Ghislaine Maxwell’s Attorney Insists He Has No Idea Why Trump DOJ Transferred Client to Lower-Security Prison
Arthur Aidala, a lawyer for convicted child sex trafficker and former Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, said he does not know why Maxwell was transferred to a lower-security prison last month.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence in federal prison after being convicted in 2021 of conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse children. Epstein died in a prison cell in 2019. The official cause of death was listed as suicide.
In July, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, a former criminal attorney for former Epstein friend President Donald Trump, interviewed Maxwell in prison. Maxwell has denied any wrongdoing in the case. About a week after the interview, the Department of Justice transferred Maxwell to a lower-security facility.
On Monday’s CNN NewsNight, host Abby Phillip asked Aidala about the “unusual” decision to transfer Maxwell.
“Arthur, the deputy attorney general met with Ghislaine and then she shortly thereafter moved to a cushier prison,” Phillip said. “Why?”
“Well, there are things I’m not, you know, I’m not allowed to talk about, right?” Aidala replied, seeming taken aback by the question. “So, there are things I can’t talk about.”
Aidala said that he could speak in generalities before proceeding. His remarks drew criticism from Neera Tanden, a former Biden White House official:
AIDALA: When any anybody who’s represented by a lawyer who knows what they’re doing goes in and meets with the government, there’s always a quid pro quo. You don’t just take your client in and say, “Let me talk to you about something.” They wanted information from hypothetically, anytime the government wants information from a citizen, the citizen says, “Well, I have a right to remain silent. If you want me to give up that right, I need something in return.” Usually, it’s a plea bargain. Usually, your charges are going to be lowered and your exposure–
[TANDEN LAUGHS]
AIDALA: Why you laughing? I’ve done that fr 35 years!
TANDEN: Because you just admitted to a quid pro quo–
AIDALA: But that’s how the whole system works! The whole system works on quid pro quo.
PHILLIP: Would this have happened before or after the interview? Would they have said to her, “We’re gonna do this interview, and in exchange for it, you’re going to go to this other prison”?
AIDALA: The truth is, Abby, I mean, I don’t know. I don’t know the answer to that. I don’t know the answer to that question. I don’t have knowledge of when that decision was made, but usually, for me, because I did not walk Ghislaine into that particular proceeding.
Watch above via CNN.
