As demands for President Donald Trump to release the so-called “Epstein Files” increase, much has been made of the news that Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime confidante and convicted felon, has been moved to a less restrictive prison. Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in Epstein’s wide-ranging abuse of teenage girls, had been incarcerated at a Florida facility deemed “low-security,” but was transferred to the minimum-security Bryan Federal Prison Camp in recent weeks. But though some say that Maxwell is undeserving of a cell at the lower-security facility, at least one of her fellow inmates might disagree.
Also serving a sentence at FPC Bryant is disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, whose fraud case over her company’s non-working medical devices ended in an 11-year sentence in 2023. In her first interview from prison, which was published earlier this year, she described life in Bryan as “hell and torture,” and said that she’s been busy advocating for incarcerated parents and teaching French to fellow inmates. She’s expected to be released on April 3, 2032, as two years of her sentence have already been removed as a reward for good behavior.
The Texas prison camp is home to 635 inmates, according to its website, most of whom have been convicted of financial and other white-collar crimes. For example, there’s former The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah, who—like Holmes—was accused of fraud related to a telemarketing scheme she ran with assistant Stuart Smith. Shah has consistently proclaimed her innocence, but accepted a plea deal in 2023 that netted her 6.5 years in prison.
Of course, the crimes that folks like Holmes and Shah are accused of are serious ones, and matters that deserve justice. But as Sam Houston State University professor Mitchel Roth told KBTX, the decision to send Maxwell to reside alongside those women seems suspect, at best.
“My sense is that there’s another story not being told here because the bottom line is, is she’s in jail for 20 years for sex trafficking, and [FPC Bryant is] treating her, you know, much better than they would someone else, and that’s a that’s a pretty serious crime,” Roth says.
Last month, Maxwell was interviewed by Justice Department officials in a lengthy meeting, her attorney told The New York Times. Deputy attorney general Todd Blanche “a full day and asked a lot of questions,” defense attorney David Oscar Markus says. In a follow-up tweet, Blanche said, “Today, I met with Ghislaine Maxwell, and I will continue my interview of her tomorrow. The Department of Justice will share additional information about what we learned at the appropriate time.”
Blanche, who unsuccessfully represented Trump in his 2024 hush money trial, for which the president was convicted but never sentenced, has not released any follow-up information or an explanation for Maxwell’s move. In a July floor speech, Senator Chuck Schumer questioned the wisdom of allowing Blanche access to a situation that’s prompted even Trump loyalists to question its handling.
“Trump is sending his personal lawyer, Todd Blanche, to try and execute a corrupt cover-up, potentially offering leniency to a woman who also abused the victims,” the New York Democrat said. The Justice Department, for its part, denies any suggestions of impropriety. “Any suggestion that Todd Blanche has acted unethically while serving as Deputy Attorney General is baseless and defamatory,” DoJ spokesperson Gates McGavick told the Washington Post via statement.
Markus agreed with that claim and said that Blanche “has conducted himself with complete professionalism” when interacting with Maxwell.
“It’s truly disheartening,” the defense attorney lamented, “how quick people are to assume the worst without any basis in fact.”
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