Can Trump strike 'hidden pardon deal' with Ghislaine Maxwell? Bondi's aide raises questions over Todd Blanche's role

As the United States Justice Department grilled Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned accomplice of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a report suggested that United States President Donald Trump could strike a "hidden pardon deal" with her. Dave Aronberg, Attorney General Pam Bondi’s aide and a former state attorney for Palm Beach County, spoke to CNN, and said that Maxwell's grilling might be a plot to "protect the president." He also claimed that Trump was keen to distance himself from the controversy, which is why he had sent Blanche, his former defence attorney and now the DOJ’s second-in-command, to handle the Maxwell meeting.

Commenting on Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche's involvement in the questioning of Ghislaine Maxwell, Aronberg questioned why the second-highest official in the Justice Department would participate in such a high-profile interrogation. He likened the situation to having a top CNN executive conducting an interview instead of a journalist, suggesting it was highly unusual. "It’s as if the number two executive at CNN was conducting this interview with me instead of you…Like, what? It never happens. Also, he’s not going to be knowledgeable about this case like the line prosecutors who actually handled her case," he said. He hinted that there could be “a deal with Ghislaine Maxwell that she would get some immunity now and maybe a hidden pardon in the future: some sort of implication that she would be pardoned in the future if she comes out and says that the president was... not involved in any criminal activity.”

Aronberg suggested the possibility of a deal being made with Maxwell—one that might include some form of immunity now and even a potential hidden pardon later—if she were to publicly state that President Trump was not involved in any criminal activity. According to Aronberg, “Trump doesn’t want to be anywhere near this smoke."

Ghislaine Maxwell grilled by Justice Department

The Justice Department officials met with Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned former girlfriend of financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, on Thursday (July 24). The interrogation is part of an ongoing Justice Department effort to cast itself as transparent following fierce backlash from parts of President Donald Trump’s MAGA base over an earlier refusal to release additional records in the Epstein investigation. David Markus, Ghislaine Maxwell's attorney, said that she answered every question asked during a day-long meeting at a courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida. “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,” Markus told reporters outside the federal courthouse.

Meanwhile, in a social media post, Blanche said that he met Ghislaine Maxwell and the DOJ will share additional information about what they learned “at the appropriate time.” Earlier on Tuesday, he said that Trump “has told us to release all credible evidence” and that if Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the Justice Department “will hear what she has to say.”