Is Ghislaine Maxwell safe in prison?

Days after meeting with a top Department of Justice official, Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend may no longer be safe inside a Florida prison, according to a journalist whose reporting influenced the late financier’s prosecution on sex trafficking charges. Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking, was interviewed amid growing calls for the release of more details on the Epstein case and the powerful people with whom he associated.

Maxwell was already battling issues with fellow incarcerated women before the Justice Department sent its second-in-command, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, to speak with her last Thursday, July 24, and Friday, July 25.

Blanche — formerly President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer — granted Maxwell limited immunity to answer his questions. The meeting, at the federal courthouse in Tallahassee, was arranged after Trump supporters reacted angrily when the Justice Department said that investigators had found no “client list” of people allegedly involved in sex trafficking with Epstein. The Justice Department also confirmed official findings that Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail cell.

The department also has refused to release additional documents from its investigative file. According to news reports, Attorney General Pam Bondi has told Trump that his name appeared in the file.

Officials have not disclosed details about Maxwell’s meeting with Blanche. 

But is she unsafe in custody now that she’s met with Trump’s former attorney? 

‘Very, very complicated’

“Yes, it’s possible,” journalist Julie Brown told The Daily Beast on Monday, July 28. “But she wouldn’t necessarily be safe anywhere.”

Brown’s reporting for the Miami Herald in 2018 led to renewed scrutiny of Epstein, which resulted in federal charges against both Epstein and Maxwell. 

“This case is very, very complicated,” Brown said.  “They don’t fully grasp how big this case is.” 

In an email to Straight Arrow News on Tuesday, July 29, Brown said she could not comment.

Widespread interest has now been rekindled in the Epstein files, as have questions about Trump’s long-time relationship with the late sex offender.

On July 18, Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit against his longtime conservative ally, Rupert Murdoch, and his newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, for publishing a story that reported new alleged ties between Trump and Epstein. In June, billionaire Elon Musk claimed on his X social media platform that Trump is in the Epstein files; Musk has since deleted the tweet. Meanwhile, the Palm Beach Post reported Tuesday that a survivor of Epstein’s trafficking web testified that she met Trump in the 1990s at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida when she was a 14-year-old girl.

Trump has said it’s in his purview to pardon Maxwell, although he has not stated whether he will.

‘Corrupt bargain’

People along the political spectrum have suggested the government may be covering up details on the Epstein case to protect Trump.

The recent meeting between Maxwell and Trump’s former lawyer has “the potential for a corrupt bargain,” wrote Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He demanded that the DOJ release transcripts and recordings from the interview.

It’s unusual, even unprecedented, for the DOJ’s second-in-command to conduct an interview such as this one, Durbin continued.

“In light of troves of corroborating evidence collected through multiple investigations, a federal jury conviction, and Ms. Maxwell’s history and willingness to lie under oath, as it relates to her dealings with Jeffrey Epstein, why would DOJ depart from long-standing precedent and now seek her cooperation?” Durbin wrote.

Brown believes this could open Maxwell up to harm. Although Epstein’s death was ruled a suicide, speculation persists that outside forces may have had him killed to prevent the release of more names associated with his trafficking scheme.

“Look at Epstein,” Brown told The Daily Beast. ”He was probably one of the most high-profile prisoners that we’ve ever had, and he still was managed to be found dead. Anything’s possible.”