Pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell is apparently back on the table, per the president.
The Supreme Court tossed out the convicted sex trafficker’s appeal request Monday, unanimously declining to hear Maxwell’s attempt to reverse her 20-year prison sentence for aiding Jeffrey Epstein. Donald Trump, however, is still willing to hear her out.
During an Oval Office presser Monday afternoon, Trump outright pretended not to know who Maxwell was, claiming he hadn’t heard her name in a long time while simultaneously insinuating his administration would consider clemency for her.
“Her only chance for getting out of prison is a pardon from you. Is that something—” started CNN’s Kaitlin Collins before Trump interrupted to ask who was being discussed. “Ghislaine Maxwell,” Collins clarified.
“You know, I haven’t heard the name in so long,” Trump said. “I can say this: that I’d have to take a look at it. I’d have to take a look.”
“Did they reject that?” he asked, referring to the Supreme Court decision.
“She wanted to appeal her conviction and they said they were not going to hear her,” Collins said.
“I see, well, I’ll take a look at it. I will speak to the DOJ. I wouldn’t consider it or not consider it, I don’t know anything about it,” Trump said.
“Why would she be a candidate for clemency, sir?” pressed Collins.
“I don’t know, I mean I’d have to speak to the DOJ,” Trump said.
“But she was convicted of child sex trafficking,” Collins said.
“Yeah, I mean, I’d have to take a look at it,” Trump said. “I didn’t know she was even asking for it, frankly.”
But that last detail would mean the president has an incredibly short memory. Trump not only acknowledged in July that Maxwell was seeking a pardon, but emphasized at the time that he was technically “allowed” to give her one.
Maxwell was sentenced in 2022 for playing an active role in Epstein’s crimes, identifying and grooming vulnerable young women while normalizing their abuse at the hands of her millionaire boyfriend. Maxwell’s attorneys have pressed the White House for a pardon for several months now.
Trump was photographed with Maxwell several times over his long friendship with Epstein: they partied together, attended fashion shows together, and went “out on the town” together, according to a 1997 postcard.
“I’ve met her numerous times over the years, especially since I lived in Palm Beach,” Trump told reporters in 2020, when the charges against Maxwell were first announced. “I just wish her well, frankly.”
In an attempt to quell MAGA’s ravenous demand for progress on the Epstein files, the Justice Department chose to conduct an interview with Maxwell in July regarding details of Epstein’s potential associates. At the time, questions abounded about why the DOJ would give Maxwell a second chance, and why her answers would differ from her first go around with law enforcement.
It was also unclear why the Trump administration would want to procure another list of Epstein’s associates, particularly when they already had (but refused to release) files pertaining to his investigation.
Regardless, the information exchange resulted in a very convenient transfer for Maxwell—one of the worst sex criminals of the century—shipping her from a Florida prison to a low-security prison camp in Texas that lawmakers have described as “not suitable for a sex offender.”
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