U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said he would speak to the Department of Justice about a possible pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted of helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls.
Speaking at the White House during an event focused on approving a mining road in Alaska, Trump told reporters he hadn’t “heard the name in so long” and would “take a look at it.”
Highlights
- Trump said he would speak to the DOJ about a possible pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted of sex trafficking.
- Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence after her 2021 conviction for helping Jeffrey Epstein abuse teenage girls.
- The Supreme Court rejected Maxwell's appeal to overturn her conviction, leaving her sentence intact.
His comments came hours after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Maxwell’s appeal to overturn her conviction.
Trump said on Monday that he will speak to the DOJ about a possible pardon for Maxwell
Image credits: The White House/Flickr
“I haven't heard the name in so long. I can say this, that I’d have to take a look at it. I would have to take a look,” Trump said when asked by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins whether he would consider pardoning Maxwell.
“I can say this—I'll have to take a look at it. I will speak to the DOJ.”
Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking and related charges.
She was convicted in 2021 after a high-profile trial that detailed her role in recruiting and grooming young girls for Epstein over several years.
Trump also revealed that Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs had also asked him for a pardon. Combs was sentenced last Friday to more than four years in prison after being convicted on prostitution-related charges.
“I call him Puff Daddy, has asked me for a pardon,” Trump said.
Collins asked Trump a follow-up question related to Maxwell: “Why would she [Maxwell] be a candidate for clemency,” and noted that “she was convicted of child sex trafficking.”
Trump responded, repeating that he would have to look at it and speak to the Department of Justice.
The Epstein case has remained a source of tension for Trump’s administration.
Some of his political supporters have criticized the Department of Justice (DOJ) for not releasing more information about Epstein’s crimes and associates.
Many, including Trump’s own MAGA base, have demanded accountability on the so-called Epstein files, especially in light of Trump’s long friendship with the sex offender.
MAGA fans and critics have been demanding accountability on the so-called Epstein Files
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Epstein died in 2019 in a Manhattan jail cell.
The Supreme Court’s decision leaves Maxwell’s conviction and sentence intact.
Her legal team argued that a 2007 non-prosecution agreement involving Epstein should have protected her, but the court rejected that claim.