Convicted sex trafficker and Jeffrey Epstein associate was transferred without explanation after unusual visit by Trump’s Deputy Attorney General
Washington, D.C. – Late last week, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Courts Subcommittee, sent a letter to Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Director William Marshall demanding more information on the transfer of Ghislaine Maxwell to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas.
Maxwell, a close associate of the notorious and politically-connected child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, was convicted in 2021 of conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors to participate in illegal sex acts, transporting a minor to participate in illegal sex acts, sex trafficking conspiracy, and sex trafficking of a minor. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence.
In late July, under public pressure for the Trump Justice Department’s role in covering up files related to the Epstein case, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche – a former personal criminal defense attorney for President Donald Trump – met with Maxwell to discuss her knowledge of Epstein’s associates and victims and her role in the child sex trafficking scheme. As Whitehouse and Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-IL) wrote in a letter to Blanche, it “is highly unusual, if not unprecedented” for the second highest-ranking official at the Justice Department to conduct such an interview instead of a line prosecutor familiar with the case.
One week after two days of meetings with Deputy Attorney General Blanche, Maxwell was transferred to the minimum-security prison camp.
“Ms. Maxwell was transferred without explanation and in possible violation of standard Bureau policy. Against the backdrop of the political scandal arising from President Trump’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, Ms. Maxwell’s abrupt transfer raises questions about whether she has been given special treatment in exchange for political favors,” wrote Whitehouse.
Bureau of Prisons policy requires individuals convicted of sex offenses to be placed, at a minimum, at low-security facilities, not minimum-security facilities. A Bureau of Prisons administrator would normally be required to approve a waiver for such an unusual transfer.
“Congress has a strong oversight interest in knowing whether these procedures were followed in transferring Ms. Maxwell and whether that transfer was part of a political deal. A federal statute sets forth the factors that the Bureau must consider when determining where and how to house people within the Bureau’s custody. These factors include the level of security needed to house that person safely and the person’s rehabilitation, medical, and faith-based needs. The factors do not include whether the person can provide the President with political favors,” added the Senator. “Longstanding Bureau policy provides that ‘members of Congress may be advised of designations in response to official inquiries for their official use.’”
Whitehouse requested all documents related to the redesignation and transfer of Ghislaine Maxwell by August 28th.
The text of the letter is below and a PDF is available here.
August 7, 2025
William K. Marshall III
Director
Federal Bureau of Prisons
320 First St. NW
Washington, DC 20534
Dear Director Marshall:
I write to request information related to the recent redesignation and transfer of Ghislaine Maxwell to a minimum-security Bureau of Prisons facility. Ms. Maxwell was transferred without explanation and in possible violation of standard Bureau policy. Against the backdrop of the political scandal arising from President Trump’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, Ms. Maxwell’s abrupt transfer raises questions about whether she has been given special treatment in exchange for political favors.
On July 24 and 25, 2025, following public criticism of the Justice Department’s refusal to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche met with Ms. Maxwell to discuss her knowledge of Epstein’s associates and victims. That meeting was unusual. Such a meeting would ordinarily be conducted by an FBI agent or member of the local U.S. Attorney’s Office, not the Deputy Attorney General. The meeting was doubly unusual because of Mr. Blanche’s former role as President Trump’s personal criminal attorney and the ongoing political scandal resulting from the Wall Street Journal’s report that Ms. Maxwell assembled a birthday book for Epstein that included a personal note from President Trump.
Against that backdrop, roughly one week after Mr. Blanche’s meetings, Ms. Maxwell was suddenly transferred from a low-security facility in Tallahassee, Florida, to a minimum-security prison camp in Bryan, Texas. Ms. Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for participation in a scheme with Epstein to traffic and sexually exploit minors. By default, Bureau policy requires individuals like Ms. Maxwell, whose criminal history involves sex offenses, to be placed, at a minimum, at low-security facilities because they “are not appropriate for placement at an institution which would permit inmate access to the community (i.e., MINIMUM security).” Ordinarily, Bureau officials in Tallahassee would need to request waiver of this policy as part of their request to transfer Ms. Maxwell to a minimum-security facility, subject to approval by Bureau officials in Grand Prairie, Texas.
Congress has a strong oversight interest in knowing whether these procedures were followed in transferring Ms. Maxwell and whether that transfer was part of a political deal. A federal statute sets forth the factors that the Bureau must consider when determining where and how to house people within the Bureau’s custody. These factors include the level of security needed to house that person safely and the person’s rehabilitation, medical, and faith-based needs. The factors do not include whether the person can provide the President with political favors.
Longstanding Bureau policy provides that “members of Congress may be advised of designations in response to official inquiries for their official use.” Accordingly, please provide the following information to assist with my inquiry into the propriety of Ms. Maxwell’s transfer.
All documents related to the redesignation and transfer of Ghislaine Maxwell from FCI Tallahassee to FPC Bryan, including any documents involving:
- Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, any member of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, or any other Department of Justice official not employed by the Bureau of Prisons.
- Requests, and the disposition of such requests, for the redesignation and transfer of Ms. Maxwell.
- Requests, and the disposition of such requests, for waiver of any Public Safety Factors associated with Ms. Maxwell’s designation or redesignation.
- Any decision to waive, as applied to Ms. Maxwell, the standard procedures for submissions of an inmate transfer request as detailed in Chapter 7 of the Bureau’s Program Statement 5100.08, Inmate Security Designation and Custody Classification.
- Any transfer codes associated with Ms. Maxwell’s redesignation and transfer.
- Ms. Maxwell’s security point score; custody level; and any requests for, applications of, and reasons for Management Variables associated with Ms. Maxwell’s placement as of June 1, 2025.
- Ms. Maxwell’s security point score; custody level; and any requests for, applications of, and reasons for Management Variables associated with Ms. Maxwell’s placement as of August 1, 2025.
Please provide any response no later than August 28, 2025. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Press Contact
LEILA FADEL, BYLINE: What do Jeffrey Epstein's victims want from the Trump administration? When the Department of Justice said it would not release its files on the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender, it outraged a good portion of the president's base. The administration shifted to damage control, and conspiracy theorists had something to talk about. The No. 2 official at the Justice Department, who is the president's former attorney, met with Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for helping Epstein sexually abuse children. Some raised concerns she could be seeking a deal. And before the news broke Monday that a federal judge in New York rejected a request by the Justice Department to unseal grand jury transcripts related to the criminal investigation of Maxwell, I spoke with Annie Farmer. She testified openly against both Epstein and Maxwell, saying they sexually abused her when she was 16 years old. And this conversation includes the discussion of sexual assault.
Annie, I've been thinking about you and so many others as Epstein and Maxwell are in the news so often right now, and just what that feels like for you as somebody who took the risk of publicly testifying and sharing what happened.
ANNIE FARMER: It has been a pretty exhausting few weeks, I'd say, as this has all come back up again. It is, you know, challenging anytime you are confronted over and over again with these images of individuals that have harmed you. But also just to feel so out of control as the story has evolved in these unexpected ways, and we are not being - it feels like we're not being considered and we're not being included.
FADEL: How have you felt as you've watched how the administration has handled all this?
FARMER: I'd say it's been very chaotic and left me and many others I've spoken with pretty anxious and sometimes pretty angry.
FADEL: And so you - nobody has consulted with you and others. Has anyone from the government approached you to ask what you want? Anything?
FARMER: No, not at all. I've reached out and spoken with one of the prosecutors, the one remaining prosecutor, SDNY, who was responsible for the, you know, guilty verdict for Ghislaine Maxwell. And it was clear to me that they were not even being involved in this process. And so, you know, I did put my concerns into a letter and sent that to Deputy Attorney General Blanche, and I haven't heard a response from that. And I know others have done the same - have written letters about their concerns about how this is all unfolding.
FADEL: What are your concerns?
FARMER: You know, one thing that seems very, very important is that Ghislaine Maxwell does not receive preferential treatment for any information that she provides. To have her be a part of this process and potentially trade information for a lesser sentence feels very wrong, not just for those of us directly involved in the trial, but for so many of the women that she harmed. That sends a very damaging message to our country.
The total is an estimate, as the Trump Organization and its various auxiliary companies and ventures - which are largely under the control of the president's adult children - have not been entirely transparent regarding their finances.
The New Yorker estimated
that the president's various cryptocurrency had generated at least
$2.37 billion in value, financial investments coordinated by Donald Jr.
and Eric Trump have generated $339.6 million, and Trump's flagship
Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, has raked in $125 million in
extra profits.
Tack onto that $127.7 million in legal fee collection and merchandise sales and a media empire estimated to be worth $116 million, and it becomes clear that the Trumps have built themselves a corporate empire on the back of their patriarch's public office.
Just last month, the president took a detour from a state trip to Scotland, for which millions of taxpayer dollars were spent on travel and security, to inaugurate a new Trump golf course near Aberdeen, Scotland. On that same trip, Trump hosted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at his private Turnberry golf club - which (as was the practice during Trump's first term) will likely profit off of the president's choice to use it as a venue. The same week, it was reported that Trump has privately discussed hosting the G20 summit of world leaders at his Doral golf club.
Police said
the suspect, 30-year-old Patrick Joseph White, launched his attack from
inside a CVS drugstore directly across from the CDC’s main entrance in
Atlanta. No CDC employees or civilians were injured, but he struck
several CDC buildings and killed a DeKalb County Police officer. White
was then found dead in the store, where five guns were recovered,
according to a report from the Justice Department. It was unclear
whether he killed himself or was wounded in an exchange of gunfire with
law enforcement.
The CDC has been at the center of a long-running
misinformation campaign about the government’s response to the
pandemic. And Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s secretary of health and
human services, has been among the loudest voices in that campaign, once
describing Covid vaccines as one of the “deadliest” shots ever made,
despite strong evidence that they are effective and safe.
One of White’s neighbors, Nancy Hoalst, who lived near him in Kennesaw, Georgia, told the New York Times on Saturday that White’s obsession with the vaccine came on suddenly about a year ago. “He very deeply believed that vaccines had hurt him, and that they were hurting other people,” she said.
On Friday after the shooting, the Trump administration was relatively quiet, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The White House had not made a comment, and Kennedy had only reposted a social media statement from CDC Director Susan Monarez about the shooting.
On August 8, as Team Trump planned this little coup, a more violent crime than Coristine’s beating unfolded in Atlanta as a shooter, apparently inspired by anti-vaxx propaganda, fired 180 rounds of ammunition at four headquarters buildings of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A police officer, David Rose, was killed in the barrage. The suspected shooter, Patrick Joseph White, killed himself after fleeing the crime scene. According to family and friends, White was all but possessed by fears about the supposedly dire effects of the COVID-19 vaccines, as NBC News reported:
,
Authorities had recovered “written documentation that expressed the shooter’s discontent with the COVID-19 vaccinations” from White’s home.
A neighbor of White’s previously told NBC News that White had expressed anti-vaccine sentiments to her on multiple occasions. It was also previously reported that White blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for making him depressed and suicidal.
Days after the shooting, the initial shock has morphed into anger for many CDC employees, according to interviews with more than a dozen of them, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation …
They said they are fed up with how they and their work are being derided and impugned by conservatives and anti-vaccine activists, including the one who rose to lead the nation’s public health apparatus: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Before joining the government, Kennedy falsely called the coronavirus vaccine the “deadliest vaccine ever made” and said it contained a “poison” …
Now the nation’s top health official, Kennedy has moved to limit the use of coronavirus vaccines, fired the CDC’s vaccine advisers and last week canceled research into the mRNA technology that made those vaccines’ rapid development possible, citing misleading or false claims.
The shooting came on the heels of Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic, pulling $500 million in funding from developing vaccines using mRNA technology, which was used to develop the COVID-19 vaccine.
Despite support from the medical community for such research and medical therapies, Kennedy claimed "the technology poses more risks than benefits."
Before his visit, the union representing thousands of workers at the CDC on Sunday called on Kennedy and CDC leadership to make "a clear and unequivocal stance in condemning vaccine disinformation."
"The deliberate targeting of CDC through this violent act is deeply disturbing, completely unacceptable and an attack on every public servant," the union said.
"Early reports indicate the gunman was motivated by vaccine disinformation, which continues to pose a dangerous threat to public health and safety."
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, after President Trump announced his plan to place the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) under direct federal control and deploy the National Guard to the streets of Washington, DC, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), the Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government (FSGG), issued the following statement:
“President Trump’s ever-expanding use of the military for domestic matters is beyond alarming. I have always supported strong law enforcement in our communities, but this National Guard deployment and federalization of city police is misguided and unsupported by the facts. By the Trump Administration’s own metrics, crime is down in DC and this deployment appears to be designed to change the subject from Trump’s healthcare cuts, tariffs, and other failings.
“Our military is trained to defend the nation from external threats and assist communities during disasters or emergencies, not to conduct day-to-day domestic policing. This deployment is a serious misuse of the National Guard’s time and talent.
“President Trump is exploiting his power and testing it in ways that could lead to more U.S. troops deployed on American soil. As we saw in Los Angeles, President Trump is willing to deploy U.S. military forces on American streets for inflammatory and political reasons. Normalizing the use of U.S. military forces for everyday policing risks eroding the very freedoms our servicemembers swear to protect.
“The President should immediately stand down these troops. Congress should reject this overreach and ensure real oversight. We must uphold America’s system of checks and balances or risk the rights and civil liberties of Americans everywhere.”
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