Justice Department officials on Friday interviewed Ghislaine Maxwell, an associate of Jeffrey Epstein’s, in Florida, where she is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking.
Justice Department officials diverted hundreds of F.B.I. employees and federal prosecutors from their regular duties to go through the Jeffrey Epstein files at least four times — including once to flag any references to President Trump and other prominent figures.
Legal experts said the involvement of Todd Blanche, President Trump’s former lawyer who is now a top official at the Justice Department, was rife with potential pitfalls and complexities.
The latest effort by Trump subordinates is intended to quell a political crisis precipitated by the department’s announcement that it would not release more files related to the Epstein investigation.
Democrats urged the Republican majority to call Justice Department officials, including the attorney general and F.B.I. leaders, to Capitol Hill to discuss how they handled the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Representative Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland, wrote that the Trump administration’s actions in the Jeffrey Epstein case “have not restored anyone’s trust in the government.”
In an interview with The New York Times, a former Justice Department lawyer, Erez Reuveni, said officials pressed subordinates to mislead judges, and dared the courts to stop it.
At his confirmation hearing for a judgeship, Senate Democrats asked Emil Bove III about a claim that he and Trump administration officials were willing to defy rulings regarding deportation.
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