'Shocked I tell you!' Maxwell’s reported DOJ remarks spark outrage and eye rolls
A new report was immediately panned by onlookers that Ghislaine Maxwell told the Justice Department last month nothing that would prove "harmful" to President Donald Trump.
Maxwell met and talked with Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, over two days at the US attorney's office in Tallahassee, Florida. Maxwell took questions from about 100 different people, according to reports, after receiving limited immunity. The meetings were part of the Justice Department's investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and Maxwell's involvement in sex trafficking.
On Tuesday afternoon, ABC News reported, citing anonymous sources familiar with Maxwell's remarks, that she said "nothing during the interview that would be harmful" to Trump.
The Trump administration is reportedly mulling over whether to publicly release the transcripts from the interview, sources told ABC News.
The internet, predictably, wasn't impressed.
"NEW: Here's the quid! Maxwell swears Trump did nothing wrong! Then trump waived her sex offender status and moved her to club fed without notifying the victims. SHOCKED I TELL YOU!" wrote Allison Gill, known for her social media account Mueller, She Wrote.
National security expert Marcy Wheeler mocked on Bluesky, "ABC confirms that Trump defense attorney Todd Blanche got Ghislaine to perform like a trained seal and then promptly moved her to comfier digs where sex traffickers aren't supposed to live. "
Corey Rayburn Yung, law professor at University of Kansas, flagged on Bluesky ABC News citing "sources familiar with what Maxwell."
"Is ABC giving Blanche anonymity? There are only a few people in the room and you shouldn't be relying on second-hand reports for this reporting," he said.
Bluesky user Nancy wrote, "ABC covertly reveals how Trump & Blanche got Ghislane Maxwell to agree to be recorded saying 'only nice things about the Donald' - her attorney said Maxwell was asked about 'one hundred different people,' and 'she didn't hold anything back.' Trump will release the tape of his quid pro quo deal."
She added: "Convicted pedophile, sex-trafficker and perjurer Ghislaine Maxwell agreed to a quid pro quo to save herself. She’s no Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who wouldn’t even agree to lie for Trump in exchange for weapons. Maxwell is a filthy rich, Narcissistic subhuman."
Writer Gary Legum added, bluntly, "She understood her role."