WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he wished alleged sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell well, noting that he had met her multiple times in the past, but he had little else to say on the case involving the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump, speaking at his first coronavirus briefing in weeks, was asked if he thinks Maxwell will “turn in powerful men” following her arrest, given that she was the longtime associate of Epstein and was his alleged co-conspirator.
“I don’t know, I haven’t really been following it too much,” Trump said of the case.
Maxwell was arrested early this month in New Hampshire, where authorities said she had been hiding at a sprawling property she bought while shielding her identity.
“I just wish her well, frankly,” Trump said. “I’ve met her numerous times over the years — especially since I lived in Palm Beach, and I guess they lived in Palm Beach — but I wish her well, whatever it is.”
Maxwell, 58, has denied charges she lured underage girls for Epstein to sexually abuse and has pleaded not guilty. A U.S. District Court judge in Manhattan denied bail at her hearing last week, saying the wealthy socialite posed a flight risk.
Prosecutors have accused Maxwell, 58, of helping Epstein recruit and eventually abuse girls as young as 14 from 1994 to 1997 and lying about her role in depositions in 2016. Her trial is set to start on July 12, 2021.
(Writing by Bill Tarrant; Editing by Leslie Adler)
