Ghislaine Maxwell transcripts: what we know at a glance

<p>US justice department released transcripts of interview with Jeffrey Epstein associate – here’s what we have learned</p><p>The US Department of Justice has released the transcripts and audio recording of an interview conducted by Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, with the convicted sex trafficker <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ghislaine-maxwell">Ghislaine Maxwell</a>.</p><p>The transcripts include redacted documentation from a two-day interview on 24 and 25 July and several audio recordings. Here’s what we know so far at a glance:</p><p><strong>Maxwell said that she “never” saw Donald Trump receive a massage.</strong> She also said that she “never witnessed the president in any inappropriate setting in any way,” adding that, whenever she saw the president, he was “a gentleman in all respects”.</p><p><strong>One notable point is that Maxwell denied ever recruiting masseuses from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.</strong> “I’ve never recruited a masseuse from Mar-a-Lago for that, as far as I remember. I can’t ever recollect doing that,” she told Blanche. A reminder that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/29/trump-epstein-virginia-giuffre">Trump claimed his falling out with Epstein</a> stemmed from the Trump’s efforts to hire workers away from Trump’s Florida club.</p><p><strong>Maxwell detailed the social relationship between Trump and Epstein, who cultivated a wide and powerful social circle for many years.</strong> “I don’t know how they met, and I don’t know how they became friends. I certainly saw them together and I remember the few times I observed them together, but they were friendly. I mean, they seemed friendly,” she said.</p><p><strong>Maxwell also</strong> <strong>did not recall former US president Bill Clinton receiving a massage while travelling with Epstein</strong>.</p><p><strong>Blanche said, on the record, that the conversation was not “promising to do anything” for Maxwell.</strong> He said that anything she said could not be used against her, unless she provided false statements or there was a retrial in her case.</p><p><strong>According to Maxwell, Epstein did not have any video or photographic evidence of any high-profile individuals committing sexual offences</strong>. And to that point, Maxwell also said she didn’t hear or witness any instances of Epstein blackmailing powerful people.</p><p><strong>Maxwell said she recruited a number of masseuses for Epstein but “never checked their age or credentials</strong><strong>”.</strong> She added that, throughout her time with Epstein, she never heard any examples of “sexually inappropriate contact” between Epstein’s guests and in-house masseuses.</p><p><strong>Despite her claims that Epstein did not extort anyone, Maxwell said she did not believe that Epstein died by suicide.</strong> She chalked that up to “mismanagement” at the Bureau of Prisons.</p><p><strong>In the interview, Maxwell said she does believe that Epstein “did a lot of, not all, but some of what he’s accused of</strong><strong>”.</strong> But she maintains that “he became that man over a period of time”.</p><p><strong>Maxwell did not remember whether Trump submitted a letter for Epstein’s 50th birthday album</strong>, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/trump-jeffrey-epstein-birthday-letter-we-have-certain-things-in-common-f918d796?st=bhCa46">as reported</a> by the Wall Street Journal. She also could not remember asking Trump to contribute.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/22/ghislaine-maxwell-transcript-what-we-know">Continue reading...</a>

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