Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein now serving a 20-year sentence for her role in his sex-trafficking operation, insists there is no hidden list of clients, no secret blackmail files, and no illicit acts by the prominent men who once moved in Epstein’s orbit. That’s according to a newly released transcript of a two-day interview Maxwell gave last month to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, a Trump appointee with close ties to the former president.
“There is no list,” Maxwell said, dismissing one of the most persistent rumors tied to Epstein. “I’m not aware of any blackmail. I never heard that. I never saw it, and I never imagined it.”
The interview, conducted at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tallahassee, Florida, was unusual both in length and in scope. Maxwell was granted limited immunity, meaning her words could not be used against her unless she lied. She spoke openly about her time with Epstein, which stretched from the early 1990s into the mid-2000s, and about the swirl of speculation that continues to surround his death and his connections.
According to the transcript, Maxwell praised both Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, who were among the high-profile figures linked socially to Epstein. She described Trump as “a gentleman in all respects” and Clinton as “a truly extraordinary” ex-president. She also denied introducing Epstein to Prince Andrew, saying flatly: “That is a flat untruth.”
Maxwell distanced herself from Epstein’s abuse of underage girls, though she stopped short of denying it outright. “I never saw that with them at all,” she told Blanche, adding, “I am not here to defend him.” She admitted she had introduced Epstein to women and sought out masseuses but claimed she never knowingly recruited minors. “If I met somebody who said she was a masseuse, I did not check their credentials,” she said.
The interview also addressed one of the most enduring conspiracies about Epstein—that he secretly recorded powerful men with underage girls to use as leverage. Maxwell said she never wired or installed surveillance systems for that purpose. The only cameras she recalled were in Epstein’s Palm Beach home, near where he kept his briefcase, because “he noticed money was being stolen.”
Maxwell also cast doubt on the testimony of one of the underage victims who testified at her trial, suggesting she had been misidentified. She reiterated her longstanding claim that she did not receive a fair trial, saying, “I actually don’t think that the testimony is correct.”
And she rejected the official ruling on Epstein’s 2019 death in a Manhattan jail. “I do not believe he died by suicide,” she told Blanche, though she offered no theory of her own beyond vague speculation about prison violence.
The Justice Department’s release of the 337-page transcript, which contains Maxwell’s remarks about presidents, princes, and political figures, comes as it seeks to tamp down criticism over its decision not to release Epstein’s investigative files. The DOJ maintains its review found no incriminating client list, despite the enduring belief among the public that such evidence exists.
