Ghislaine Maxwell’s interview transcript and audio released by DOJ

[0:00] We are following major news in the Jeffrey Epstein saga. The Justice Department has [0:04] publicly released a transcript and audio of the interview between Deputy Attorney General [0:09] Todd Blanch, who of course is also the former personal attorney of President Trump, [0:13] and Glenn Maxwell, Epstein's imprisoned accomplice. CNN's Kara Scannell is with us now. [0:19] Kara, we know that you're going through the transcripts. We have a team doing that. [0:23] What more are we learning? [0:26] Yeah, Brianna, we're still going through these transcripts. And, you know, [0:29] the beginning of this meeting, which took place over two days and lasted for just about nine [0:34] hours, the Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch explains to Maxwell that this is not a cooperation [0:39] agreement. It's a proffer, meaning that they won't say what she tells them as a reason of [0:44] prosecutor. But he said if she lies in any way, it would open up the door for her to potentially [0:49] face charges. So, you know, we're still going through this transcript. But from my quick [0:54] reading of various sections of it, I mean, Blanch is asking Maxwell about a number of [0:59] famous names, politicians, what she knows about President Trump, what she knows about President [1:04] Bill Clinton. So as her lawyer said after that meeting, you know, they did talk about, as he put [1:10] it, something like a hundred different people. So we're starting to get a sense of what Maxwell is [1:15] saying. Now, on a quick scan of that and President Trump and President Bill Clinton, Maxwell does not [1:22] say that they did anything wrong. She's just explaining how she knows them. So no one, [1:27] neither of them are being accused. [1:29] There's no evidence of any wrongdoing from Maxwell. And she is just kind of putting into context how [1:34] she knows them. You know, we are still going through that. But that would be consistent with [1:38] what Maxwell has said. I mean, she was charged by the Justice Department with perjury because she [1:45] had told someone in a civil deposition involving an accuser that she knew nothing about what Jeffrey [1:52] Epstein was doing with underage girls about any sexual assault. So that is what she was charged [1:59] with perjury of. And then, of course, she was indicted and went to trial and was convicted of sex [2:04] trafficking, conspiracy, helping recruit, groom, and at times sexually abuse young girls with [2:11] Jeffrey Epstein herself. So these questions, though, that we're just starting to get a handle on [2:16] here as we go through this transcript, you know, she is not saying that anyone else so far from our [2:22] reading was complicit in any way. She, though, of course, has always maintained that nothing [2:27] nefarious or illegal had gone wrong. So, you know, she's not saying that anyone else so far from our [2:29] reading was complicit in any way. She, though, of course, has always maintained that nothing [2:30] nefarious or illegal had gone wrong. So that is not surprising. But we are getting a sense of just how [2:34] detailed the Deputy Attorney General Blanche was in his questionings of her and what he was asking [2:39] her specifically. I've been reading through sections related to President Bill Clinton, you [2:44] know, how he knew them and Hillary Clinton. And she is, you know, talking about that Bill Clinton [2:50] was her friend that she met through a boyfriend of hers and was not Epstein's friend. So, you know, [2:56] providing a little bit more context around the relationships here, [2:59] but we're still going through this. It's still very early stage. And, you know, Bill Clinton has [3:05] always maintained that he just had traveled on Epstein's planes, you know, to go to certain [3:11] events, sometimes with the Clinton Foundation, and was not accused of wrongdoing and has denied [3:15] any wrongdoing. And the same for President Donald Trump. He has not been accused of any wrongdoing [3:23] and has always denied any wrongdoing, although both of their relationships with Epstein, [3:27] in this case, according to Maxwell, at least the Bill Clinton one emanated from her, [3:34] but they had gone back to the 90s. Brianna, Boris? [3:37] All right, Kara, I will free you up to keep looking. Let's go to Caitlin Polantz, [3:41] who has also been looking through some of the transcripts. What more are you learning, Caitlin? [3:46] Well, Brianna, the part that I have found in these transcripts from the first day of the interview, [3:51] the morning of that first day of the interview, is Ghislaine Maxwell speaking to Deputy Attorney [3:56] General Todd Blanche about... [3:58] What she knew of Donald Trump. And what she says is that she never heard of any allegations that [4:05] Trump acted inappropriately. She never witnessed any inappropriate actions on the part of Donald [4:11] Trump whenever she was around him in social settings. Quote, absolutely never in any context. [4:19] A little more of what she says there is Todd Blanche is asking her in this interview, [4:24] um, many different types of questions. How did Trump, [4:28] know you? How did Trump know Epstein? Where did you see them? Did you see them at the spa at Mar-a-Lago? [4:33] And she says that she never saw Donald Trump, who she refers to as the president in any type of massage setting. [4:40] She says that he she never witnessed Donald Trump in any inappropriate setting in any way. [4:46] The president was never inappropriate with anybody. She says he was a gentleman in all respects. That's the direct quote. [4:54] She does say though, however, that she didn't recall it was possible that [4:58] the seusses from Donald Trump's spa at Mar-a-Lago were in touch with Epstein and potentially had [5:06] even even give him given him private massages, something that would raise questions of possible [5:12] abuse there. But that she is putting a lot of distance between the actions of Jeffrey Epstein [5:19] and herself and Donald Trump, even though she describes a friendship or a social relationship [5:27] between both her and Trump. [5:28] And Epstein and Trump over many years. Yeah, Virginia Giuffre, the late Virginia Giuffre said she was [5:34] trafficked from the spa at Mar-a-Lago by Glenn Maxwell. Caitlin, thank you so much. [5:40] We know that you're going to keep looking through those documents.