Amna Nawaz
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WATCH: Reed says Blanche was Trump's 'perfect choice' to interview Ghislaine Maxwell
Posted
May 19, 2026
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May 19, 2026
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2:52Now PlayingSen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., questioned acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Tuesday in a hearing before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee about his visit to convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, and whether the former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein had received more more favorable prison accommodations.
Blanche was invited to testify on President Donald Trump’s 2027 budget request for the Justice Department, but faced questions on a number of issues.
Reed focused on Blanche's 2025 visit with Maxwell, saying she was transferred to a "very comfortable" facility with better afterwards. Blanche denied that he had been sent by Trump to speak with Maxwell, as well as having any role in Maxwell's change of location.
"Do you think President Trump called and asked me to go interview a witness in federal prison, honestly?" he asked.
"I do, frankly," Reed replied.
"He needed somebody who could rely upon to talk to her and say, what would she say if she was asked about Jeffrey Epstein, and you were the perfect choice," he added.
“Every word that I asked her is recorded and available to you to review. If there's criticisms of the question that I asked her, go ahead and make them. But the president did not have anything to do with my choice to go interview Ms. Maxwell,” Blanche said.
On Monday, the Justice Department announced an “Anti-Weaponization Fund” as part of a settlement with Trump to end a lawsuit against the IRS over the leaking of his tax returns. The nearly $1.8 billion fund would offer payouts to Trump allies who claim they had been unfairly targeted by the Justice Department under the Biden administration.
Government watchdogs and Democratic lawmakers blasted the creation of the fund as corruption, saying it could reward – with taxpayer money – people who had helped storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, among others.
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