‘Round two’: Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell meets Friday with DOJ in Tallahassee for second interview

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche held a second interview in Tallahassee Friday with Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking at Tallahassee’s Federal Correctional Institution.

Friday morning, WCTV witnessed a caravan of vehicles arriving at the federal courthouse in downtown Tallahassee and had a chance to speak with Maxwell’s attorney David Markus. Outside the courthouse, Markus told WCTV they were hoping for “another productive day” and were “ready to go in for round two.”

When Markus emerged, he said Maxwell mentioned more than 100 names. But it isn’t clear which ones.

“We just know that this was the first opportunity she’s ever been given to answer questions about what happened. And so the truth will come out about what happened with Mr. Epstein, and she’s the person who’s answering those questions,” Markus said.

He went on say that Maxwell is “keeping her spirits up as much as she can.”

Protestors also turned out for day two of Maxwell’s meeting with the Department of Justice (DOJ).

On Friday, advocacy group UltraViolet was seen flying a banner over downtown Tallahassee in protest of the deputy attorney general meeting with Maxwell. The banner read, “Trump and Bondi are protecting predators.”

“[Todd Blanch], Pam Bondi, his administration should not be the ones overseeing any investigation. It should be a neutral third party who can take a look at those files and release them to the public with the survivor’s names redacted,” said Elisa Batista, campaign director for UltraViolet.

Batista said it’s wrong for the president’s former personal attorney, now deputy attorney general, to handle the case.

Markus, however, said Maxwell was not motivated to tell the deputy attorney general what he wanted to hear.

“No, because she wants to tell the truth,” he said. “Because the truth can be corroborated or disproven. If she lies, they could charge her with lying.”

It’s clear Maxwell is pursuing two different tracks: An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and high-level discussions with the DOJ.

Markus said these talks would not impact Maxwell’s appeal. He said she faced an unfair process.

However, Maxwell was convicted by a jury on six of seven counts. That conviction has been upheld by appellate courts.

“She literally answered every question. She didn’t say, ‘You know what? Don’t ask me that. I’m not going to talk about this person,’” Markus said. “She was asked maybe about 100 different people. She answered questions about everybody, and she didn’t hold anything back.”

Markus said a plea deal by Epstein should bar any prosecution of Maxwell.

“We don’t think this will affect her appeal. We’re appealing on a very important ground, which is the government at the time promised... Jeffrey Epstein that any potential co-conspirators would not be prosecuted,” he said.

Batista said the meetings in Tallahassee could be a way for the deputy attorney general to run cover for President Donald Trump.

“It’s already been well established that [Trump] enjoyed a decades-long friendship with Epstein,” she said.

The DOJ official’s meeting with Epstein’s former girlfriend Friday comes just a day after he met with her to discuss convicted sex offender Epstein. The two met Thursday at the U.S. attorney’s office, located at the federal courthouse in downtown Tallahassee.

After a nearly eight-hour interview at the courthouse, Attorney Markus was spotted exiting the building. At the time, he would not comment on the substance of his discussion with Maxwell, saying there were a lot of questions and that it went on all day.

Shortly after Markus’ remarks and the DOJ meeting Thursday, Maxwell was seen exclusively by a WCTV drone camera wearing all brown and carrying a box while being led by law enforcement back into the federal prison in Florida’s capital city.

Blanche’s meeting with Maxwell is part of an ongoing DOJ effort “to cast itself as transparent following fierce backlash from parts of President Donald Trump’s base over an earlier refusal to release additional records in the Epstein investigation," according to the Associated Press.

On Wednesday, a judge denied the Trump administration’s request to unseal transcripts from grand jury investigations of Epstein years ago in Florida, per the AP.

Maxwell isn’t scheduled to be released until July 2037, U.S. Bureau of Prisons records show.

This story will continue to be updated as we learn more.

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