US President Donald Trump denied on Friday, July 25, that he had ever been told that his name appeared in files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “No, I was never – never briefed, no,” Trump told reporters in Scotland after the Wall Street Journal reported that the attorney general told him in May about his name appearing multiple times.

Trump has denied prior knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and claimed he cut off their relationship long ago. But he faces ongoing questions about the Epstein case, overshadowing his administration’s achievements.

Read more Subscribers only Epstein scandal sparks $10 billion clash between Trump and Murdoch

Officials have said Epstein killed himself in his New York jail cell while awaiting trial in 2019, but his case has generated endless attention and conspiracy theories because of his links to famous people, such as royals, presidents and billionaires, including Trump.

Meanwhile, Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned former girlfriend of Epstein, finished 1 1/2 days of interviews with Justice Department officials on Friday, answering questions “about 100 different people,” her attorney said.

“She answered those questions honestly, truthfully, to the best of her ability,” David Oscar Markus told reporters outside the federal courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida, where Maxwell met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. “She never invoked a privilege. She never refused to answer a question, so we’re very proud of her.”

Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence and is housed at a low-security federal prison in Tallahassee. She was sentenced three years ago after being convicted of helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.

‘Seeking the truth’

On Friday, reporters pressed Trump about pardoning Maxwell, but he deflected, emphasizing his administration’s successes.

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“The deputy attorney general is seeking the truth,” Markus said. “He asked every possible question, and he was doing an amazing job.”

Markus said he didn’t ask for anything for Maxwell in return, though he acknowledged that Trump could pardon her.

“Listen, the president this morning said he had the power to do so. We hope he exercises that power in the right and just way,” Markus said.

Earlier this month, the Justice Department said it would not release more files related to the Epstein investigation, despite promises that claimed otherwise from Attorney General Pam Bondi. The department also said an Epstein client list does not exist.

Read more Subscribers only ‘The Epstein case is a new version of the classic conspiracy against authentic America’

Maxwell is appealing her conviction, based on the government’s pledge years ago that any potential Epstein co-conspirators would not be charged, Markus said. Epstein struck a deal with federal prosecutors in 2008 that shifted his case to Florida state court, where he pleaded guilty to soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution.

Epstein in 2019 and Maxwell in 2020 were charged in federal court in New York.

Le Monde with AP and AFP

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