August 25, 2025 • 8 mins
Peter joined us to discuss what will happen when the videos and files are released in Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein's case. What did Ghislane Maxwell tell Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now let's get right to Peter Haralamboost, ABC News investigative
reporter who has been covering the Epstein files and the
interview with Julaine Maxwell. Good morning, Peter, Good morning, Larry.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Have you Monday?
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Are we going to learn anything new at all? Because
so far everything that's been released seems like a bit
of a dud.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yeah, I think that's fair to say. I mean, we're
talking about a ton of information over the course of
this two day interview, none of which is changing our
understanding the case or the crimes here, and basically everything
of which should be considered with a grain of salt.
You know, Trump's own Justice Department back in twenty nineteen
repeatedly said Gilaine Maxwell is a liar, someone who should
(00:43):
not be trusted. They even charged her with perjury, and
now this new interview is basically her airing basically statements
that kind of go flatly against the record established at
her criminal trial with no evidence to support it. Certainly,
there are a bunch of interesting things she mentioned. She
denied the existence of a so called client list. She
mentioned a bunch of high profile individuals, but nothing particularly
(01:07):
incriminating or nothing that really sheds a new light on
this case, and.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
She says something interesting about the death of Jeffrey Epstein.
She didn't come out and say it was murder, but
she said she didn't think he killed himself. What do
you read into that?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Yeah, I mean it's important to think. It's hard to
look at that and think it's nothing but conjecture, especially
when you consider the fact that there's been multiple investigations
into it from justice departments during his first term, and
now the Justice Department right now is kind of pointing
at this and saying it's truly after years of investigation, suicide.
(01:43):
And really, all Maxwell said to back up that unfounded
claim was basically suggesting that at the prison she was at,
she could pay someone twenty five dollars in commissary to
order a hit on another inmate. She didn't say anything
about what would have motivated it, who would have disliked
him enough to want to do this, or what might
be behind this. She basically just said it's easy enough
(02:05):
to kill someone else in prison, and that's why she
thinks he didn't commit suicide. So again, a big grain
of salt there, but certainly an interesting headline out of it.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
I know. She said Bill Clinton wasn't at the island.
I know she said Donald Trump was nothing but polite
and she never saw him do anything nefarious. Do we
know if she named anybody.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
I mean, she kind of went through the list in
terms of politicians, titans of business, Hollywood executives, Hollywood stars,
and basically said, in each of those cases, really no wrongdoing,
nothing nefarious, that it was generally a positive relationship with
nothing kind of inappropriate or concerning. When you consider that
(02:48):
in light of what we've heard for years, what we've
heard on the oath from trials, civil litigation, I think
it's worth noting what the victims in this case are saying.
We've heard from multiple victims. They're calling this base an
effort to rewrite history and the reminding people that not
only was Gillayne Maxwell convicted of facilitating this sexual abuse,
she participated, according to multiple victims who testified at our trial.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
You know, I can't help feeling for the victims throughout
this entire thing. I'm glad you brought them up because
as this plays out again, I'm sure they wanted to
put all of this in their past, and here it
is being forced in their faces again and they have
to read about this all the time, and those denials
(03:32):
must make them furious. And the fact that she's now
in a cushier prison, isn't.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
She That's exactly right. She was moved from the facility
she was at for years to a low, low security complex.
And I think, especially when it comes to the victims here,
one thing that's worth considering is that you know there
is a justice system at place. They believe they've been
wrong by that for years, and that Jeffrey Epstein was
able to continue with this abuse for more than a
decade after he was first convicted, so that was a
(04:00):
point of frustration. But eventually there was a trial here.
Eventually there was some semblance of justice. But what we're
seeing now this whole extra judicial attempt to maybe get
a pardon. The president again has not ruled out pardoning
Delane Maxwell is really fully outside the bounds of the
justice system, and it's really, if you look at this,
kind of transparently an attempt to fish for a pardon.
(04:20):
She began the interview by basically saying that she admires
Trump's extraordinary achievements and having been president, she said she
liked him, She's always liked him. She called him a
gentleman in every respect. So it's hard not to kind
of look at all those complimentary things and not see
this as basically an attempt to get a pardon or
some kind of conversation or lightning the sentence overall.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
So if we throw out her testimony as being non
credible because she's trying to save herself and her clients
and Jeffrey Epstein and everybody involved in this thing, if
we throw that out, then we look back at the files,
and that's going to go to Congress. Are well, are
we going to all see them now? And is do
we know? Is there anything at all in there that's newsworthy?
Speaker 2 (05:02):
You know, bad news to deliver on that point as well.
We do understand that a good number of files were
transferred over to Congress over the weekend. But according to
the ranking Democrat on this House oversight, Timothy, about ninety
seven percent of these records are already in the public records.
Very very little of these records that were transferred over
to Congress are new. To the extent there are some
(05:23):
new records, it appears to be flight logs from the
two thousands into the twenty ten that itself not being
particularly insightfuled. So again, even if those records get fully released,
it doesn't appear that they're going to change our understanding
of this case.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
It's funny, the Epstein case and the Epstein files. It
was so big for a while, and Republicans were jumping
on board because they were feeling the pressure to release
the files. Democrats were jumping on board because they thought
it would embarrass the president with his base, And now
it seems to have died a way for the time being,
(05:58):
at least. Do you believe it's going to rise again
after Labor Day?
Speaker 2 (06:03):
You know, it's hard to say. I mean, if you
asked me that question last week, I would tell you
that this has gone away politically as a problem for
President Trump. For about two weeks, especially as he began
to increase his efforts to kind of get peace in Ukraine,
we didn't hear as much about the files and there
were less headlines about it. Certainly there was a spike
over the weekend, but I struggled to see kind of
other high profile things that would lead to a lot
(06:26):
of news here. Really, the release of the transcript and
the audio files kind of kills the newsworthiness out of
this full fishing exhibition with Gallainne Maxwell, and with the
exception of some kind of groundbreaking release of DJ files,
which they've said they're not going to do, I can
see this staying out of the news for quite a while.
So in that regard, this might be a success for
(06:46):
President Trump and that he's weathered this storm at least
for now.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
And he kept saying this is a big nothing burger.
There's nothing there, there's nothing to release, there's really nothing
worthwhile he was he seems like he was right all along.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
I mean, it depends how you look at it. In
this case. If President Trump is just referring to the
Gallaine Maxwell interview, certainly he comes out a winner. And
that basically Maxwell said that he's never done anything inappropriate,
that he's been a gentleman in every respect. It's a
very positive light on the president. And the files themselves
are not getting released in large parts. We do know
(07:22):
from the first release of Epstein documents, Trump was mentioned
in them about seven to eight times. He was included
in Jeffrey Epstein's contact book. He was mentioned repeatedly in
Epstein's flight logs through the nineteen nineties. I think if
the dj actually came through and released those files as
they originally promised. It might be a different political picture
for President Trump in terms of his exposure here, but
(07:45):
for now, at least with the only thing really being
released is this complimentary interview from Gallainne Maxwell. President Trump
kind of comes out on top here.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Yeah, we'll see if that's enough. Peter Haralambuos, thanks so
much for your time. Appreciated ABC News Investigative reporter,
Now let's get right to Peter Haralamboost, ABC News investigative
reporter who has been covering the Epstein files and the
interview with Julaine Maxwell. Good morning, Peter, Good morning, Larry.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Have you Monday?
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Are we going to learn anything new at all? Because
so far everything that's been released seems like a bit
of a dud.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yeah, I think that's fair to say. I mean, we're
talking about a ton of information over the course of
this two day interview, none of which is changing our
understanding the case or the crimes here, and basically everything
of which should be considered with a grain of salt.
You know, Trump's own Justice Department back in twenty nineteen
repeatedly said Gilaine Maxwell is a liar, someone who should
(00:43):
not be trusted. They even charged her with perjury, and
now this new interview is basically her airing basically statements
that kind of go flatly against the record established at
her criminal trial with no evidence to support it. Certainly,
there are a bunch of interesting things she mentioned. She
denied the existence of a so called client list. She
mentioned a bunch of high profile individuals, but nothing particularly
(01:07):
incriminating or nothing that really sheds a new light on
this case, and.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
She says something interesting about the death of Jeffrey Epstein.
She didn't come out and say it was murder, but
she said she didn't think he killed himself. What do
you read into that?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Yeah, I mean it's important to think. It's hard to
look at that and think it's nothing but conjecture, especially
when you consider the fact that there's been multiple investigations
into it from justice departments during his first term, and
now the Justice Department right now is kind of pointing
at this and saying it's truly after years of investigation, suicide.
(01:43):
And really, all Maxwell said to back up that unfounded
claim was basically suggesting that at the prison she was at,
she could pay someone twenty five dollars in commissary to
order a hit on another inmate. She didn't say anything
about what would have motivated it, who would have disliked
him enough to want to do this, or what might
be behind this. She basically just said it's easy enough
(02:05):
to kill someone else in prison, and that's why she
thinks he didn't commit suicide. So again, a big grain
of salt there, but certainly an interesting headline out of it.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
I know. She said Bill Clinton wasn't at the island.
I know she said Donald Trump was nothing but polite
and she never saw him do anything nefarious. Do we
know if she named anybody.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
I mean, she kind of went through the list in
terms of politicians, titans of business, Hollywood executives, Hollywood stars,
and basically said, in each of those cases, really no wrongdoing,
nothing nefarious, that it was generally a positive relationship with
nothing kind of inappropriate or concerning. When you consider that
(02:48):
in light of what we've heard for years, what we've
heard on the oath from trials, civil litigation, I think
it's worth noting what the victims in this case are saying.
We've heard from multiple victims. They're calling this base an
effort to rewrite history and the reminding people that not
only was Gillayne Maxwell convicted of facilitating this sexual abuse,
she participated, according to multiple victims who testified at our trial.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
You know, I can't help feeling for the victims throughout
this entire thing. I'm glad you brought them up because
as this plays out again, I'm sure they wanted to
put all of this in their past, and here it
is being forced in their faces again and they have
to read about this all the time, and those denials
(03:32):
must make them furious. And the fact that she's now
in a cushier prison, isn't.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
She That's exactly right. She was moved from the facility
she was at for years to a low, low security complex.
And I think, especially when it comes to the victims here,
one thing that's worth considering is that you know there
is a justice system at place. They believe they've been
wrong by that for years, and that Jeffrey Epstein was
able to continue with this abuse for more than a
decade after he was first convicted, so that was a
(04:00):
point of frustration. But eventually there was a trial here.
Eventually there was some semblance of justice. But what we're
seeing now this whole extra judicial attempt to maybe get
a pardon. The president again has not ruled out pardoning
Delane Maxwell is really fully outside the bounds of the
justice system, and it's really, if you look at this,
kind of transparently an attempt to fish for a pardon.
(04:20):
She began the interview by basically saying that she admires
Trump's extraordinary achievements and having been president, she said she
liked him, She's always liked him. She called him a
gentleman in every respect. So it's hard not to kind
of look at all those complimentary things and not see
this as basically an attempt to get a pardon or
some kind of conversation or lightning the sentence overall.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
So if we throw out her testimony as being non
credible because she's trying to save herself and her clients
and Jeffrey Epstein and everybody involved in this thing, if
we throw that out, then we look back at the files,
and that's going to go to Congress. Are well, are
we going to all see them now? And is do
we know? Is there anything at all in there that's newsworthy?
Speaker 2 (05:02):
You know, bad news to deliver on that point as well.
We do understand that a good number of files were
transferred over to Congress over the weekend. But according to
the ranking Democrat on this House oversight, Timothy, about ninety
seven percent of these records are already in the public records.
Very very little of these records that were transferred over
to Congress are new. To the extent there are some
(05:23):
new records, it appears to be flight logs from the
two thousands into the twenty ten that itself not being
particularly insightfuled. So again, even if those records get fully released,
it doesn't appear that they're going to change our understanding
of this case.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
It's funny, the Epstein case and the Epstein files. It
was so big for a while, and Republicans were jumping
on board because they were feeling the pressure to release
the files. Democrats were jumping on board because they thought
it would embarrass the president with his base, And now
it seems to have died a way for the time being,
(05:58):
at least. Do you believe it's going to rise again
after Labor Day?
Speaker 2 (06:03):
You know, it's hard to say. I mean, if you
asked me that question last week, I would tell you
that this has gone away politically as a problem for
President Trump. For about two weeks, especially as he began
to increase his efforts to kind of get peace in Ukraine,
we didn't hear as much about the files and there
were less headlines about it. Certainly there was a spike
over the weekend, but I struggled to see kind of
other high profile things that would lead to a lot
(06:26):
of news here. Really, the release of the transcript and
the audio files kind of kills the newsworthiness out of
this full fishing exhibition with Gallainne Maxwell, and with the
exception of some kind of groundbreaking release of DJ files,
which they've said they're not going to do, I can
see this staying out of the news for quite a while.
So in that regard, this might be a success for
(06:46):
President Trump and that he's weathered this storm at least
for now.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
And he kept saying this is a big nothing burger.
There's nothing there, there's nothing to release, there's really nothing
worthwhile he was he seems like he was right all along.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
I mean, it depends how you look at it. In
this case. If President Trump is just referring to the
Gallaine Maxwell interview, certainly he comes out a winner. And
that basically Maxwell said that he's never done anything inappropriate,
that he's been a gentleman in every respect. It's a
very positive light on the president. And the files themselves
are not getting released in large parts. We do know
(07:22):
from the first release of Epstein documents, Trump was mentioned
in them about seven to eight times. He was included
in Jeffrey Epstein's contact book. He was mentioned repeatedly in
Epstein's flight logs through the nineteen nineties. I think if
the dj actually came through and released those files as
they originally promised. It might be a different political picture
for President Trump in terms of his exposure here, but
(07:45):
for now, at least with the only thing really being
released is this complimentary interview from Gallainne Maxwell. President Trump
kind of comes out on top here.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Yeah, we'll see if that's enough. Peter Haralambuos, thanks so
much for your time. Appreciated ABC News Investigative reporter,
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