Pardon Official Reveals Status of Donald Trump's Decision to Excuse Ghislaine Maxwell's 20-Year Prison Sentence

Donald Trump’s former friendship with Ghislaine Maxwell has Americans concerned over whether or not the president will issue a pardon for Maxwell and her 20-year prison sentence.

According to The Daily Beast, representatives from the publication submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney (OPA), where direct correspondence is made with the president about the mitigation of prisoners.

The publication reportedly asked Pardon Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr., who works with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Attorney General Pam Bondi to review and process clemency petitions, for “any documentation that discusses the potential pardoning of Ghislaine Maxwell since July 1, 2020.”

The Office of the Pardon Attorney responded on Wednesday, August 13, by revealing that Trump has had no direct contact with their office about pardoning Maxwell.

“Please be advised that a search has been conducted in the Office of the Pardon Attorney, but no responsive records subject to the Freedom of Information Act were located,” the office said toThe Daily Beast.

In July, Trump spoke with reporters about how he’s “allowed” to pardon Maxwell but hadn’t given it much thought. “It’s something I haven’t thought about. It’s really something… I’m allowed to do it, but it is something I have not thought about,” Trump said.

Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in 2022 after being found guilty on five of six counts, including trafficking of a minor and transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

According to Jeffrey Epstein’s former lawyer Alan Dershowitz, the financier’s co-conspirator never should have been jailed in the first place. “Ghislaine Maxwell is basically serving the sentence that Epstein would have gotten,” the lawyer told Newsmax’s Sunday Agenda.

“She should never be in jail for 20 years. What should happen is, she should be free. She should have her sentence commuted,” Dershowitz added. “She should then be called in front of Congress. Have Congress give her total immunity, and then she can tell everything she knows.”

During the last week of July, Maxwell was relocated to Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Texas after serving three years at Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Tallahassee in Florida.

Maxwell was transferred after she met with the deputy attorney general for two days of questioning about Epstein and his clientele. After her relocation, Trump claimed he had nothing to do with it.

“I didn’t know about it at all, no,” Trump said on August 5. “I read about it just like you did,” adding that moving from one prison to another is “not a very uncommon thing.”