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A former attorney for convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein says his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, should be granted immunity so she can testify about his crimes.
In an interview on Fox News Sunday, Epstein’s former lawyer Alan Dershowitz said Maxwell “absolutely” should testify as she was most closely involved with Epstein.
“She knows everything. I mean, she is everything,” Dershowitz said.
“She was the one who arranged all the trips and travel of all the people who went to the island, who went to the house and went to the place in New Mexico, who went to his place in Paris,” Dershowitz said of Maxwell.
“So she’s key to everything, and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t give her use immunity, which means she can still be prosecuted if she commits perjury, but she would then have to testify about everything, and she should.”
On Friday, the Justice Department filed a motion in a Manhattan federal court to unseal transcripts from the grand jury that investigated Epstein before he died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial.
Dershowitz also warned that the grand jury transcripts that Attorney General Pam Bondi asked a federal judge to unseal on Friday would not yield the list of Epstein’s clientele that many of President Donald Trump’s supporters are eagerly anticipating.
“I think the judge should release it, but they are not in the grand jury transcripts,” Dershowitz said.
"I've seen some of these materials. For example, there is an FBI report of interviews with alleged victims in which at least one of the victims names very important people," he said, adding that those names have been redacted.
Trump has come under growing pressure from his MAGA base to release information related to the government’s inquiry into Epstein – something he said he would do during the 2024 presidential campaign.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration did a complete 180 on the Epstein files, releasing a joint memo with the FBI claiming there was “no incriminating client list” or any evidence of blackmail.
The memo also reiterated the FBI’s previous investigation that concluded Epstein died by suicide, and was not murdered in his jail cell as some conspiracy theorists have speculated.
Maxwell, a former British socialite and ex-girlfriend of Epstein, was found guilty in December 2021 of conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, among other charges, related to her role in a scheme to abuse minor girls with the wealthy financier for a decade.
The now-63-year-old was sentenced to 20 years in prison, though her lawyers have been trying to get her out by appealing her case, arguing she was exempt from prosecution under a clause in Epstein’s 2008 non-prosecution agreement.
The release of the grand jury documents may fall short of what many of Trump’s supporters are seeking.
The transcripts are a fraction of the Epstein documents, as bank, phone, and surveillance records remain under seal along with his autopsy results.
Because Epstein’s circle included royals, presidents, and billionaires, the case gained massive attention and fueled some of the biggest conspiracy theories driving Trump’s supporters, even as Trump himself was a close friend of Epstein.
After the memo from Trump’s administration and the FBI, the Wall Street Journal published an alleged birthday card from Trump to Epstein that was described as including a sexually suggestive drawing and a birthday wish that says, “may every day be another wonderful secret.”
In response, Trump filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against right-wing media mogul Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal’s parent companies, News Corp and Dow Jones.
Trump claims the newspaper “failed to attach the letter, failed to attach the alleged drawing, failed to show proof that President Trump authored or signed any such letter, and failed to explain how this purported letter was obtained,” according to the lawsuit.
“The reason for those failures is because no authentic letter or drawing exists,” the complaint claims.
"We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit,” a spokesperson for Dow Jones said in a statement.
