Dick Durbin asks DOJ to release transcripts, recordings of Ghislaine Maxwell interview

Senate Judiciary Ranking Member Dick Durbin on Monday sent a letter to the Justice Department, requesting all transcripts, recordings and notes from its interviews with former Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell last week. 

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche interviewed Maxwell at a low-security federal prison in Florida, where she is currently incarcerated. Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking and related offenses.

Durbin said it was "highly unusual, if not unprecedented," for the deputy attorney general to question Maxwell, instead of a line prosecutor who is usually more familiar with the case, The Hill reported.

“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 asked in the letter.

Durbin, along with Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, appeared skeptical over whether Blanche would be able to tell if Maxwell's testimony was truthful, and noted that she could withhold information in hopes of getting her sentence lowered or pardoned.

The senators asked the administration and department to provide full transparency with the public regarding any deals made with Maxwell and to promise not to offer a pardon or commutation in exchange for information.

The Democrats also asked the department to “provide all recordings, transcripts, reports of investigations” regarding the two-day interview, and asked for detailed explanations of why it believed Maxwell would be truthful in the interview and what information it believes the former Epstein associate could answer that was not obtained prior to her 2020 arrest and indictment.

The Justice Department has confirmed it received the request but has not yet commented on the letter.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.