Speaker Johnson cringes at Maxwell pardon: ‘I think 20 years was a pittance’

House Speaker Mike Johnson weighed in on the rumor of a potential pardon for Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

During an interview with “Meet the Press,” Johnson called her 20-year prison sentence a “pittance. He added that if it were up to him, she’d be looking at life behind bars instead.

“If you’re asking my opinion, I think 20 years was a pittance. I think she should have a life sentence at least,” he remarked. “Think of all these unspeakable crimes, and, as you noted earlier, probably 1,000 victims. It’s hard to put into words how evil this was, and that she orchestrated it and was a big part of it, at least under the criminal sanction, I think, is an unforgivable thing.”

Many who are staunch Trump supporters are having a hard time reconciling the fact that there are, as Johnson says, “probably 1,000 victims” of this “unforgivable thing” and yet no “clients” to speak of. Hence the unrelenting massive uprising over the lack names coming out of any administration, past or present.

When asked if he was on board with a potential pardon for Maxwell in exchange for her cooperation, Johnson stopped short of endorsing the idea. Instead, he deferred to President Donald Trump’s authority, saying that the choice would ultimately lie with him.

Q: “Would you support a pardon or a commutation for Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted sex trafficker?”

Speaker Mike Johnson: “That’s a decision of the president…I won’t get in front of him, that’s not my lane.” pic.twitter.com/WDpMEIALtu

— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) July 27, 2025

“Well, I mean, obviously that’s a decision of the president. He said he had not adequately considered that. I won’t get in front of him. That’s not my lane. My lane is to help direct and control the House of Representatives and to use every tool within our arsenal to get to the truth,” the speaker said

Later, he said the decision would give him “pause” if it were made, “as any reasonable person would.”

Trump has not committed to a pardon or commutation for Maxwell, saying it’s not something that he has “thought about” but that he would be “allowed” to do it if he thought it was necessary.

“It’s something I haven’t thought about it. I’m allowed to do it, but it’s something I have not thought about,” he said to reporters.

Following the anti-climactic disclosure from the FBI and DOJ regarding the Epstein client list, attention has shifted to Maxwell and the belief that she could use her insider knowledge of the billionaire’s operation to shed more light on who was involved in the trafficking of children. Some have suggested that demanding her full cooperation in exchange for commuting her sentence would be a fair trade, as it would out those believed to be high-profile pedophiles.