--- title: Epstein Emails Raise Questions About Ghislaine Maxwell and Trump description: A Trump official's interview of Ghislaine Maxwell is drawing new criticism over emails that may contradict her claims about Trump canonical: https://time.com/7334641/epstein-ghislaine-maxwell-trump-prison/ author: Brian Bennett article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-11-18T11:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:44.459Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump’s Treatment of Ghislaine Maxwell Under Fresh Scrutiny og:description: A Trump official's interview of Ghislaine Maxwell is drawing new criticism in light of recently released emails og:url: https://time.com/7334641/epstein-ghislaine-maxwell-trump-prison/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf70ba011749673ca/6998cbba9fbc7ca85ed9aa03/GettyImages-1224354067.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Epstein Friend Ghislaine Maxwell Arrested By FBI og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump’s Treatment of Ghislaine Maxwell Under Fresh Scrutiny twitter:description: A Trump official's interview of Ghislaine Maxwell is drawing new criticism in light of recently released emails twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf70ba011749673ca/6998cbba9fbc7ca85ed9aa03/GettyImages-1224354067.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Epstein Emails Raise Fresh Questions About Trump’s Treatment of Ghislaine Maxwell > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=7598dbce-7d41-4b22-a119-8126ee98b4f5&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Survivors and Lawmakers Confront Trump’s History On Epstein Files Ahead Of House Vote VERTICAL [Watch (HLS stream): Survivors and Lawmakers Confront Trump’s History On Epstein Files Ahead Of House Vote VERTICAL](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Z2coVsx3.m3u8) (2:46)  _Published 2025-11-18. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, once one of President Donald Trump’s most loyal allies, has fired back after the President called her a “traitor” in their public feud._  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME. Nov 18, 2025 11:00 AM UTC  A photograph of Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein is displayed during a news conference at the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York, on July 2, 2020, after Maxwell was arrested and charged with conspiracy and enticing minors to engage in sex A photograph of Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein is displayed during a news conference at the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York, on July 2, 2020, after Maxwell was arrested and charged with conspiracy and enticing minors to engage in sex Michael Nagle—Bloomberg via Getty Images  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME. Nov 18, 2025 11:00 AM UTC On a Friday night in August, a top Trump official announced on X that he was releasing the transcript of his interview with Jeffrey Epstein conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell. "Except for the names of victims, every word is included. Nothing removed. Nothing hidden," [wrote](https://x.com/DAGToddBlanche/status/1958963763907866829) Todd Blanche, Trump’s Deputy Attorney General and former personal lawyer. The transcript, which showed Maxwell saying she didn’t recall ever seeing Donald Trump at Epstein’s house, did little to quell the [furor](https://time.com/7334659/epstein-files-trump-house-vote-massie-mtg/) among Trump's base around allegations that it was covering up damaging information on Epstein. Now the interview and the Justice Department’s actions around it are coming under renewed scrutiny in the wake of [emails](https://time.com/7333256/epstein-emails-trump-takeaways/) released by Congress last week, including one from 2011 in which Epstein apparently told Maxwell that Trump had previously spent “hours” at his house. Maxwell is serving 20 years in [prison](https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/ghislaine-maxwell-sentenced-20-years-prison-conspiring-jeffrey-epstein-sexually-abuse) for conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse minors over the course of a decade. Blanche [interviewed](https://www.justice.gov/maxwell-interview) Maxwell in Tallahassee, Fl., on July 24 and 25\. Days after the interview, Maxwell was transferred from a low-security federal prison in Florida to an all-women minimum-security prison northeast of Houston called Federal Prison Camp Bryan. The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment for this story. The contents of the emails immediately raised questions among some Administration critics about whether Blanche had pressed Maxwell enough during the interview. Lawyer George Conway wrote on X that he believes the emails show that Blanche's questioning Maxwell “was either (a) completely incompetent; or (b) intentionally crafted not to elicit facts incriminating Trump.” Blanche [replied](https://x.com/DAGToddBlanche/status/1988986200166920455) on X that when he interviewed Maxwell, “law enforcement didn’t have the materials Epstein’s estate hid for years and only just provided to Congress. Stop talking. It’s unbecoming.” Yet the Maxwell interview raised eyebrows separate from the recent emails. Cheryl Bader, a professor at Fordham Law and a former federal prosecutor, says several aspects of the Justice Department’s handling of Maxwell were out of the norm. It was “unusual” to have such a senior Justice Department official conducting such an interview, she says, noting that typically the prosecutor who handled the case would be involved in such an interview. Then there’s Blanche’s questioning, which Bader says didn’t follow up as much as one would expect from a federal prosecutor in such a setting, and seemed uninterested in uncovering new evidence. “Usually you turn to a cooperating witness when you feel you have a bigger fish you want to get on the hook, not because you think you have a big fish that you want to get off the hook,” she says. During the interview, Blanche asked Maxwell about Trump and Epstein’s relationship. “I don't think they were close friends or I certainly never witnessed the President in any of -- I don't recall ever seeing him in his house, for instance,” Maxwell said. “I actually never saw the President in any type of massage setting. I never witnessed the President in any inappropriate setting in any way,” she said. Maxwell had been told she could face consequences if she lied. During the interview, Blanche told Maxwell if she says something that’s not true, “we can bring a prosecution against you for what's called false statements.” In an email released last week and dated April 2, 2011, Epstein appears to have written to Maxwell: “i want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is trump. \[VICTIM\] spent hours at my house with him .. he has never once been mentioned.” Maxwell replied: “I have been thinking about that…” The administration’s handling of Maxwell is coming under additional scrutiny in Congress as well. Earlier this month, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, [wrote ](https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/whistleblower-shares-evidence-that-federal-prison-camp-warden-is-pampering-ghislaine-maxwell-maxwell-also-filing-a-commutation-application-with-trump-administration)to Trump demanding that Blanche appear for a public hearing about the decision to transfer Maxwell to another prison. Raskin says a whistleblower brought information to their committee that Maxwell’s been given preferential treatment at the new prison, and that she is working on filing a “commutation application” with the Trump administration. ## Transcript These women have fought the most horrific fight that no woman should have to fight, and they did it by banding together and never giving up. And that's what we did by fighting so hard against the most powerful people in the world, even the president of the United States, in order to make this vote happen today. I was called a traitor by a man that I fought for five. No, actually six years for. And I gave him my loyalty for free. I won my first election without his endorsement, beating eight men in a primary, and I've never owed him anything. But I fought for him for the policies and for America first. And he called me a traitor for standing with these women and refusing to take my name off the discharge petition. Let me tell you what a traitor is. A traitor is a is an American that serves foreign countries and themselves. A patriot is an American that serves the United States of America. And Americans like the women standing behind me. I beg you, President Trump, please stop making this political. It is not about you, President Trump. You are our president. Please start acting like it. Show some class. Show some real leadership. Show that you actually care about the people other than yourself. I voted for you, but your behavior on this issue has been a national embarrassment. I want everybody to take a look. I know everybody sees us today as grown adults, but we are fighting for the children that were abandoned and left behind in the reckoning. This is who you're fighting for. This is who Congress is fighting for. This is who the House of Representatives are fighting for. And hopefully the Senate will fight for us, too. And to the president of the United States of America who is not here today. I want to send a clear message to you. While I do understand that your position has changed on the Epstein files, and I'm grateful that you have pledged to sign this bill, I can't help to be skeptical of what the agenda is. So with that being said, I want to relay this message to you. I am traumatized, I am not stupid. Don't muck it up in the Senate. Don't get too cute. We're all paying attention. If you want to add some additional protections for these survivors, go for it. But if you do anything that prevents any disclosure, you are not for the people and you are not part of this effort. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7334641/epstein-ghislaine-maxwell-trump-prison/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7334641/epstein-ghislaine-maxwell-trump-prison/"},"headline":"Epstein Emails Raise Fresh Questions About Trump’s Treatment of Ghislaine Maxwell","datePublished":"2025-11-18T11:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:48:44.459Z","description":"A Trump official's interview of Ghislaine Maxwell is drawing new criticism in light of recently released emails","url":"https://time.com/7334641/epstein-ghislaine-maxwell-trump-prison/","keywords":["Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf70ba011749673ca/6998cbba9fbc7ca85ed9aa03/GettyImages-1224354067.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Brian Bennett","jobTitle":"Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf70ba011749673ca/6998cbba9fbc7ca85ed9aa03/GettyImages-1224354067.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Epstein Friend Ghislaine Maxwell Arrested By FBI","caption":"Epstein Friend Ghislaine Maxwell Arrested By FBI","creditText":"Michael Nagle—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7334641/epstein-ghislaine-maxwell-trump-prison/","name":"Epstein Emails Raise Fresh Questions About Trump’s Treatment of Ghislaine Maxwell"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Survivors and Lawmakers Confront Trump’s History On Epstein Files Ahead Of House Vote [VERTICAL]","description":"Georgia Rep. 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