On his method out the door to a weekend golf journey that’s set to value American taxpayers at the very least $10 million, Donald Trump stopped to reply a pair questions from reporters ― and he was awfully cagey when requested about Ghislaine Maxwell.
Requested if he would pardon or commute the sentence of Maxwell, intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein’s onetime girlfriend, Trump certain didn’t say “no.”
“I’m allowed to do it,” he informed reporters. He then claimed that “it’s one thing I’ve not thought of.”
Presumably, Trump wouldn’t pardon Maxwell, who was convicted for serving to Epstein sexually abuse underage women, until it benefited him personally — maybe by shopping for her silence or in any other case someway distracting the nation from his personal previous relationship with Epstein.
Trump deflected additional when pushed on the topic.
“I don’t need to discuss that,” he mentioned.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence at a federal jail in Tallahassee, Florida. Deputy Legal professional Common Todd Blanche met along with her on Thursday in an try to quell a firestorm over the Trump administration’s backtracking on guarantees to launch extra data from the Epstein investigation.
“What I do need to say is that Blanche is a good lawyer,” Trump informed reporters.
Then he launched into one in every of his traditional redirects and inspired the press to not examine his personal connection to Epstein, however everybody else’s. He proceeded to checklist names that will or might not be within the Epstein information and speculated about “hedge fund guys” and former President Invoice Clinton going to Epstein’s island.
(Clinton has denied realizing something about the “horrible crimes” allegedly dedicated by the billionaire financier.)
In the identical forwards and backwards, Trump additionally denied that he’d written a lewd birthday message for Epstein that featured a drawing of a unadorned girl and remarked how “enigmas by no means age” whereas wishing that “might day-after-day be one other great secret.” The Wall Road Journal revealed the content material of the notice final week.
