President Trump stunned reporters Friday by offering to hand over “a list” of alleged Jeffrey Epstein associates while brushing aside a question about pardoning his girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.
The president spoke briefly on the matter as Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche continued a second day of interviews with Maxwell in Tallahassee, The New York Post reported.
“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. I’ll give you a list,” Trump told reporters as he was leaving the White House for Scotland.
“These guys lived with Jeffrey Epstein. I sure as hell didn’t,” Trump added.
“You ought to be speaking about Bill Clinton, who went to the island 28 times. I never went to the island,” Trump added, scolding the press corps.
When asked if he would pardon Maxwell, Trump said first that he “can’t talk about pardons” and then, “It’s something I haven’t thought about.”
He also defended Blanche — his former personal attorney — saying he wasn’t worried Maxwell would try to mislead him.
“He’s a professional lawyer who’s been through things like this before,” Trump said.
Trump also dismissed a 2003 birthday message allegedly written by him in a book compiled by Maxwell for Epstein.
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“Somebody could have written a letter and used my name,” he said.
Later Friday, Maxwell’s attorney David Markus claimed she provided Blanche with information on about 100 individuals linked to Epstein.
Upon landing in Scotland, Trump was pressed again on Epstein, denying a report that the DOJ had briefed him about his name appearing in sealed files.
“I’m focused on making deals. I’m not focused on conspiracy theories that you are,” Trump told reporters. “I mean, I watch you people, it’s so sad.”
Interest in the Epstein case ramped up again this year after Attorney General Pam Bondi teased new bombshells, at one point appearing to hint that she had a copy of a client list.
Among Epstein’s high-profile associates: Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, Bill Gates, Les Wexner, and Trump himself, who reportedly had a falling out with Epstein in 2004 over a Palm Beach property, and after essentially dismissing Epstein from Mar-a-Lago over an incident with a young female guest.
Some allies have urged Trump to move on after Bondi’s July 6 memo concluded there is no Epstein “client list” and that Epstein died by suicide in his jail cell in 2019.
According to the Justice Department, more than 1,000 girls and young women were victimized by Epstein and Maxwell — but no grounds were found to charge any of their powerful associates.
Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking, The New York Times reported. Her lawyer, Markus, spoke briefly outside the federal courthouse after the interview with Blanche. He didn’t say what was discussed, but confirmed Blanche led the meeting.
“Ms. Maxwell answered every single question,” Markus said. “She never stopped, she never invoked a privilege… she answered all the questions truthfully, honestly and to the best of her ability.”
Blanche posted later that he planned to meet with Maxwell again on Friday. It lasted around three hours, according to reports.
He added that the DOJ will “share additional information about what we learned at the appropriate time.”
It’s still unclear if Maxwell has anything new to offer beyond what’s already public. The interview appears to be part of the department’s push to fight back against criticism that it’s covering up details about Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes and his connections to high-profile individuals, including President Trump.
Blanche, who once represented Trump as a criminal defense attorney, now finds himself at the center of what appears to be a political crisis—not a law enforcement operation. Sources say the DOJ has scrambled in recent days to get ahead of the backlash after deciding not to release more Epstein-related files.
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