DOJ Releases Ghislaine Maxwell Interview Transcript and Audio

[0:00] This morning, newly released audio from Jeffrey Epstein's confidant Ghislaine Maxwell. [0:04] I never witnessed the president in any inappropriate setting in any way. [0:09] Maxwell describing her interactions with President Trump decades ago. [0:13] The president was never inappropriate with anybody. In the times that I was with him, [0:18] he was a gentleman in all respects. [0:20] Adding she does not believe former President Clinton did anything inappropriate either [0:25] while interacting with Jeffrey Epstein, who would later become a convicted sex offender. [0:30] President Clinton is my friend, I know Epstein's friend. [0:33] Over two days last month, Maxwell spoke with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, [0:38] who is one of President Trump's personal lawyers. [0:41] Whatever you talk about today, you have what's called immunity. [0:44] The revealing testimony raising new questions over whether Maxwell will be pardoned. [0:48] The president saying only this in a recent interview. [0:52] I'm allowed to do it, but nobody's asked me to do it. [0:56] Maxwell, Epstein's co-conspirator, [0:58] was convicted in her own trial for child sex trafficking and grooming young girls. [1:02] She is currently serving a 20-year sentence. [1:05] But on Friday, Maxwell's attorney argued his client was a scapegoat after Epstein died in prison. [1:11] The White House has been facing mounting pressure to release more information about the investigation [1:15] into Epstein, who the Justice Department concluded died by suicide while awaiting trial in 2019. [1:22] Conspiracy theories have swirled that he was murdered to cover up a client list. [1:27] Did you know of the existence of any such list? [1:29] There is no list. [1:33] Maxwell was asked about what she thinks happened. [1:36] I do not believe he died by suicide. [1:38] The interview released on the same day the Justice Department turned over its first batch of Epstein files [1:44] to Congress in response to a subpoena. [1:46] I'm in support of keeping it open. [1:49] Innocent people shouldn't be hurt, but I'm in support of keeping it totally open. [1:52] I couldn't care less. [1:53] You got a lot of people that could be mentioned in those files that don't deserve to be people, [1:58] because he knew everybody in Palm Beach. [2:00] All this as FBI agents searched the home and office of former Trump administration [2:05] national security adviser John Bolton. Officials say it was related to the handling of classified [2:11] materials. Bolton, a prominent Trump critic, was fired by the president during his first term. [2:17] He later published a scathing book about his time in the White House. [2:20] Bolton was recently asked if he expected to be targeted by the president. [2:24] I think it is a retribution presidency. [2:27] But President Trump Friday said he first learned about the searches from television. [2:31] I know nothing about it. I just saw it this morning. [2:37] Now, a source close to Bolton believes this investigation may be, quote, [2:40] retribution for his outspoken criticism of President Trump. [2:44] The first Trump administration had sued to stop publication of his 2020 book, [2:49] alleging it contained classified information. Ultimately, though, [2:53] the Biden administration chose not to continue the legal battle. Laura. [2:57] All right. Melanie Zanona at the White House for us. Thank you. [3:00] We want to bring in Meet the Press moderator, Kristen Welker. Kristen, good morning. [3:04] This was sort of a remarkable Friday. There was a ton of news that came out in this one, [3:09] obviously getting a lot of attention. Jeffrey Epstein here. Remember that Ghislaine Maxwell [3:13] is trying to have her conviction overturned. So she sort of incentivized to tell the Justice [3:18] Department lawyers what they want to hear critics say. So the big question is this has been an issue [3:25] that's infuriated the MAGA base. Are these transcripts, this audio enough to sort of put that to bed? [3:30] Peter, it's a great question. And I think you hit on a critical point. Ghislaine Maxwell is widely seen [3:38] as someone who's not a credible witness. She, of course, has been convicted in Jeffrey Epstein's [3:43] sex trafficking ring. So let's just start there. When you talk about the Epstein files, you're talking [3:49] about tens of thousands of documents. So there's absolutely no way that just by releasing her [3:54] interview, it's going to quell the calls to release all of those files. There's a bipartisan push [4:00] on Capitol Hill to try to force DOJ to release all of the files. This is a real political flashpoint. [4:06] If you look at the polls, 82%, Peter and Laura, 82%, think of any poll that's 82% of Americans say [4:14] they want to see all of these files released. As you say, this has long been an issue for the MAGA [4:19] base calling for the release of the files. And now Democrats see a political opening as well. [4:25] They're trying to paint the Trump administration as not being transparent. So I don't see this dying [4:30] down anytime soon, Peter and Laura. Kristen, I also want to ask you about this, [4:35] this search of John Bolton's home in office. You were doing a lot of reporting about that yesterday [4:39] as it was breaking. You also happened to get an interview with the vice president. [4:43] How did he defend this search? Well, I pressed the vice president over whether this [4:51] was retribution. As you just heard Mel there say at the end of her report, there are people who are [4:58] looking at it that way because he's a critic of President Trump. And because he joins a long [5:04] list now of critics of President Trump who are under investigation, the vice president vehemently, [5:09] vehemently denying that this is retribution saying, look, it's important to just let this process [5:14] play out. But a source close to John Bolton says this looks like retribution because of his criticism [5:21] and because of that book. Now, notably in a highly unusual move, you guys, law enforcement officials [5:28] speaking out about this, we typically don't see that. You had Kash Patel, FBI director, posting, [5:33] no one is above the law. And the attorney general, Pam Bondi adding justice will be pursued always. [5:41] Now, look, it's worth noting. We do not know what is at the root of this FBI investigation, [5:47] although the vice president did tell me that classified documents were a part of it. He also [5:52] said there were broader issues at play as well. Without going into specifics, we likely won't know [5:57] what's at the root of it until court documents are unsealed. And notably, we have not yet heard [6:03] from John Bolton himself, Lauren Peter. All right, Kristen, we appreciate you waking up on a [6:07] Saturday. We'll see you on a Sunday for much more. Meet the Press tomorrow morning when [6:11] Kristen's guests include the vice president, J.D. Vance, Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, [6:16] and the Democratic California senator, Adam Schiff. [6:18] Hey, thanks for watching. And don't forget, you can catch the Today Show every morning on NBC [6:24] or take today when you're on the go. Just follow the Today Podcast on Apple Podcasts, [6:29] Spotify, or wherever you listen.