Donald Trump floods the media – but can’t make the Epstein scandal go away

Piecemeal attempts to change the subject, including a call to prosecute Barack Obama over an alleged conspiracy in the 2016 Russiagate affair, have failed to quell the chatter around the Epstein files and Trump’s ties to the late financier and sex offender.

In the space of 48 hours, however, Trump unleashed a barrage of news that has upended global markets, provoked uproar among political opponents and raised the spectre of a nuclear standoff with Russia. Temporarily at least, the Epstein scandal has been pushed to one side.

On Thursday, Trump unveiled plans to build a vast $200m ballroom on the White House grounds continuing the president’s project to recreate the atmosphere of his Mar-a-Lago club in the heart of Washington. That evening he announced sweeping new tariffs on dozens of US partners in his latest bid to reshape global trade.

Panic on international markets was compounded by a gloomy jobs report on Friday that raised fresh concerns about the state of the US economy. Trump responded by sacking the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Erika McEntarfer, claiming she had “rigged” the employment numbers to smear his economic record “for political purposes”.

To cap it all, heading into the weekend, Trump revived the shadow of the cold war, announcing that he had “ordered two nuclear submarines” to “the appropriate regions” in response to threats from Moscow.

Whether by coincidence or design, the news blitz from the White House came just as Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend, was quietly moved to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas.

Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking, is at the centre of the scandal that has dogged the Trump administration. The 63-year-old, who was convicted in 2021, has appealed to the US supreme court to overturn her sentence and sought a pardon from Trump.

Her move to Texas from a prison in Florida comes days after she held two meetings with Todd Blanche, the deputy US attorney general and Trump’s former lawyer.

Details of the meetings have not been made public, but the clandestine talks have fuelled speculation that Maxwell could be rewarded with a pardon in return for testimony that absolves Trump of complicity in Epstein’s crimes.

The White House has previously said that “no leniency is being given or discussed”, but the move has outraged Epstein’s victims.

After news emerged of Maxwell’s transfer on Friday, two of her accusers, Annie and Maria Farmer, and the family of Virginia Giuffre, an Epstein victim who died earlier this year, issued a statement in condemnation.

“It is with horror and outrage that we object to the preferential treatment convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell has received,” they said, according to NBC News. Maxwell should “never be shown any leniency” they added, and said the government had not notified them that she was being moved to “a minimum security luxury prison” in Texas.  “This move smacks of a cover-up. The victims deserve better."

Blanche’s boss, Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, had pledged in February to release a list of Epstein’s clients. When her department announced in July that there was no list, rightwing supporters of Trump lashed out at the president.

Focus then turned to Maxwell. She met Blanche, and the Congressional oversight committee said it would summon her to give evidence. Her lawyers said she would speak openly if the president gave her clemency.

Trump said on Friday: “I’ve given pardons to people before but nobody’s even asked me to do it”, speaking to Newsmax, after the transfer was announced.

Camp Bryan is a minimum security federal prison with 635 inmates who also include Elizabeth Holmes, serving 11 years for fraud over her health technology firm Theranos, and Jen Shah, who featured in The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City and was later convicted of fraud relating to a telemarketing scheme. The tabloids have nicknamed it “Club Fed”.

Inmates wear khaki uniforms and steel-toecap boots, and are given a place in meal queues according to how clean their cells are, according to Lynn Espejo, a former prisoner.

This is a contrast to FCI Tallahassee, a low-security prison in Florida where Maxwell spent the first three years of her sentence.

Two weeks ago, her brother Ian Maxwell complained about conditions there. “I think Ghislaine’s life is in danger today,” he said, in an interview for Piers Morgan Uncensored. “It’s a violent place. And we know there’s heavy overcrowding in Tallahassee, that higher category prisoners are being admitted.”

A 2023 inspection report of FCI Tallahassee found leaking cells, rodent droppings and rotting vegetables in the jail’s fridges. Maxwell reportedly taught etiquette and led yoga classes, and her good behaviour meant she was moved to a less crowded area.

But she is said to have fallen out with two Cuban inmates in 2023, according to the Daily Mail, after Maxwell, a vegan, reached an arrangement with a kitchen worker to trade snacks from the prison commissary for extra tofu.

Maxwell’s appearance before the Congressional committee has been delayed indefinitely while her lawyers look at other avenues of appeal. Two federal judges are considering whether to release transcripts of evidence relating to Maxwell and Epstein. If nothing changes, Maxwell will remain in custody until 2037.

Even a return to nuclear brinkmanship with Moscow will not quell the allegations of a cover-up among Epstein conspiracy theorists for long, or the brewing rebellion within Trump’s own Maga movement.

A poll by the Economist and YouGov last week found that nearly half of all Americans believe that the president was involved with Epstein’s crimes. A Washington Post poll indicated that around 60% disapprove of Trump’s handling of the scandal, while only 16% approve.

The negotiations with Maxwell, a convicted child sex trafficker, only prolong the story in the public eye – and the president’s discomfort.

Photographs by Patrick McMullan/Getty/Alamy