Why Ghislaine Maxwell is the one story Donald Trump simply cannot sell
Donald Trump said he found out about convicted sex-trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell being moved to a minimum security prison in Texas when everyone else did. The News Agents don’t believe a word of it.
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In brief…
- Ghislaine Maxwell was moved to a minimum-security prison after a lengthy meeting with Trump’s former attorney, with the president claiming he had no prior knowledge.
- The News Agents say there is “zero chance” this is true, as Trump has now spent weeks trying to distract the US public from its interest in the Epstein Files and his potential naming in its pages.
- Despite his claims of being an expert salesman, they add, he has been unable to sell this distraction to many in his MAGA fanbase.
What’s the story?
Ghislaine Maxwell has been moved to a minimum-security facility in Bryan, Texas.
To some, it’s known as “club fed”, and is not usually known to house criminals serving lengthy sentences for serious crimes, such as Maxwell.
Maxwell’s move wasn’t conducted by the US Marshal Service, as would be normal protocol. She was moved "very swiftly" by staff from the Department of Justice, after a lengthy meeting with Trump officials.
The former associate of notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was sentenced to 20 years behind bars in 2021 on child sex trafficking charges, among others.
Inmates at the “white collar” facility are said to be furious to now be locked up with the only person to have served any prison time in association with Epstein’s crimes.
She was moved following a meeting with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump's former personal attorney, and comes as the president and his administration tries desperately to distract from the attention still drawn by the Epstein Files.
Despite promising to make the files public while campaigning for election in 2024, Trump now says they do not exist.
His political rivals, the American public, and even many of his hardcore MAGA supporters, will not let it drop.
Did Trump lie about what he knew about the move?
When asked about Maxwell’s move, Trump played dumb, claiming he had found out when the rest of America did.
"There is absolutely zero chance that Trump read about it, or saw it on the television like the rest of us," says Emily Maitlis.
"Trump would have been in on exactly what was happening as a consequence of that meeting, and what has been decided."
Jon Sopel believes it's "inconceivable" that Trump didn't sanction the move himself, or at least know about it.
"He is gambling that if he can get Ghislaine Maxwell to say something very obliging – Donald Trump did nothing wrong, Donald Trump was never on the island, Donald Trump never had anything untoward in his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein – then Ghislaine Maxwell gets freed," he says.
Trump believes, Jon adds, that the American people will accept her words as truth, and lose interest in the files.
"So far, the great salesman has not been able to sell his 'there's nothing to see here' message."
Will we find out what happened in the Maxwell meeting?
There are suggestions that the Trump administration may release transcripts of Maxwell's interview with Blanche, believed to have lasted between seven and eight hours.
This, Emily and Jon say, is an attempt to give those hungry for an official disclosure something to satiate their appetite – but don't believe it will do anything to calm the Epstein hunger.
"This is the wrong thing that they should be releasing," Emily adds.
"Everyone knows the thing that they should be releasing, the thing that Trump keeps on saying doesn't exist."
"Once again, he's trying to sort of get everyone to 'look over here' so you don't 'look over there'."
This attempt at distraction, they add, was likely also the goal of issuing a subpoena for Hillary and Bill Clinton, among others, to testify in an ongoing investigation into Epstein's activities.
"They probably won't ever testify. Bill Clinton has presidential privilege, so I very much doubt that we'll see him testify," Emily says.
"But once again, Trump is not really helping the story to go away by just providing a whole list of people that should be testifying.
"There will be many in the American public who think they'd quite like to hear what they have to say – but there's some notable gaps in that list."
Not least Trump himself, who is reportedly named multiple times in the Epstein Files.
“There are a lot of people on the outside, namely her victims, who are really wondering what on earth is going on and what Trump is up to now,” Emily adds.