Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein were a golden couple in high-flying social circles until their downfall. (Photo: White House)
In life, Virginia Roberts Giuffre was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein as a teenager and bravely exposed how Epstein dished up underage girls for sex with high-powered friends.
In death, the fight to bring those perpetrators to justice is continuing in her name. Giuffre, died by suicide in April, but her family has taken up her cause.
Today, her family issued a statement to MSNBC after learning about a reported meeting this evening at Vice President JD Vance’s home.
Top administration officials — White House chief Susie Wiles, Pam Bondi, Kash Patel and Todd Blanche — are expected to discuss the mushrooming scandal.
The so-called strategy session is expected to focus on whether to release a transcript of Deputy Attorney General Blanche’s nine hour session with Epstein lover and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
Related: NY Special Grand Jury Must Resolve Epstein Underage Rape Claims Against Trump, High-Profile ‘Clients’
For the record, Vance denied Maxwell would be discussed at the dinner meeting. “I saw it reported today, and it’s completely fake news,” Vance said.
Maxwell reportedly told Blanche that Trump did nothing in her presence that would cause concern, according to sources quoted by several news outlets. But Maxwell has a history of lying under oath, and releasing the transcript could backfire, if she proves to be not credible.
Clouds have been cast over the interview because of Blanche’s background — he was Trump’s personal criminal lawyer.
Maxwell was also transfered from a maximum security prison to a cushier minimum security facility after the interview. Prison officials say the move is unprecedented given the serious nature of Maxwell’s crimes.
Related: Jeffrey Epstein is the Star in a Netflix documentary about his pedophile sex ring
The Trump administration has been accused of ignoring the victims, but they are slowly beginning to come forward…. again.
In the statement released today, Giuffre’s family members attacked the administration’s planned meeting.
“Missing from this group is, of course, any survivor of the vicious crimes of convicted perjurer and sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein,” they said.
“Their voices must be heard, above all. We also call upon the House subcommittee to invite survivors to testify.
As Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s siblings, we offer to represent her in her stead, and we hope the administration takes our call to action seriously.
Related: Trump Corruption: A Dirty Dozen Incidents Mar First 30 Days in New Term
“Any information that may be released by the government should take into account the survivors who wish to remain anonymous, for their safety and well-being. They should be consulted first.
“We reiterate that Ghislaine Maxwell should have remained in a maximum security prison and does not deserve the luxuries currently afforded her,” the statement said.
During two separate Epstein criminal probes, federal agents reportedly seized tens of thousands of documents tapes and video recordings from his properties in New York City, New Mexico, a Caribbean island and Florida.
The material has reportedly been kept in FBI vaults ever since in New York City and Washington, D.C.
Epstein was indicted on Florida state charges for soliciting of prostitution in 2006. In all, investigators found enough evidence to support 60 criminal counts against him for child sex trafficking.
Then U.S. Attorney for Florida, Alex Acosta, offered a deal to end its investigation if Epstein pleaded guilty to two state charges and accepted a prison term and registered as a sexual offender.
As part of the deal, Acosta agreed to a nonprosecution agreement, or NPA. Epstein and four co-conspirators, and “any potential co-conspirators,” were granted immunity from federal prosecution. Acosta agreed not to tell Epstein’s victims about the NPA, which is still filed under seal.
Acosta surfaced again as Labor Secretary after Trump won the presidency in 2016.
Epstein pleaded guilty under the deal and served 13 months in a local jail. He was allowed to leave during the day. Afterward, he resumed preying on young women and underage girls.
Trump’s connection to Epstein is well documented. Both men claimed to be good friends for at least 15 years before a falling out in 2007 over a real estate deal, although Trump has claimed other reasons.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump appear with one or both Maxwell and Epstein in numerous photos and videos. Trump is also listed in flight logs from Epstein’s private plane, dubbed the “Lolita Express,” and in Epstein’s personal telephone contact list.
In 2015, an Epstein victim gave a videotaped statement allegeding that Trump raped her multiple times at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse. The video has been posted on YouTube for 10 years without legal challenge. (See the video below)
“I have watched this through to the end and having worked with victims of such sexual assaults for over 20 years, listening to their stories and supporting them to process what happenned to them, I am 100% certain that Katie is telling the truth about what she has suffered,” wrote a Mental Health Crisis Manager on “X.”
The victim filed a lawsuit, but withdrew it without prejudice, after she said she and her family had received numerous death threats. The suit, however, included sworn affidavits from two other unnamed eye witnesses.
In July 2019, Epstein was indicted again in the Southern District of New York, which covers Manhattan. He was charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors.
Six days later, Acosta resigned, saying the Epstein matter was a distraction from his agency’s work.
On August 10, 2019, Epstein was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York City. His death was ruled a sucide, but many questions remained and his autopsy has never been released.
In 2021, Maxwell was found guilty of helping Epstein operate a sex-trafficking ring and was sentenced to 20 year in prison the following year. She is currently appealing her conviction.
Although some documents have been released, the thousands of pages of depositions, legal documents and evidence in the case are still under lock and seal, and have become the subject of intense interest.
Chief among them is Epstein’s so-called “client list.” It allegedly contains the names of high-powered individuals, Trump among them, who allegedly engaged in sex with underage girls — a federal and state crime.
None of those names has ever been made public.
The issue became contentious during the 2024 election, and Trump vowed on several occasions to release the files to end the controversy once and for all.
Once elected, he ordered newly appointed Attorney General Pam Bondi to begin a review of the files in anticipation of releasing them. Bondi went so far as claiming the files were sitting on her desk.
But in a shocking turnaround, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said Epstein did not maintain a “client list,” and said no more files related to the wealthy financier’s sex trafficking investigation would be made public.
The decision caused an uproar among Trump’s MAGA base, hoping to see Democrats like Bill Clinton among the clients, and sparked furious back-tracking by the administration.
Since then, Trump and the DOJ have gone back and forth on releaseing some documents or grand jury transcripts.
Damning media reports followed. Hundreds of FBI agents were reportedly tasked with going through the Epstein files and tagging documents naming Trump. Bondi reportedly informed the president his name was in the files.
Then, in mid-July, The Wall Street Journal reported that a card bearing a hand-drawn outline of a naked woman and Trump’s signature representing public hair, was included in a 50th birthday tribute to Epstein.
The note included a suggestive line: “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
Trump claimed the note was fake and sued the media outlet after it refused to remove the story. Critics say the suit is just one of many ways Trump has sought to bury or defuse the scandal. But nothing has worked.
Republican and Democrats on the House Oversight Committee yesterday (Aug 5) voted to subpoena the Department of Justice for Epstein-related files.
The subpoena seeks by August 19 “all documents and communications relating or referring to” Epstein and Maxwell, including information contained in their respective court cases.
In the latest move, the administration has dangled the prospect of releasing a transcript of the Blanche interview as soon as this week.
Vance has been solidly in Trump’s corner throughout the scandal, and it remains to be seen what will come of his meeting with administration officials.