WASHINGTON − The Justice Department on Aug. 22 released transcripts of interviews that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch conducted last month with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein's imprisoned former girlfriend and associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
The release of the redacted documents was accompanied by digital audio files of the marathon interviews conducted by Blanche − the DOJ's No. 2 official and President Donald Trump's former personal defense lawyer − with Maxwell at a site near the Florida prison where she was serving 20 years for sex trafficking crimes linked to Epstein.
The Trump administration has been heavily criticized in recent weeks over its earlier refusal to release the massive trove of investigative records that the Justice Department and FBI possess in connection with the case. Epstein died by suicide in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting prosecution on sex trafficking charges, prompting a wave of conspiracy theories about who else might be connected to the sex ring he allegedly operated with Maxwell's help.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
