DOJ has ‘productive’ meeting with Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell

July 24, 2025 Updated Thu., July 24, 2025 at 5:51 p.m.

By Andrew Skerritt, Perry Stein and Jeremy Roebuck Washington post

TALLAHASSEE, Florida – Jeffrey Epstein’s imprisoned former associate Ghislaine Maxwell met with a top Justice Department official for nearly five hours Thursday, her attorney said, answering every question in “a very productive day.”

The meeting in downtown Tallahassee, not far from the low-security federal prison where Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking, comes as the Trump administration is trying to mitigate the political fallout over its handling of the case.

Attorney David Oscar Markus declined to tell reporters afterward what Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche asked Maxwell or how she answered.

“He took a full day and asked a lot of questions,” Markus said. “She answered all the questions truthfully, honestly and to the best of her ability.”

Blanche said this week that he sought a meeting with Maxwell to discuss anyone else “who has committed crimes against victims.”

Maxwell has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear her appeal of her conviction. The Justice Department, which prosecuted her, has pushed back, submitting a filing last week urging the justices to reject her request and leave her conviction intact.

Epstein and Maxwell were charged with sex trafficking and other crimes in 2019 and 2020. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 and is serving a 20-year sentence in federal prison in Florida. Epstein was found dead in his jail cell while awaiting trial. His death was ruled a suicide.

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