Don't look now, but Ghislaine Maxwell's time in federal prison for aiding and abetting accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein could be cut short. In an effort to distract from the fact that President Donald Trump is refusing to release all of the files the government possesses about Epstein, Attorney General Pam Bondi directed the Department of Justice to speak with his known accomplice Maxwell to see if she has any information that implicates third parties, as Epstein died by suicide while in custody before going to trial. Maxwell has a whole lot to gain in this situation. The former British socialite is currently serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for helping Epstein carry out “heinous crimes against children,” as the Department of Justice said in 2022 when she was sentenced for “conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors to participate in illegal sex acts, transporting a minor to participate in illegal sex acts, sex trafficking conspiracy, and sex trafficking of a minor.”  That means Trump—who wished Maxwell «well» in 2020 after she was arrested for her role in Epstein's sex-trafficking schemes—has the power to pardon her and set her free.  And that gives Maxwell motive to tell federal prosecutors lies that could exculpate Trump from Epstein's sordid deeds. Related | White House offers new shiny objects to distract from Epstein scandal «The Epstein files don’t have an incentive to lie for a coverup. A convicted sex trafficker in search of a pardon does,» New York University law professor Ryan Goodman wrote in a post on X. «The dead giveaway: DOJ can simply release all the Epstein files, but refuses.» Even more fishy is the fact that the person who will meet with Maxwell to interview her is Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche—who served as Trump's defense attorney during his numerous federal indictments that have now been corruptly dismissed. «Justice demands courage. For the first time, the Department of Justice is reaching out to Ghislaine Maxwell to ask: what do you know?» Blanche wrote in a post on X. «At @AGPamBondi’s direction, I’ve contacted her counsel. I intend to meet with her soon. No one is above the law—and no lead is off-limits.» The fact that Trump's former criminal defense attorney is meeting with Maxwell should also give everyone pause, as Blanche would likely put Trump's best interests over the truth. «Any meeting between Blanche, DOJ, or any other Trump representative, on the one hand, and Ghislaine Maxwell and her attorneys or other representatives, on the other, should be audiovisually recorded. Full stop,» George Conway, a lawyer and frequent Trump critic, wrote in a post on X, adding that the situation «reeks of corruption.» Even if Maxwell isn’t pardoned, the Trump administration’s announcement that it will interview her is just another attempt to distract the public from the fact that the government is not releasing more information about the Epstein case. It feeds into speculation that Trump—who was friends with Epstein and took trips with the accused sex trafficker on multiple occasions—is worried about being implicated by the documents. Already, Bondi has sought to change the subject from the Epstein files by releasing hundreds of thousands of documents relating to Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, as well as the probe into Hillary Clinton’s emails. In an Oval Office appearance, Trump also said he is going to go after former President Barack Obama for “treason” over the Russia investigation—an insane and authoritarian declaration, as even Trump’s own Secretary of State Marco Rubio oversaw a Senate investigation that found that Russia did interfere in the 2016 election. But the biggest sign yet that Trump is worried about what’s contained in the Epstein files is that he is now calling the scandal the “Epstein hoax”—his favorite way to claim that something that will make him look bad is fake. Ultimately, the Epstein files scandal is not going away. And how Trump and his cronies handle Maxwell could fuel the flames even further. Read more