Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian
Donald Trump swears in Todd Blanche (2025)
President Donald Trump swears in Todd Blanche as Deputy Attorney General in the Oval Office, Thursday, March 6, 2025.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche was buried on social media for his defensive post covering his controversial interview with Ghislaine Maxwell.
House Democrats released emails obtained from the Jeffrey Epstein estate telling an author that President Donald Trump "knew about the girls" he sexually abused, and another sent to Maxwell in 2011 that Trump "spent hours" with one of his teenage victims, which seems to contradict what Blanche said Maxwell told him this summer.
"An important side note about today's Epstein/Trump revelations," noted conservative attorney George Conway on X. "They show that Todd Blanche's questioning of Ghislaine Maxwell was either (a) completely incompetent; or (b) intentionally crafted not to elicit facts incriminating Trump. Either way, he is not fit to serve as Deputy Attorney General of the United States."
Blanche spoke to Maxwell over two days in July at a prison where she's serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking and other charges, and he publicly asserted that she had told him she never saw Trump act inappropriately, and he disputed Conway's criticism.
"George, you’ve never been confused for a trial lawyer, and these kinds of posts explain why," Blanche replied. "When I interviewed Maxwell, law enforcement didn’t have the materials Epstein’s estate hid for years and only just provided to Congress. Stop talking. It’s unbecoming."
Smells Bad
The Justice Department official's explanation didn't pass the smell test for many social media users, however.
"Todd, didn't the Justice Department have these emails when they seized Epstein's computers, phones, iPads, and other electronic devices from his homes in Manhattan and the US Virgin Islands?" posted Business Insider's Jacob Shamsian.
"Mr. Blanche, When you questioned Maxwell you simply let her spew a narrative contradicted by evidence already in your possession," said retired attorney Tirah Att. "I'm not sure what the point of the interview was, but we know the result—she was moved to a cushy prison not meant for sexual predators."
"Hey, so why did you transfer a pedophile and child trafficker to a much more comfortable prison?" asked writer and comedian Mike Drucker. "What did she say that made you think, 'This pedophile deserves a break'?"
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"Why was a convicted child sexual predator moved to a minimum security 'spa,'" added X user Denison Barb. "Why should a convicted child predator get any special treatment?"
"Todd, you got her a puppy," quipped X user Rose Benson. "Come on, Todd."
"Leaving aside all the other legitimate questions about your interview with her, the question now is: So now that you DO have them, will you re-interview her and charge her if it becomes clear she lied to you originally?" wondered consultant John Olberding.
"Todd Blanche acknowledges that yesterday's email dump undermines his interview with Ghislaine Maxwell," said attorney Aaron Parnas. "Will they move her back to her prior prison?"
"This is a huge admission," agreed the Meidas Touch account.
Conway took a shot of his own at Blanche in response.
"Dude, you didn't even come close to asking a decent follow-up question of Maxwell," Conway posted. "And I saw you at your boss's criminal trial, you know, the one where he was convicted on 34 felony counts: You couldn't cross-examine your way out of a paper bag."
