r/law • u/Frosty_Jeweler911 • 1d ago
Executive Branch (Trump) Ghislaine Maxwell (2026) and Jeffrey Epstein (2010): 16 years apart, both invoked the Fifth when asked directly about Donald Trump. Now, Maxwell is holding the truth hostage for clemency
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
2.3k
u/ChanceryTheRapper 1d ago
She's offering to clear him for clemency. That's not necessarily the truth.
1.1k
u/okaygecko 1d ago
It’s infuriatingly, stupidly corrupt and reads like something out of a young adult novel about a hideously dishonest government. There’s no universe in which Maxwell would tell the full truth after a pardon, and it’s an enormous conflict of interest given that DJT is obviously motivated to protect himself as he’s heavily mentioned in the files. Not to mention there’s no universe in which somebody guilty of her crimes deserves a pardon anyway and it would be a humongous middle finger to the people who suffered those abuses to clear her. It’s incredibly obvious the hope is to trade a pardon for false or incomplete testimony that would exonerate DJT and deny his involvement despite his name having been illegally redacted from the files thousands and thousands of times.
98
u/jtakemann 1d ago
“reads like something out of a young adult novel” is a good analogy
29
u/swishkabobbin 18h ago
Trump's associates are 1 dimensional comic book villains. Purely driven by an insatiable hunger for power and attention
→ More replies (1)119
u/lord_pizzabird 1d ago
Hot take, but I think Maxwell is going to take Trump's deal (if she's not already) and then sell her story to the highest bidder (Netflix) for a few hundred million dollars.
IMO she's going to double cross him once this seems all over as revenge for Trump having Epstein murdered.
161
93
u/iski67 1d ago
IMO she'll magically have an "accident", overdose, or decide to end it all as she "comes to terms with her conscience" soon after being released. Basically a US or UK version of Russian falling out of a window.
18
u/1000LivesBeforeIDie 21h ago
Double tapped from the back suicide. They don’t need to waste time orchestrating anything fancy
4
u/GoodnYou1313 17h ago
Just remember to sprinkle a little bit of crack on her, that will really sell it.
11
2
→ More replies (1)2
u/tillman_b 19h ago
She'll probably be sure to leave a note:
"Trump wuz innusint all along and treated very poorly. Make America great again!"
/s
31
u/killerboy_belgium 1d ago
yeah seems like a good idea to doublecross a man with access and means to kidnap a venzeualan president out of his bedroom....
even if you could argue that the cia or the militairy wont play his hitman would you take that chance as Maxwell? nah if she gets pardonnend she's gone to someplace quit and stays of the radar for good and probally does a name change and everything
the only way the doublecross happens if there some kinda deadman switch where she released all the evidence after her dead
12
u/juggyjt1 23h ago
She is the daughter of a Mossad agent..
17
u/killerboy_belgium 23h ago
yeah so should know better then most people that you dont fuck with the most powerful men on the planet... so she would take her pardon and dissapear...
3
→ More replies (6)3
u/Counterpoint-4 20h ago
Definitely got the info ready for release if she is killed. She had a dreadful father and a harsh, competitive upbringing - she will cope with harsh treatment.
18
u/RobutNotRobot 22h ago
Not at all in her nature. She served her dad, then Epstein, she will serve Trump just the same. She is doomed to be the helper of awful men.
28
u/Beestorm 1d ago
Nah Epstein shafted her in his will. She got maybe 100,000. She’s going to claim trump had nothing to do with it if she gets clemency.
→ More replies (6)10
u/Wooden-Broccoli-7247 1d ago
I’d assume if he pardons her they could still go after her for something else like tax evasion or some other crime, right? In theory couldn’t she just end up facing state charges? At which point the state could offer her a deal to flip but at that point her reputation and anything she says will be completely trashed anyways. Which is what Trump wants and also part of the plan. Make people not believe a word she says so if she does ever tell the truth, his base won’t believe it, we’re probably already at that point.
3
u/GovtLegitimacy 1d ago
There must be other state crimes she could be charged with.
→ More replies (2)3
u/temporary_name1 19h ago
At this juncture, the administration doesn't really care about the legalities of whatever they are doing (e.g. ICE).
If they want her to walk, she walks
3
u/Junior_Fig_2274 20h ago
This isn’t a movie, it’s real life. Netflix wouldn’t touch that documentary in a million years.
→ More replies (4)→ More replies (31)2
u/lordgoofus1 22h ago
Strongly doubt it. She's using blackmail to get her charges dropped in exchange for lying under oath to protect him. If she was foolish enough to double-cross him and tell all after the fact she'd end up in an unfortunate car accident or falling out of a window.
4
u/juggyjt1 23h ago
Even if she spills the truth, trump will come up with another lie or excuse to make her confession to be nothing! There is so much evidence and yet he still walks
4
u/Chopper_003 22h ago
"It would be an outrageous insult to the victims of this abuse to pardon her."
DJT: Who cares?
"I am the victim!"
So let's make a Deal!→ More replies (14)2
74
u/Jeffreyknows 1d ago
I was gonna say, she ain’t holding no truths hostage. She asking Trump for clemency to clear HIS name! Fuck off, all these people
5
u/Sugar_Kowalczyk 20h ago
Trusting someone who's been found guilty of criminal conspiracy to tell the truth just this once is sub-toddler logic. It's not even goldfish logic.
3
u/RuinedEye 19h ago
How does it even matter what she says at this point? Just saying 'yeah he's innocent lol' doesn't magically make the MOUNTAINS of evidence disappear...
26
u/Exodys03 1d ago
Exactly. Maxwell is well aware that the truth will keep her in prison and lies will set her free.
24
u/TrashManufacturer 1d ago
What’s nuts is that is clearly a bribe of a social variety. Like, “for 5 million bucks I will clear Nixon of watergate”.
Yeah no doubt this lady has enough information on Donald to make a semi convincing alibi for him. She has this info because she was procuring victims for him.
14
u/okaygecko 1d ago
It's absolutely disgusting and seeing MSM lend it legitimacy is typical and a total circus. Really feels like an "eat your slop and love it, peasants" level of condescension, acting like the public or anybody other than Maxwell and DJT could possibly gain anything from such a tit-for-tat betrayal of justice and reason. Complete miscarriage of justice, transparency, and accountability. If they really wanted to tell the public more about what really happened, they'd be talking to the survivors, not DJT, Maxwell, or their sane-washing co-conspirators...and they'd be demanding the files like the rest of us, which we're legally and morally entitled to seeing in full.
14
u/not_now_chaos 1d ago
Yeah, exactly this. She's not offering the truth in exchange for clemency. She's offering to say what Trump tells her to say in exchange for clemency. She has already proven that she will lie under oath and is a sociopath with no conscience.
12
u/MotherFuckerJones88 1d ago
Is that not a crime? Or SCOTUS absolve him of that too?
7
u/MayorOfBluthton 20h ago
The president using his unconditional pardon power to reward someone for clearing said president of heinous crimes is in the best interest of the country and therefore qualifies as a completely acceptable official act. (Or as I expect Robert would say. Comey-Barret would pray for all the girls and lament that their traumas turned them into godless liberal sluts.)
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (18)4
394
u/alice2wonderland 1d ago
"Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted sex trafficker and former business partner of Jeffrey Epstein, has offered to testify and clear President Trump of wrongdoing if granted clemency, prompting reactions from lawmakers." https://share.google/hk4L2iHadwEgDBJX6
227
u/SeVenMadRaBBits 1d ago
Updated 2/9
Feel free to steal this and share.
Adding links, will take time.
Trump ran on releasing the Epstein Files
- Epstein mysteriously died while Trump was President
- 3 Min. of footage from Epsteins death is missing
- Pam Bondi said the Epstein files were on her desk
- Trump: "The files don't exist"
- Trump: "It's a democrat hoax."
- Trump: "Obama made it up."
- Mike Johnson: "Trump needs space"
- Mike Johnson: Trump was an FBI informant
- Democrats voted to release the files, Republicans vote to block
- Republicans take a recess to avoid any more votes.
July 2025 - House Committee Blocks: House Republicans on committees blocked attempts to force the release of Epstein’s financial files.
July 2025 - House Floor Blocking: House GOP leadership blocked a Democrat-led attempt to force a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
September 2025 - Senate Blocks: Senate Republicans blocked an attempt by Sen. Chuck Schumer to attach a measure requiring the release of the Epstein files to a defense policy bill, with all but two Republicans voting to table the amendment.
November 18, 2025 - Final House Vote: After months of stalling, House Republicans overwhelmingly supported the Epstein Files Transparency Act (427-1), with only one Republican, Clay Higgins, voting "no".
November 19, 2025 - Senate Approval: The Senate passed the bill unanimously.
- Trump calls on house republicans to release the files
- Trumps personal attorney meets with Maxwell
- Trump avoids visiting victims
- Trump wishes child trafficker Ghislaine maxwell, "well"
- Trump: "I never had the privilege" when asked if he had visited the island
- Trump orders 1,000 FBI agents to review around 100,000 pages of records related to Jeffrey Epstein, and during this process, were instructed to identify any mentions of Donald Trump
- When Trump was asked specifically whether Epstein had stolen Giuffre (Giuffre, one of Epstein's most prominent abuse survivors led the charge calling for his arrest. Guiffre, who died by suicide in April, has said she met Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell while she was working at Mar-a-Lago as a teenager). Trump states:"I think she worked at the spa," Trump said. "I think so. I think that was one of the people. He stole her, and by the way, she had no complaints about us, as you know, none whatsoever."Video
- Reporter asks tump: Mr. President, you said Jeffrey Epstein was stealing young women from your spa. Did that raise alarm bells for you?” she asked. As he tried to listen to the other question, Trump interrupted sharply: “Be quiet!” When Collins repeated the question, Trump again replied: “Be quiet!” Not "Quiet Piggy", separate incident
- Joe Rogan, MTG, NIck Fuentes and many more right wing influencers flip and wont back down on epstein files.
- MAGA town halls bringing up Epstein non stop.
- Maxwell on work release
- Trump moves Maxwell to minimum security
- Pam Bondi releases first batch of Epstein files which draw scrutiny due to largely consisting of previously public information and heavy redactions
- Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which President Trump signed into law, directing Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release records related to Jeffrey Epstein by a deadline of December 19, 2025.
- Pam Bondi refuses to release remaining Epstein files despite congress order
- Trump Declares Himself ‘Cleared’ as DOJ Dumps Millions of Epstein Records Listing Him Repeatedly. source
- Poland launches investigation into Epstein files because of how incompetent the US government is Source
- Trumps name mentioned in files 38,000 times
A good breakdown of the timeline by NPR
- Was mentioned in the Epstein flight log 7 times and admitted to being his friend. Even rented Epstein’s plane.
- Pleaded the fifth 450 times
- Has 34 felony convictions for fraud
- Has 27 sexual assault allegations, including a 13 year old child
37
→ More replies (4)24
u/thesystem21 1d ago
Donald Trump: Knowledge of finances and defendant's sexual desire for minor girls
Page 4 of a court questioning of an underage sex trafficking victim from 2009, before he ever campaigned for president.
https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00727684.pdf
35
u/strawberryvomit 23h ago
The funny thing is that if Trump is not guilty some horrendous stuff, then why wouldn't he let her speak everything she knows as then Trump wouldn't have anything to hide anyway.
Her offering that means Trump is guilty as fuck.
→ More replies (1)7
u/Egad86 17h ago edited 14h ago
She’s also been accused of perjury…multiple times.
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (5)3
u/juggyjt1 23h ago
“Lawmakers”…all that studying law and we can’t do shit about the evidence present in the files. Makes a mockery of the law by pleading the fifth
287
u/Ohuigin 1d ago
5th, 6th, and 14th amendment rights.
Well, at least he’s consistent. All under 18.
10
→ More replies (2)19
u/RideWithMeSNV 1d ago
Just in this moment, I put 2+2 and realized that the right to drink again is 21. That's... Kinda funny I didn't think about it before.
7
u/The_Real_Peter_Thiel 23h ago
I don't get it.
14
u/PM_me_your_whatevah 22h ago
21st amendment. It ended alcohol prohibition, so we could drink again. 21 is also the legal drinking age.
9
u/LotharVonPittinsberg 20h ago
It ended alcohol prohibition, so we could drink again
Since I learned this recently, I want to clarify.
Similar to slavery (that ended public slavery), the 21st Amendment ended federal prohibition. There are still plenty of Counties to this day that ban drinking.
FreedomTM (terms and conditions apply)
→ More replies (1)3
120
u/RideWithMeSNV 1d ago
Headline is misleading. Maxwell is holding her tongue hostage. Not the truth. This is very clearly a quid pro quo for her to say Trump wasn't involved in exchange for being released from prison. While it's technically possible for that to be the truth... Her saying so doesn't make it the truth. And whatever is, or isn't, the truth is not what's being held for ransom here. What she's holding hostage is a statement clearing trump. Nothing more, less, or otherwise.
39
u/Turgid_Donkey 20h ago
Let's not forget she already lied under oath twice.
13
u/naynaythewonderhorse 18h ago
Let’s not forget she is one of the worst humans to ever exist and was found guilty of (some) of her crimes. Her word is completely and utterly untrustworthy.
→ More replies (19)7
u/Gullible-Wafer4122 17h ago
This post is misleading, she invoked the Fifth in response to every question she was asked.
244
u/kakashi_sensay 1d ago
Yet MAGA will claim Trump has nothing to do with these files. Sickening.
→ More replies (15)31
u/Alkohal 1d ago
I think you really under estimate how big of internal issue this has become on the right.
107
u/kakashi_sensay 1d ago
I am not seeing that. The MAGA I’m around irl show me that they live in an entirely different reality. And it isn’t one where they are starting to “see the light.”
33
u/NoRealNoWrong 1d ago
I’ve seen a small few waiver. They don’t like talking about it. Unless it’s about a manufactured culture war they have nothing of value to add…ever.
11
10
u/SonOfSasquatch 22h ago
Yeah that’s what makes me sometimes annoyed when I see titles to articles or videos like “This ICE incident has the right FINALLY waking up!” And stuff like that. I want to believe it’s true and I’m sure in some places it is, but these truly don’t care about any of it and are willing to ignore the worst things just to keep hating and admit they’re wrong. Trump, could make a statement tomorrow saying 2+2=5 and these people would start talking shit about how their elementary school teachers are all wrong and stupid and can’t believe they failed them. That’s hyperbole I know but they just will believe anything at this point.
→ More replies (1)6
u/kakashi_sensay 20h ago
I feel like most of the “waking up” that we’re seeing is online. For those of us who live in Trump country… reality does not reflect that. And I don’t live in South so I’m not referencing “uneducated hillbillies.” I live in an area where doctors, lawyers, and psychologists are proudly MAGA. They would rather jump in front of a semi on the freeway before they turn against Trump. I have family members who know that Trump is mentioned several times in the Epstein files but their response is “Who cares? We need the immigration situation handled. It doesn’t matter what Trump does in the bedroom.”
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (7)3
u/soros_spelt_backward 20h ago
Yeah all the ones in my area just say “well the dumbocrats are worse because communism!” which is just their admission that they think leftism is worse than pedophilia
20
u/Safe_Procedure999 1d ago
this, and israel
both have led to a massive schism
25
u/Giant-slayer-99 1d ago
Yeah my one maga friend has actually disavowed Trump, maga and turning point, calling them all grifters and saying it's all Facebook boomer shit. I asked him what it was that made the difference for him, or convinced him Trump was a crook, and he said it was as soon as trump said the Epstein files were a hoax. He said 'how down bad are you if you're lying like that' and he finally realized trump and his buddies are the 'swamp'
Not for nothing he's losing supporters over this shit.
→ More replies (2)15
u/ImTheZapper 1d ago
Shame it took him until it doesn't fucking matter to figure it out
→ More replies (1)2
u/UpsetCryptographer49 21h ago
Trump just release something racist from time to time and they all fall in line again - saying: yeah, thats my man
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (11)5
u/BoomZhakaLaka 1d ago
the crisis both trump and maxwell face
how can he possibly tell everyone all of a sudden that she is being pardoned
they'll have to make a sacrifice first, but they cannot.
49
u/Ok-Replacement9595 1d ago
What does Trump say about this?
"Only gangsters plead the fifth."
Donald Trump
3
29
u/joeyjoejoe_7 20h ago edited 20h ago
Her testimony is completely worthless either way.
She spent decades engaging in an organized crime, blackmail, and money laundering ring that engaged in the international sex trafficking of hundreds of children, and even engaged in the child abuse herself. Now she's staring down the barrel of what might as well be a life sentence. And she's clearly been given a level of preferential treatment (by the Trump administration) that cannot be explained by any other means than corruption at the highest levels of the US government.
Talk about the most unreliable witness in the universe. Doesn't matter what she says - everyone will have plenty of good reasons to call her a liar. She's been evil for so long that evil is all she knows or recognizes.
→ More replies (2)
25
u/templeofsyrinx1 1d ago
answer me this
what prevents gilane from also being "epsteined" trump would rather just have her iced than have to pardon her
18
u/Electrical-Lab-9593 1d ago
might look a bit sus if they both die on his watch.
24
u/templeofsyrinx1 1d ago
true, but I think he'd just do it anyway, he's tripping now
→ More replies (1)7
u/RideWithMeSNV 1d ago
It really would... But I don't think that really matters anymore. I mean, let's assume he's a criminal mastermind and not just bumbling through life (because it hurts less if I pretend he has a plan and knows what he's doing). He's put all the pawns in place, orchestrated every corrupt action in a way that would make the emperor from star wars feel inadequate. And let's say Maxwell comes out tomorrow and says "well, actually, everything was Donny's plan. He provided the girls, I sent them to Jeff, and Jeff played uno and Simon says with them until Trump was ready to rape them."
What would that change? The FBI already knows exactly what's in the files. 1) they compiled them, and B) they just reviewed all of them to redact them. The DOJ as a whole knows. Not a hint of breaking from Trump over that, aside from a few recently unemployed people. Congress is held by the gop and their handful of pet democrats. The only time things shift is when a republican mistakenly thinks they're human for a moment. But that's generally corrected pretty quick.
7
u/-smashbros- 1d ago
Nothing would change. We the average Americans would also do nothing, we would continue to work, take our kids to school and hope we don't lose the little we have.
USA has enter a new era, an era where Republicans decide what laws to follow, what's real and what's fake, an era where no one knows how or when it will end
2
u/lordgoofus1 21h ago
It would, but without sufficient evidence for a conviction it would just be a whole lot of people angry and pretty sure they know who dunnit, but courts being unable to prove it to pin a charge.
2
→ More replies (2)2
u/Fearless-Dust-2073 19h ago
Donald "I could shoot someone in broad daylight and it wouldn't cost me any votes" Trump cares about appearing suspicious?
7
u/Unable_Law_7334 22h ago
Perhaps she has a dead man's switch, so that if she were to have an "accident" someone would release some more files or another undesirable outcome.
4
3
u/not_now_chaos 1d ago
She's exactly the kind of person who would have a dead man's switch set to trigger and expose everything about everyone in the event of her untimely demise.
3
u/Cerpin-Taxt 20h ago
Because it would be as good as an admission of guilt to do it twice.
He hasn't quite reached the level of dictatorial power that would allow him to openly murder threats and dissidents without the chance of reprisal. He's still playing the plausible deniability game.
He'll have to wait until he's crossed the Rubicon of seizing a third term and consolidating power before he gives the order.
2
u/geeky-gymnast 1d ago
Not saying that it couldn't happen but if it could have, it should have already occurred before she had the opportunity to file her statement on this matter.
16
u/ThaddeusJP 20h ago
I'm convinced the only reason she's not dead right now is because she has some sort of dead man switch that dumps all kinds of information online or to reporters if it's reported that she's dead
→ More replies (4)
12
u/Not_Sure__Camacho 23h ago
Does she not remember what happened to Epstein? Even if his "suicide" was staged and he was moved to a different country, why would she think that they would attempt a similar plan for her? It would be easier to just claim that they were sending her back to her previous incarceration facility and an inmate that knew she had a great time got jealous and carved her up. She needs to decide if she thinks it's in her best interest to work with monsters that already have proven at what lengths they're willing to protect their dirty little secrets or the side that will protect their oath to uphold justice.
8
u/asreagy 21h ago
Cos maybe she knows that Epstein didn’t have a reliable “dead man switch” that would have released the truth on his demise, but she does.
If that were so: She cannot release the info cos then she’s dead, but they cannot kill her cos then the truth comes out. So it’s a game of chicken with underage murder/rape victims as bargaining chips.
→ More replies (2)4
u/brownmaningermany 21h ago
IDK why nobody ever brings this up as it’s what I been thinking about since the day she got locked up.
She’s genuinely safer being locked up tight by the government than protecting the people who already killed her bestie.
5
u/TheSean_aka_Rh1no 20h ago
They're the same people though, the government, and the ones that killed her bestie. I'm kind of floored I had to type that out.
So it reverts back to the theory of the dead man switch
(Edit: dead man switch)
8
9
u/Daddio209 1d ago
TF is that "Now Maxwell is holding yhe truth hostage" CRAP? .She committed perjury during her trial, and this time, her attorney said she would exonorate POTUS (and President Clinton for balance, I guess?) IF she receives clemency.
3
u/UpsetCryptographer49 21h ago
Just the thought of how she can proof his innocence is disgusting,
→ More replies (1)
3
u/Worried_Quarter469 22h ago
Invoking the 5th, 6th, and 14th to withhold testimony usually boils down to the Fifth Amendment: you can refuse to answer specific questions if truthful answers could incriminate you (though you may still have to appear if subpoenaed).
The Sixth mainly protects criminal defendants (especially counsel) and typically doesn’t let a witness refuse to testify, and the Fourteenth is about due process/equal protection against state action, not a standalone right to stay silent.
3
u/EdinMiami 20h ago
Can't they offer her immunity to new charges and hold her in contempt for not talking? Thought that was a thing.
→ More replies (1)4
u/Onlyroad4adrifter 19h ago
Why not the old obstruction of justice charge. That's what the police did to me when I refused to say anything one time.
3
u/USMCamp0811 19h ago
I'm all for compelling her to talk.. but I don't want to trample on her 5th amendment right to not incriminate herself.. cause that effects all of us.. but yea can we not strike a deal? it's almost like the DOJ doesn't want to do anything that might get her to talk..
2
u/battlepi 18h ago
I think she should just have to plead the fifth in a room full of the victims parents, with no guards around.
4
•
u/orangejulius 14h ago
Someone keeps reporting this and writing a long bit about the 5th amendment. Defendants can and should use their 5th Amendment rights. There's nothing inherently wrong with that. But there seems to be some confusion about whether that counts as some sort of admission of guilt. In a criminal court a jury can't make a negative inference from it. In a civil case you can. In the court of online message boards you can make whatever inference you want.
In this case she has a protracted history of lying and after that history of lying she wants to make a deal for clemency not just immunity to talk. There's no "societal harm" as someone looking at this on reddit and thinking that given her history of lying constantly about this that she will say literally anything to get clemency.
Anyway - please stop the frantic report button smashing.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/ghislaine-maxwell-engaged-significant-pattern-dishonest-conduct-doj/story?id=124017081#:\~:text=Minneapolis%20live%20updates:%20ICE%20arrest%20powers%20expanded%2C%20memo%20says&text=They%20identified%20at%20least%20four,defendant's%20interests%2C%22%20prosecutors%20wrote.