5 Takeaways From Interview With Sex Offender Epstein's Confidante

The Trump administration on Aug. 22 released the transcript of a courthouse interview with Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime confidante of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who maintained that U.S. President Donald Trump and other famous figures were not involved in the sex trafficking scheme she was convicted of.

- Chris Cameron, Glenn Thrush, Alan Feuer, Sharon LaFraniere and Maggie Haberman

WASHINGTON —

In the interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Maxwell, who has made it clear she wants to end her 20-year sentence early, said many of the allegations against her and Epstein were false and swatted away a number of theories and loose ends in the case.

She also insisted that a "client list" of the rich and powerful associated with Epstein did not exist, and denied any scheme to blackmail his associates.

The Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had concluded in July that there was no specific "client list" for Epstein's trafficking ring, and no credible evidence that "Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions."

Epstein's victims and their families had objected to the interview, and Maxwell's subsequent transfer to a cushier prison, accusing Mr. Trump of offering a sweetheart deal to someone prosecutors say has a history of self-serving falsehoods.

Here's what happened: MAXWELL PRAISED TRUMP Maxwell acknowledged the social relationship between Mr. Trump and Epstein but denied any connection between Mr. Trump and the sex trafficking ring. She also denied recruiting an underage victim of Epstein who said she had been recruited while working as a spa attendant at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump's Florida estate and club, in 2000.

"I've never recruited a masseuse from Mar-a-Lago," Maxwell said.

Ms. Virginia Giuffre, who was 16 at the time, said she was approached by Maxwell at Mar-a-Lago and invited to become Epstein's traveling masseuse. She said the two of them then groomed her to perform sexual services and passed her around "like a platter of fruit" to rich and powerful predators in Epstein's circle, including Prince Andrew of Britain.