CNN Senior Legal Analyst and former federal prosecutor Elie Honig isn’t quite sure what to make of the Trump administration’s decision to transfer Ghislaine Maxwell to a minimum security prison.
On Friday, it was reported that Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking, had been transferred from a federal prison in Florida to a lower-security camp in Texas. The move came the week after she answered questions from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who previously served as President Donald Trump’s criminal attorney. Maxwell trafficked children with Jeffrey Epstein, who died in 2019. Trump has repeatedly been asked about potentially granting clemency to Maxwell, and has not ruled out doing so.
Honig appeared on Saturday’s CNN Newsroom to discuss the prison transfer.
“It was definitely an unusual move,” he said of the Department of Justice’s decision. “She was transferred, sort of without any warning or notice to the public, at least, or the victims, as far as I can tell, from a low security prison in Florida to a minimum security prison in Texas, what we sometimes call a ‘camp’ in the federal system. That’s a huge benefit. Look, it’s still prison. It’s still terrible. But it’s a way better lifestyle for someone in a camp.”
Honig mentioned Maxwell’s meeting with Blanche, which he said he doubted was “in the ordinary course of business.”
“And by the way, it would take a special exemption to take a convicted sex offender and put that person in a camp,” he continued. “So, somebody here allowed this exemption. So, whether it’s coincidental, I highly doubt. It certainly appears as if she’s being given some benefit for what she told Todd Blanche.”
Host Omar Jimenez then asked, “Is there a strategic benefit to moving someone like Maxwell to a more minimum security prison in this case, in exchange for what they might feel is useful information?”
Honig replied:
You know what’s so unusual here, Omar, is that DOJ ordinarily – I did this many, many times when I was a prosecutor – does give substantial benefits to cooperating witnesses. Now, there’s a couple of things that are different here. When I say “benefits,” usually it’s a sentencing benefit. Usually, DOJ will write a letter to the judge saying, “This person was an effective, honest cooperator. Therefore, I recommend less prison time.”
However, when I say “cooperator,” Ghislaine Maxwell does not meet that definition. “Cooperator” means a person who has been thoroughly vetted, deemed to be credible, and somebody who DOJ has brought actual prosecutions based on their testimony. She’s done none of those things. So, she’s already gotten a substantial benefit, yet without doing the things that you would ordinarily require of what I would consider a proper cooperating witness.
Watch above via CNN.
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