dershowitz, whom he introduced as 'one of the greatest attorneys who ever lived'. Which certainly isn't how I'd describe the retired Harvard professor. Dershowitz, who helped procure a lenient plea deal for Epstein in 2008, also wrote an op-ed for the LA Times in 1997 headlined Statutory Rape Is an Outdated Concept, in which he argued 15 seems 'appropriate' for the age of consent. Dershowitz suggested some 'reasonable people' might even favour 14 – which happens to be the age of some of Epstein's victims. When that op-ed resurfaced in 2019, after Epstein's arrest, Dershowitz defended it, saying he stood by 'the constitutional (not moral) argument' offered. Dershowitz now reckons Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 on five counts of aiding Epstein in his abuse of underage girls and sentenced to 20 years in federal prison in 2022, has suffered enough. 'She shouldn't have been in jail for five years for what she is alleged to have done,' Dershowitz told Newsmax on Sunday. 'She served more time than anybody has ever served for any comparable offence.' I'm sure I don't need to spell out why others seem to be attempting to rebrand Maxwell as the victim of a stitch-up. The Epstein files have turned into a disaster of Trump's own making. He hasn't been able to distract people from the story, so now there is speculation that he is trying to make some sort of deal with Maxwell. Who, by the way, had secretive conversations with Trump's department of justice last week and, on Monday, asked the supreme court to overturn her conviction, saying she was unjustly prosecuted. One can imagine a scenario in which Maxwell releases a few select details about Epstein that absolve Trump and make his enemies look bad in exchange for a pardon. ('I'm allowed to give her a pardon but nobody's approached me with it,' Trump said on Monday.) However, for that hypothetical strategy to be successful, Maxwell's reputation needs to be rehabilitated. She would need to look like a victim rather than a monster. Which is where Newsmax, and its sudden interest in Maxwell, might help. The cable news channel, which is to the right of Fox News, is essentially a pro-Trump propaganda outlet with strong financial ties to the president. Earlier this month the outlet announced that it had struck a deal for the Trump Media and Technology Group Corp to stream Newsmax on its platform. Which obviously raises a lot of conflict-of-interest questions. 'This is now the Trump network,' one Newsmax insider complained to the Independent last week. 'Even the most conservative people at Newsmax think it's a terrible look and they feel like state-run media.' Also raising questions is the fact that Alex Acosta, the prosecutor who gave Epstein that plea deal in 2008, happens to be on the board of Newsmax. I don't know what will happen next with Maxwell, but I can tell you that I absolutely believe the women Epstein abused over anchors on Trump's propaganda channel. And I believe those women over Maxwell herself. Epstein's accusers have repeatedly been clear that Maxwell was no victim. 'She didn't just procure girls for Epstein – she participated in their abuse,' accuser Annie Farmer told ABC News on Monday. Now it's looking increasingly likely that, instead of releasing the Epstein files, Trump will release Maxwell instead. Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Moment hero police officer commandeers bystander's bike in relentless pursuit of car thief after high speed chase
This is the moment a quick-thinking police officer caught a suspected thief by swapping his patrol car for a passerby's bike. Footage of PC Paddy Connell chasing a stolen Range Rover in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, went viral in April last year. The suspected thief first attempted to flee in reverse before he managed to speed away and hit speeds of 80mph in a 30mph zone. The driver finally crashed the £40,000 car into a row of parked cars before scrambling out and clambering over a fence. PC Connell chased on foot before being helped by a passing cyclist. The Good Samaritan pointed PC Connell in the direction of the suspect before handing over his bicycle, telling the officer: 'Go get em'. After pedalling after the suspect, PC Connell ditched the bike and followed him on foot as he jumped over a wall and headed into a back garden. The officer finally collared the man who was hiding behind a shed and ordered him to lie on the ground before handcuffing him. After pedalling after the suspect, PC Connell ditched the bike and followed him on foot as he jumped over a wall and headed into a back garden A 25-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle. The 2.30-minute clip of the chase went viral after South Yorkshire Police released the footage. The officer was also called into action on January 28 this year when he arrested a burglar who was on the force's 'most wanted' list. PC Connell spotted a Suzuki Cross 4x4 in Penistone which failed to stop and resulted in a chase lasting almost 30 minutes. During the pursuit the suspect threw items - including a fire extinguisher - from the car. PC Connell dodged the items and was able to deploy a stinger just before a roundabout at junction 37 on the M1. The cop, who has served for 23 years, rammed the Suzuki and two men in the car were arrested. They are due in court later this year. PC Connell has now been crowned the force's Police Officer of the Year. Chief Inspector of Roads Policing Peter Spratt said: 'We are immensely proud of PC Connell, and the recognition he has received. 'He is an integral member of the team and has had so many excellent results with colleagues, bringing offenders to justice and making South Yorkshire safer as a result. 'Our officers regularly put themselves at risk to protect the public, managing these incidents to a safe conclusion through tactics that require dynamic teamwork and skilful implementation of their training. 'Well done PC Connell, you are a credit to the department.'
