Rep. Jim Jordan, the congressman accused of covering up a university doctor’s sexual misconduct against Ohio State wrestlers while Jordan was an assistant coach, said he believes convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell‘s recent testimony where she denied Trump and Epstein were “close.” Maxwell has been accused of running a trafficking ring with deceased billionaire Jeffrey Epstein. (Jordan has denied that he knew of abuse occurring at Ohio State while he was employed there.)
“This confirms what we all knew,” Jordan said Saturday of Maxwell’s interview that Trump and his allies hope will exonerate him in the public eye. “We knew President Trump didn’t do anything wrong here. He said that repeatedly. This transcript is the whole transcript and it confirms that. So I think there’s nothing there, it seems, based on what we got from the interview of Ms. Maxwell.”
Maxwell said of Trump, when speaking with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who previously acted as Trump’s personal attorney, “As far as I’m concerned, President Trump was always very cordial and very kind to me,” “And I just want to say that I admire his extraordinary achievement in becoming the president now. And I like him, and I’ve always liked him.”
She added, “That is the sum and substance of my entire relationship with him,” and said she “never witnessed the president in any inappropriate setting in any way.”
Maxwell further played down Trump and Epstein’s connections, saying she did “not remember” Trump sending a letter or card to Epstein for his 50th birthday. The Wall Street Journal reported in July that Trump sent Epstein a “bawdy” message for his birthday accompanied by a drawing of a naked woman’s silhouette.
Maxwell spoke to the Justice Department last month amid the Trump administration’s attempts to whitewash Trump’s history of close friendship with Epstein, following the political fallout from the DOJ’s refusal to release files related to the Epstein investigation.
Maxwell, who would benefit greatly should Trump decide to pardon her, unsurprisingly had only glowing things to say about the president. She also portrayed Trump’s relationship with Epstein as not very close, despite Epstein himself once saying he was Trump’s “closest friend” and that Trump first slept with his wife on Epstein’s private plane.
Trump has hinted at pardoning Maxwell. In July, he said, “Well, I’m allowed to give her a pardon. But nobody’s approached me with it. Nobody’s asked me about it. It’s in the news, about that, that aspect of it.”
Without a pardon, Maxwell would likely spend the rest of her days in prison. That’s a good reason to view any testimony she gives to Trump DOJ officials with healthy skepticism.
The family of Virginia Giuffre — a young woman who accused Maxwell of grooming her to be abused by Epstein and his high-powered friends, including the U.K.’s Prince Andrew — said in a statement that the Trump administration is giving Maxwell “a platform to rewrite history.”
“During Todd Blanche’s bizarre interview, she is never challenged about her court-proven lies, providing her a platform to rewrite history,” the family said.
Giuffre died by suicide in April.
