President Donald J. Trump on Friday reportedly downplayed any consideration of a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein, while urging reporters to shift their attention toward other powerful figures with far closer ties to the convicted sex offender.
“It’s something I haven’t thought about,” Trump told reporters when asked directly if he would consider granting clemency to Maxwell. “I’m allowed to do it, but it’s something I have not thought about.”
Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking and is currently serving a 20-year sentence, is now cooperating with federal investigators, meeting for a second consecutive day with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
According to her attorney, she had a “very productive” session Thursday and “answered every single question.”
Trump, while acknowledging the meeting, quickly redirected focus toward figures he says have been shielded from public scrutiny for their involvement with Epstein. “I know it’s taking place, and he’s a fantastic man. He’s a great attorney,” Trump said of Blanche, before turning to the broader issue: “People should really focus on how well the country’s doing, or they should focus on the fact that Barack Hussein Obama led a coup… or the fact that Larry Summers from Harvard, that Bill Clinton… and lots of other friends — really close friends of Jeffrey — should be spoken about.”
“They don’t talk about them, they talk about me,” Trump added. “I have nothing to do with the guy.”
The president emphasized that he never visited Epstein’s infamous private island and reiterated his desire to redirect public and media attention toward individuals with documented ties to Epstein.
“You should focus on Clinton… the former president of Harvard; you should focus on some of the hedge fund guys,” he said. “I’ll give you a list. These guys lived with Jeffrey Epstein. I sure as hell didn’t.”
Trump repeated twice that he wasn’t going to discuss a pardon for Maxwell, despite acknowledging that he has the authority to issue one.
His comments come as pressure mounts from within the Republican Party to declassify more files tied to Epstein’s operations.
Earlier this month, the Justice Department released a memo stating Epstein died by suicide, with no client list maintained — a conclusion that sparked widespread skepticism and backlash across the GOP base.
Attorney General Pam Bondi previously indicated that files related to Epstein were “on her desk,” and The Wall Street Journal reported that she had informed Trump that his name appeared “multiple times” in related documents. Trump has dismissed this as political noise.
While some in the administration have sought to defuse the uproar, Trump appears to be taking a different tack — urging full transparency but also calling out the media and political establishment for ignoring the involvement of high-profile Democrats and finance-world elites.
As the calls grow louder to release the full Epstein files, Trump’s message is clear: if the truth is going to come out, it should come out for everyone — not just him.
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