The yellowjacket buzz of a plane circling above the federal courthouse in Tallahassee, Fla., on Friday roused the perspiring platoon of reporters staking out a meeting between a top Justice Department official and Ghislaine Maxwell, who is imprisoned on charges of sex trafficking.
The plane’s banner read, “Trump and Bondi are protecting predators.”
The accusation summed up concerns on the ground as Todd Blanche, Attorney General Pam Bondi’s top deputy, concluded a second extraordinary day of interviews with Ms. Maxwell, who once served as a fixer for the financier Jeffrey Epstein. Her lawyer estimated that over the course of her interview, Ms. Maxwell answered questions about 100 people, though it was unclear whether they included victims, associates or others implicated in her sex-trafficking case.
Ms. Maxwell has made it clear she wants her 20-year sentence thrown out or reduced or a pardon. President Trump, asked whether he would consider pardoning her, said, “I’m allowed to do it, but it’s something I haven’t thought about.” He made the remarks before he headed off to Scotland, wishing her well.
Pressed for details of the interview with Ms. Maxwell after he landed in Scotland, he added, ”I don’t know anything about the conversation.” He continued, “Obviously, this is no time to be talking about pardons.”
Mr. Blanche has described his trip as a neutral fact-finding mission, saying he would share details of the discussion “at the appropriate time” — yet he has also declared that the federal criminal investigation into targets beyond Ms. Maxwell and Mr. Epstein remains closed. By that standard, new interviews would appear to serve a function beyond the purposes of traditional law enforcement, unless new evidence of criminality has been discovered, current and former officials said.
The department offered Ms. Maxwell conditional immunity to discuss the case, but the protection did not apply if she lied in her interviews, according to an official with knowledge of the situation who requested anonymity to discuss details of the case publicly. In total, the interview lasted about eight to 10 hours.