Influential MAGA voices are suddenly trying to cast Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking accomplice in a more favorable light.

The Justice Department is reportedly meeting with Maxwell on Thursday and Friday, ahead of her scheduled deposition with the House Oversight Committee on August 11. The interviews follow weeks of mounting pressure on Trump from his base, who have clamored for more transparency regarding the Epstein files after the Justice Department contradicted prior statements from Attorney General Pam Bondi on the existence of Jeffrey Epstein’s supposed client list.

Offering Maxwell as fodder to Trump’s hungry followers is a fascinating carrot-and-stick option to alleviate some of that tension, but convincing her to talk would almost certainly require some kind of deal—an option that pro-Trump conservative media networks started to imagine this week.

On Monday, Newsmax host Greg Kelly had already started to dabble in the new media line, suggesting on air that Maxwell didn’t deserve her 20-year prison sentence and openly embracing the idea that the Epstein associate could be wrongly convicted.

"And maybe she deserves it. Maybe she doesn’t. Again, not a very popular thing, but we’ll take a look,” Kelly told his viewers, even questioning if the child sex abuser had been legally tried in court. (She was.)

"She just might be a victim. She just might be,” Kelly said.

Maxwell was sentenced in 2022 for playing an active role in Epstein’s crimes, identifying and grooming vulnerable young women while normalizing their abuse as Epstein’s longtime girlfriend and associate.

"Maybe she wants immunity, maybe she wants some sort of protection, I don’t know,” Charlie Kirk said on his show Tuesday. “We just want the truth.… Some people say, ‘Can we trust Ghislaine Maxwell?’ Probably, but also probably not.”

  • MisterOwl@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Well yeah, after the Deputy AG threatens to “suicide” her if she doesn’t cover for them, they’re going to need their base to view her in a favorable light when she lies on the stand. These are the new marching orders.

    Also, don’t forget Donald Trump is a convicted sex offender and probably raped children. Don’t let them distract you with this circus.

    • Basic Glitch@sh.itjust.worksOP
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      2 days ago

      Based on the spin people like Charlie Kirk are trying to give her, they’ve obviously been given marching orders.

      I’m guessing the plan is for Trump to pardon her and make it publicly known she was just an innocent victim in all this who was railroaded by the old corrupt DOJ.

      And if the old DOJ could do that to a completely “innocent” girl like Jizzylane, why wouldn’t they also just make up the claims in that file to railroad Trump. This is why Trump had to suddenly fire James Comey’s daughter last week, who was Jizzylane’s prosecutor. Bcuz Deep state and whatnot.

      I mean look at this guy. What about this guy suggests he’d ever do such disgusting acts?

    • CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works
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      1 day ago

      Just for posterity, Trump is not a convicted sex offender. The judge in a civil case concluded that he did rape E Jean Carroll, and I believe he is a rapist and pedophile, but he hasn’t ever been convicted of it in criminal court (not that it really matters because the powers that be would let him walk free).

  • AbidanYre@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Can we trust Ghislaine Maxwell?’ Probably, but also probably not.

    That’s not how that works you tiny faced asshole.

    • Asafum@feddit.nl
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      It absolutely is for them.

      “Probably”: She only names Democrats.

      “Probably not”: she names Trump and other Republicans.

      They’ll decide if she’s trustworthy depending on if she says what they want to hear. :(

    • magnetosphere@fedia.io
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      2 days ago

      No, but it’s great if you’re trying to cover your ass, and look like you’re expressing an opinion when really you’re just being a coward.

  • TemplaerDude@sh.itjust.works
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    2 days ago

    It’s not bonkers. The entire playbook for the last however many years has been “just say the thing they’ll believe it” and they always fucking believe it

  • TotallynotJessica@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    1 day ago

    The Epstein-Trump controversy was always a distraction that would never lead anywhere. The misogynists of MAGA who groom young people into their fascist cult and pass child marriage laws would never seriously turn against Trump for this. They’re too satiated by him finally delivering actual purges of undesirable to be disappointed in him.

    I’m annoyed that people kept making such a big deal out of a controlled controversy with no teeth. My guess is that worrying about deathcamps for minorities and the poor is too painful. I get it; it’s not fun to think about how awful and hopeless things seem. That doesn’t mean burying your head in a dead end controversy is the answer.

    Edit: spelling

  • DirkMcCallahan@lemmy.world
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    "Maybe she wants immunity, maybe she wants some sort of protection, I don’t know,” Charlie Kirk said on his show Tuesday. “We just want the truth.… Some people say, ‘Can we trust Ghislaine Maxwell?’ Probably, but also probably not.”

    I read this in Tom Jumbo-Grumbo’s voice.

    • Basic Glitch@sh.itjust.worksOP
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      1 day ago

      I mean Jesus Christ this is insane! If they pardon her that would be a very capitol storming worthy offense imo. This lady was the how he was able to keep his cover for as long as he did.

      She helped lure kids into the fucking lions den! And now she might just be let off the hook? All bc he thinks it will help him better control the narrative? This shit makes me so unbelievably furious.

      Jeffrey Epstein’s estate prevented his victims from suing Ghislaine Maxwell

      The language in the release required the women to drop any existing lawsuits against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime associate who multiple women have accused of sexually abusing them and of trafficking them to Epstein. The release also forbids accusers who accepted compensation from ever filing a lawsuit against Maxwell in the future.

      For some accusers, being locked out of civil litigation against Maxwell has raised the stakes of the ongoing criminal case against her. Maxwell is currently standing trial in Manhattan federal court for allegedly grooming and trafficking girls to Epstein, and sexually abusing some of them herself. She’s pleaded not guilty to the charges.

      So if Trump pardons her, its like none of that ever happened. So many innocent lives ruined, but none of the ones that fucking deserve it. One of the victims that had her own life ruined and risked it all to speak out, is dead (allegedly by suicide). The Royal family, wall street executives, and tons of other random rich fucks, all being shown once again, there are no consequences for them. They can do whatever they want to anybody they want. It’s how it always has been, and until we stop it, it’s how it always will be.