Ghislaine Maxwell's meetings with Justice Department shrouded in secrecy

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche completed nine hours of meetings over two days with Ghislaine Maxwell on Friday but made no public statements about what she said or the next steps in the Justice Department’s much-criticized Jeffrey Epstein investigation

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche completed nine hours of meetings over two days with Ghislaine Maxwell on Friday but made no public statements about what she said or the next steps in the Justice Department’s much-criticized Jeffrey Epstein investigation.

Former prosecutors said it was highly unusual — and potentially unprecedented — for a the department’s No. 2 official to personally interview a witness. Secrecy in a criminal investigation is normal, but the prosecutors involved in the case would typically be included in questioning.

“I’ve never heard of a deputy attorney general doing anything like this before,” said a former senior Justice Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Victims of Epstein and Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 of recruiting and grooming multiple teenage girls to be sexually abused by the late financier, questioned the lack of transparency as well. Jack Scarola, a lawyer representing roughly 20 Epstein victims, said he asked to attend the Maxwell interviews but was not included.

Todd Blanche in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House on June 27.Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP - Getty Images fileBerit Berger, a former federal prosecutor in New York, said the interviews by Blanche, who worked as Trump’s former defense lawyer, may be performative.