DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer warned Friday on “The Morning Meeting” that President Donald Trump would face unprecedented backlash if he were to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell or commute her sentence.
Trump has been publicly noncommittal regarding the possibility of granting clemency to Maxwell—deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime associate—who is serving a 20-year sentence after her 2021 conviction for sex trafficking underage girls.
Host Mark Halperin asked Spicer on his 2WAY video platform what Trump’s thinking might be if he leaned toward granting Maxwell clemency.
“I would say he would be under the impression that he was going to be able to say that they got something from her, further information,” Spicer said. “I think if anyone who sells him on this is lying to him.”
The former White House press secretary drew a comparison to Trump’s 2017 firing of former FBI Director James Comey.
“I think this is very akin to Comey, right? When he fired Comey, he was told, ‘Oh, if you fire Comey, everyone’s going to cheer you on.’ And … I think people misled him on how that was going to go down,” he said. “I think this is similar. There will be outrage like never before if she gets a deal. This will transcend partisan lines. I don’t know what Ghislaine Maxwell could possibly tell you.”
Former Democrat strategist Dan Turrentine chimed in that Maxwell could “exonerate” the president of wrongdoing in his relationship with Epstein.
“But I’m telling you, if that happens, the number of people that care about this issue, care about those young girls, care about justice for so many of these people that have gotten off—I hope to God nobody in the White House has led him to believe that that’s the case, that it would be a smart move,” Spicer responded.
Maxwell met with Trump’s former lawyer, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, on July 24 and July 25 to discuss her links to Epstein and answer detailed questions regarding individuals allegedly tied to the deceased pedophile. Maxwell’s attorney told reporters that the convicted sex trafficker provided information on nearly 100 people.
Maxwell was reportedly transferred subsequently to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas from a federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida. She is currently appealing both her conviction and sentence.
Trump noted on July 28 that he had the authority to pardon Maxwell but said nobody has asked him to do so.
“Well, I am allowed to give her a pardon, but nobody’s approached me with it, nobody’s asked me about it,” Trump said. “It’s in the news about that aspect of it. But right now, it would be inappropriate to talk about it.”
David Markus, Maxwell’s attorney, told reporters on July 25 that they had not spoken with the president or anyone in his orbit about a possible pardon.
“The president this morning said he had the power to do so,” Markus said. “We hope he exercises that power in a right and just way.”
“We haven’t asked for anything. This is not a situation where we are asking for anything in return for testimony or anything like that,” he continued. “Of course, everybody knows Ms. Maxwell would welcome any relief.”
This article originally appeared in the Daily Caller News Foundation.