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The US Department of Justice was expected to meet Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted associate of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, on Thursday, according to American media reports.
The development comes amid growing political pressure on President Donald Trump over his handling of the high-profile case.
Maxwell, a former British socialite, is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after being found guilty in 2021 of trafficking underage girls for Epstein, who died in custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche—previously Trump’s lawyer during his 2024 hush money trial—was reportedly scheduled to speak with Maxwell in Tallahassee, Florida.
“If Ghislaine Maxwell has information about individuals who committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the Department of Justice are prepared to listen,” Blanche said in a statement on Tuesday.
The meeting represents a new effort by Trump’s administration to calm a backlash, particularly from within the Republican base, over longstanding allegations of a cover-up concerning Epstein’s network and its ties to powerful figures.
A Wall Street Journal report on Wednesday intensified scrutiny, alleging that Trump’s name was among hundreds uncovered in DOJ files reviewed as part of the Epstein investigation. The White House has rejected the claim.
Just days earlier, the same publication reported that Trump had sent Epstein a sexually suggestive birthday letter in 2003. Trump, a former associate of Epstein, has launched a $10 billion lawsuit over the article.
With many of his supporters demanding full transparency on Epstein’s connections, Trump had previously pledged to expose the truth if re-elected.
However, he has more recently labelled the controversy a “hoax.” His administration’s decision to publish a memo earlier this month asserting that the so-called “Epstein files” do not warrant further inquiry has faced sharp criticism.
In what appears to be a shift in narrative, the Trump White House has also promoted baseless claims that former President Barack Obama orchestrated a “coup” during the aftermath of Trump’s 2016 election victory.
This conspiracy theory alleges that Obama ordered US intelligence agencies to manipulate findings to tie Trump to Russian election interference—a claim contradicted by multiple investigations between 2019 and 2023.
All concluded that Russia had interfered in the election, with actions that ultimately benefited Trump.
