Karoline Leavitt Asked If Trump Is Willing to Rule Out a Pardon For Ghislaine Maxwell

Sean JamesOct 6th, 2025, 2:20 pm

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday afternoon said President Donald Trump and other administration officials have not “discussed” granting Ghislaine Maxwell clemency — and that she does plan on following the matter going forward.

Leavitt was asked about Maxwell just hours after the sex criminal, who trafficked underage girls for her boss, Jeffrey Epstein, had her appeal to have her conviction overturned rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court.

A Daily Mail reporter asked Leavitt about Maxwell during a press briefing at the White House soon after. Here is what the reporter asked:

“Today, the Supreme Court declined to hear appeal, will Trump rule out granting her clemency? Is that something the White House is considering?”

Leavitt responded: “It’s not something I’ve heard discussed. And we don’t comment on clemency requests that may or may not have been made, but I’m certainly not tracking that one at this point in time.”

Earlier on Monday, the high court refused to hear the case of the notorious sex criminal’s ex-girlfriend, who was convicted of sex trafficking a teen girl in 2021.

“We’re, of course, deeply disappointed that the Supreme Court declined to hear Ghislaine Maxwell’s case,” Maxwell attorney David Oscar Markus told Reuters. “But this fight isn’t over. Serious legal and factual issues remain, and we will continue to pursue every avenue available to ensure that justice is done.”

Back in July, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche interviewed Maxwell as questions swirled about President Donald Trump’s relationship with Epstein, which has continued to dog the White House. Blanche is also Trump’s former personal attorney.

Not long after her sit-down with Blanche, Maxwell was transferred to a “less restrictive” prison camp in Texas, Reuters reported.

In the summer, Trump’s Department of Justice revealed there was “no incriminating client list” related to Epstein, despite Attorney General Pam Bondi’s earlier insistence during a Fox News interview that the list was “sitting on my desk right now.”

As he was grilled by Congress last month, FBI chief Kash Patel told lawmakers he had no evidence that Epstein trafficked underage girls to anyone other than himself.

Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year federal prison sentence and seeking a pardon from Trump. She’s the only figure from the Epstein saga to serve jail time after Epstein’s death while in prison.

Tom Durante contributed to this story.