Sub -attorney general Get tod blanch For the second day with the guilty sex traffic gholine maxwell, without offering more than a wide justification for questions of your questions. Several former federal prosecutors told CBS News that they were shocked by their decision to launch in such talks and described informal incidents as both unconventional and related.
“He is someone who is sentenced by the court 20 years In jail, and he is also desperate to get out under that sentence, “Elizabeth Origin, Attorney of a former Justice Department and the federal public defender said.” It is really difficult to believe that the Department of Justice will trust anything that it may have to say. ,
Orar suggested that Maxwell was talking with the blanch “in the hope that she could be able to cut a deal that would benefit her, and it raises fundamental questions about the credibility of any information that she may possibly provide.”
Maxwell’s defense counsel, David Marcus, said after the meeting that he asked him everything asked “and he did not keep anything back.”
Asked if Maxwell is asking for an apology, “We have not talked to the President or someone yet about the forgiveness,” adding, “we hope that he will practice that power right and just the way.”
A former Senior Justice Department official, a former Senior Justice Department official identified on the condition of CBS News, told CBS News, “It is unprecedented for the Deputy Attorney General that he is directly involved in interviewing someone who is convicted of a crime and he can be interested in collaborating to gain generosity.” “It only attacks me as an attempt to address a political concern, which the Department of Justice does not.”
Blanche is an officer of a senior justice department who served as one earlier Individual lawyer To President Trump. He is also a former federal prosecutor for the southern district of New York. He announced his decision to visit Florida to meet Maxwell after days of the administration walking around the administration. Mixed message About this Must continue On files Jeffrey EpsteinThose who died in jail in 2019 as they were waiting to prosecute allegations of sex trafficking. Maxwell was Guilty in 2021 For his role in the smuggling ring.
Many aspects of the blanch decision break up with the Department of Justice for a long time. Most concerned, former officials said, Blanches have conducted interviews, rather than line prosecutors who helped win a sentence in the Maxwell case, and who are continue to compete with his efforts to appeal to the result.
The complexity is that the prosecutor who led the Maxwell case was Maurin Comi, Fired by Trump administration A week ago.
A former prosecutor said that an important reason for a line prosecutor handling such an interview is Maxwell and his extensive knowledge of the facts of the case against him. Otherwise, this lawyer said, it can be very difficult to determine whether Maxwell is getting true – especially when already his wish had previous questions that there was a desire to be completely clear about misconduct, which led to his arrest, and Epstein.
The former prosecutor said, “The best way to determine is that you already know the answer that you already know the answer.” “Todd Blanches is not in a position to assess the truth if he does not know all the facts.”
Because the blanch meetings were getting behind the closed doors, it is not clear whether he was with other justice department officials or FBI agents.
The Department of Justice has not responded to the request of the comment.
Experts told CBS News that this nature meetings almost always involve an FBI agent, which can recall the discussion in formal interview notes, which may be the necessary value later, if necessary.
Another former federal prosecutor, who had decades experience, “If the blanch was meeting with Maxwell alone, it is pornography.” “He cannot testify and become a witness, nor can he write a report of his meeting.”
Prosecutors are not allowed to write interview reports and law enforcement officers are not sworn in with training to document such interviews.
“It would be a mess,” said the former officer. “The first rule of the meeting with a witness is an agent.”
As another former prosecutor said: “It is not specific.”
“This is not the most effective way to work” If the goal is to collect additional evidence or identify possible goals for future prosecution, then this person said.
Mr. Trump has never been accused of misconduct regarding Epstein’s criminal activity, and has constantly stated that he has cut relations with Epstein before Epstein’s first arrest in 2006.
Mr. Trump has demanded to pursue the crush of focusing on this subject, even mentioning it “Jeffrey Epstein Hocx,
Blanches explained his decision to meet with Maxwell, saying that he would “lead the facts wherever he can lead to justice.”
“If Ghislane Maxwell knows about anyone committing crimes against the victims, the FBI and DOJ will hear what he has to say,” Blancch said.
Like the Orore, several former federal prosecutors saw the meeting as a political step, which was aimed at reducing the increasing mistrust about Epstein’s decision not to make public the files related to the case. Several former prosecutors spoke to CBS News about the case, but were not asked to be identified as they feared vengeance against him or his current employers.
Jacob Rosen contributed to this report.
