“Seems clearly like a reward”: Booker presses Blanche on Ghislaine Maxwell’s move to a prison camp

Описание: At the Senate Judiciary Committee's July 15, 2026 confirmation hearing for attorney general, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) pressed Todd Blanche, then the acting attorney general, about his 2025 interview with Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein. Booker asked whether the interview led to a single additional person being charged. Blanche: "No." Booker asked whether Blanche or anyone else at the Justice Department or tied to the president discussed a presidential pardon with Maxwell or her lawyers. Blanche: "No." Booker asked whether he discussed her transfer to another institution. Blanche: "No." Booker then said that one week after the interview Maxwell was moved from a low-security federal institution to a minimum-security prison camp, and asked whether Blanche was involved. Blanche began, "we learned that she was receiving threats"; Booker cut in to say he would interrupt him for the sake of time, and Blanche said it is not a question he can answer "in the time you're giving me." Booker said people under threat in a Bureau of Prisons facility are put into solitary confinement or protective custody, not moved to a camp. Blanche: "That's not always true." Booker: "It is." Blanche: "You're just wrong." Booker closed: "What is true is someone that is accused of child sex trafficking under the Bureau of Prison's own policies is not put in a facility like this that seems clearly like a reward."

The record: Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years for helping Epstein abuse underage girls (NPR). The Bureau of Prisons confirmed on Aug. 1, 2025 that she had been moved to the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas. This cut leaves out Booker's question about a new investigation (Blanche said he can't talk about investigations), his two questions about clemency (Blanche: "No."), and the rest of Blanche's answer on the threats, which Booker interrupted. The Senate confirmed Blanche as attorney general on Aug. 8, 2026, 50 to 49.

Sources: Senate Judiciary Committee hearing video and official transcript, July 15, 2026; NPR, Sept. 3, 2025; The National News Desk, Aug. 1, 2025; Senate roll call vote 230.

Source: Senate Judiciary Committee, July 15, 2026, "The Nomination of the Honorable Todd Blanche to be Attorney General of the United States" (at 3:48:58).

The record: Senate Judiciary Committee hearing page: the nomination of Todd Blanche to be Attorney General (July 15, 2026); Senate Judiciary Committee webcast, July 15, 2026 (public domain); Official transcript of the July 15, 2026 hearing, attached to the Justice Department's Aug. 2, 2026 statement; NPR: What life is like at the prison where Ghislaine Maxwell is held (Sept. 3, 2025); The National News Desk (Scripps): Ghislaine Maxwell moved to federal prison in Texas (Aug. 1, 2025); U.S. Senate roll call vote 230: confirmation of Todd Blanche, 50 to 49 (Aug. 8, 2026).

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