President Trump is again declining to rule out a potential pardon for convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, who has now become a central figure in the government’s hunt for answers about her deceased associate, Jeffrey Epstein. Ms. Maxwell has already been subpoenaed to give testimony before the House Oversight Committee next month. 

The Department of Justice has already reportedly offered Ms. Maxwell a pared down style of immunity that would grant her the right to answer questions truthfully about Epstein without facing additional charges. Mr. Trump, during his lengthy friendship with Epstein before their falling out in the early 2000s, was photographed with Ms. Maxwell on several occasions. 

Mr. Trump said Monday morning that he has the right to pardon Ms. Maxwell if he chooses to do so, though he says it is premature to be considering such a move. 

“I’m allowed to give her a pardon but nobody’s approached me with it. Nobody’s asked me about it,” Mr. Trump said while seated next to Prime Minister Starmer in Scotland for a joint event. “It’s in the news, about that — that aspect of it — but right now it would be inappropriate to talk about it.”

Ms. Maxwell’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request from The New York Sun seeking comment.

In a statement posted to X on Monday, her attorney, David Markus, made a direct plea to the president for relief, though he did not mention a pardon specifically. The statement followed Ms. Maxwell filing her appeal to the Supreme Court. 

“President Trump built his legacy in part on the power of a deal — and surely he would agree that when the United States gives its word, it must stand by it,” Mr. Markus said in his statement. “We are appealing not only to the Supreme Court but to the President himself to recognize how profoundly unjust it is to scapegoat Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein’s crimes, especially when the government promised she would not be prosecuted.”

Monday’s comment is the second time in as many weeks that Mr. Trump has stated he has the right to pardon Ms. Maxwell if he chooses to do so. “It’s something I haven’t thought about,” Mr. Trump said last week as he was leaving the White House for Scotland. “I’m allowed to do it, but it’s something I have not thought about.”

When he landed in the United Kingdom, Mr. Trump said he was waiting for updates from his former personal attorney and current deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, who met with Ms. Maxwell in prison last week. He again said that he wasn’t thinking about pardons at that time, though he again did not rule out the possibility. 

“I really have … nothing to say about it. She is being talked to by a very smart man — by a very good man, Todd Blanche,” Mr. Trump told reporters. “I don’t know anything about the conversation. I haven’t really been following it. A lot of people are asking me about pardons. Obviously, this is no time to be talking about pardons.”

“Todd will come back with whatever he’s got,” the president said. 

During his meeting with Mr. Starmer at his Scotland golf club on Monday, Mr. Trump again asserted that he had nothing to do with Epstein’s sexual relationships with minors. He has constantly said that he broke ties with Epstein before he was first investigated for sex crimes in 2005. 

“I never had the privilege of going to his island and I did turn it down, but a lot of people in Palm Beach were invited to his island,” Mr. Trump said. “In one of my very good moments, I turned it down. I didn’t wanna go to his island.”

Ms. Maxwell’s attorney, David Markus, previously told the Sun after his client was subpoenaed by the Oversight Committee that she was considering all her options. 

“If Ms. Maxwell agrees to testify before Congress and not take the 5th — and that remains a big if — she would testify truthfully, as she always has said she would and as she will with Mr. Blanche,” Mr. Markus said after the subpoena was issued. “The truth should not be feared or preemptively dismissed.”

Ms. Maxwell is currently scheduled to testify before the committee on August 11. Because she is currently in federal custody, the deposition would take place in the Florida prison where she is now being held.