Never witnessed Trump in ‘any inappropriate setting,’ Ghislaine Maxwell says in newly released Justice Department interview

​​​​​​​By Asiye Latife Yilmaz

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ghislaine Maxwell denied close ties between Jeffrey Epstein and current and former US presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, according to a newly released Justice Department transcript on Friday.

In an interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, the convicted accomplice of Epstein, described Epstein’s ties with Trump as being “friendly like people are in social settings.”

“I don't -- I don't think they were close friends or I certainly never witnessed the president in any of -- I don't recall ever seeing him in his house, for instance,” she told Blanche.

When asked about Trump receiving a “massage” -- a term prosecutors said Epstein and Maxwell used as code for sexual encounters involving underage girls and young women they recruited --Maxwell responded, “Never.” She added: “I actually never saw the president in any type of massage setting.”

Maxwell said she never witnessed Trump in “any inappropriate setting in any way.”

“The president was never inappropriate with anybody. In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects,” she added.

Regarding former President Bill Clinton’s ties to Epstein, Maxwell said: “President Clinton was my friend, not Epstein's friend.” She added that she does not believe Clinton had an independent friendship with Epstein and “never” went to Epstein's infamous site in the US Virgin Islands.

“President Clinton liked me, and we got along terribly well. But I never saw that warmth or that … that warmth, or however you want to characterize it, with Mr Epstein,” she said.

“I didn't see President Clinton being interested in Epstein. He was just a rich guy with a plane,” she added.

Maxwell denied Epstein had a "client list."

"There is no list," Maxwell told Blanche. "I'm not aware of any blackmail. I never heard that. I never saw it, and I never imagined it."

Attorney General Pam Bondi said in February that she was reviewing what was described as Epstein’s client list. But by July, the Justice Department announced it would not release any more records, stating there was "no incriminating list" or evidence of Epstein blackmailing prominent figures.

Maxwell, 63, is serving 20 years for conspiring to sexually abuse minors. Epstein mingled with the wealthy and powerful, including prominent politicians, for decades before he pleaded guilty in 2008 to felony solicitation and procuring a person under the age of 18 for prostitution.