When US President Donald Trump held his first media briefing on the coronavirus in almost three months, it briefly went off topic after a reporter asked him about accused child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
Maxwell, who was allegedly Jeffrey Epstein’s right hand woman, helped find and sexually abuse underage girls and is currently behind bars in New York. She has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking charges.
Towards the end of Trump’s briefing, which until that point solely focused on the pandemic, he was asked whether Maxwell would expose the powerful men involved in the sex ring for a deal from prosecutors.
“Ghislaine Maxwell is in prison, and a lot of people want to know if she’s going to turn in powerful people. I know you’ve talked in the past about Prince Andrew, and you’ve criticised Bill Clinton’s behaviour. I’m wondering, do you feel that she’s going to turn in powerful men? How do you see that working out?” the reporter asked.
“I don’t know, I haven’t really been following it too much. I just wish her well, frankly,” Mr Trump replied.
“I have met her numerous times over the years, especially since I lived in Palm Beach. And I guess they (Maxwell and Epstein) lived in Palm Beach. But I wish her well, whatever it is.
“I don’t know the situation with Prince Andrew. I’m just not aware of it.”
Many who were watching were shocked after hearing the President wishing an accused child sex trafficker well.
Maxwell was arrested and charged earlier this month.
She was accused of “conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse minors”, alleging she both “facilitated” and “participated in” his crimes.
“Maxwell enticed minor girls, got them to trust her, and then delivered them into the trap that she and Jeffrey Epstein had set,” said the Acting US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Audrey Strauss.
“She pretended to be a woman they could trust. All the while, she was setting them up to be abused sexually by Epstein and, in some cases, Maxwell herself.”
“The heinous crimes these charges allege are, and always will be abhorrent for the lasting trauma they inflict on victims,” added New York Police Commissioner Dermot Shea.
