By Ghislaine Maxwell, the disgraced socialite serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking to Jeffrey Epstein, is seeking to strike a deal with the Trump administration, according to Alan Dershowitz, the former attorney for Jeffrey Epstein. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed he would meet with Maxwell to assess whether she holds actionable intelligence about Epstein’s criminal network.
“She’s going to make a deal with the Department of Justice,” Dershowitz told The New York Post. “That’s the way things are done. They make deals with the Mafia, so I’m certain they are going to try to make a deal with her.”
On Thursday, the wheels got set in motion when DOJ officials interviewed Maxwell in Tallahassee, Florida. Her attorney, David Oscar Markus, described the session as intensive and wide-ranging, according to The New York Times. “Deputy Attorney General Blanche took a full day and asked a lot of questions,” Markus said outside the courthouse. “Ms. Maxwell answered every single question, she never stopped, she never invoked a privilege. She never declined to answer. She answered all the questions truthfully, honestly and to the best of her ability.”
Blanche later confirmed via social media that another meeting would take place Friday. “The Department of Justice will share additional information about what we learned at the appropriate time,” he wrote.
Today, I met with Ghislaine Maxwell, and I will continue my interview of her tomorrow. The Department of Justice will share additional information about what we learned at the appropriate time.
— Todd Blanche (@DAGToddBlanche) July 24, 2025
Dershowitz, who once dubbed Maxwell the “Rosetta Stone” of the Epstein operation, emphasized her insider knowledge, wrote The Telegraph. “She knows everything – not just about the perpetrators but the victims. And she knows about the victims who became perpetrators,” he said. Maxwell’s legal team has previously cited Donald Trump’s reputation as the “ultimate dealmaker” in seeking clemency, appealing to his transactional instincts.
The Epstein lawyer recently laid out what he knows in an oped of his own in The Wall Street Journal.
Two avenues remain open for Maxwell to reduce her sentence. Federal prosecutors could pursue a Rule 35 motion, requesting a sentencing reduction from Judge Paul Engelmayer—an Obama appointee—if they determine her cooperation warrants it. Alternatively, President Trump could commute her sentence or issue a full pardon, a constitutional power he holds without constraint.
But not everyone is convinced. Edward A. McDonald, a former federal prosecutor with experience flipping high-level criminals, raised serious doubts to The Telegraph. “This is a situation where she potentially has information on the very person who holds the key to the jailhouse door for her, that is the president of the United States,” he told The Post. “It would seem that, unless she exonerates Trump, she’s not going to get any quid for her quo. He’s not going to pardon her or agree to have the Justice Department give her a lesser sentence… and of course, if she exonerates Trump, she’s also going to have to cooperate in other cases, but no one’s going to believe her testimony.”
McDonald, who once helped secure the release of mob boss Joseph Massino in exchange for cooperation, added that Maxwell’s testimony would require “a tremendous amount of corroboration.” He noted, “If she exonerates Trump, no juror is going to believe her, so the value of her cooperation is going to be minimal. And of course, if she includes Trump, if she implicates Trump, she’s certainly not going to get pardoned.” The political risk, he warned, could backfire. “Even the Trump base is going to say, ‘oh, wait a minute, he obviously has exonerated her, because she kept him out of it.’”
The timing of the talks has drawn added scrutiny due to renewed focus on Trump’s past ties to Epstein. A recent Wall Street Journal report detailed a 2003 birthday book Maxwell compiled for Epstein that includes a bawdy poem allegedly signed by Trump. Brad Edwards, who represents numerous Epstein victims, told MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell that the Epstein estate still possesses the book. The estate has pledged to comply with all lawful requests for documentation. Trump, who denies writing the message and has sued The Journal for defamation, continues to denounce efforts to connect him to Epstein as a “witch hunt.”
Meanwhile, the House Oversight subcommittee voted Wednesday to subpoena the Justice Department for unreleased Epstein files. Lawmakers rebuked Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel for withholding records, citing concerns for victim privacy. According to three sources familiar with internal briefings, Bondi privately informed Trump last spring that his name appears in the files. The nature of those references remains unclear.
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