A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The Trump administration is using law enforcement to investigate one of the president's critics. The FBI searched the home and office of John Bolton on Friday.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
He's Trump's former national security adviser, now a guest on programs, including this one, where he has given an independent view. The FBI move seized attention on the same day the Justice Department acted in another case where the president has an interest. Officials released their interview with Ghislaine Maxwell. She's the longtime accomplice of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and is now speaking up for Trump. In a moment, we hear from a former White House attorney on all this. We begin with the facts.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR justice correspondent Ryan Lucas is here. So, Ryan, let's start with the Maxwell interview. Why did the department want to talk to her?
RYAN LUCAS, BYLINE: So first off, the department released what it says is the full transcript and audio of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche's interview last month in Florida with Maxwell, where she's serving her prison sentence. Blanche, who, it's important to note, previously served as President Trump's personal attorney, took this unusual step because the Justice Department and the administration more broadly has been under a lot of fire for how it's handled the Epstein matter. It promised transparency only to then say that no more documents would be made public. That caused a public backlash, including from some MAGA faithful. So the administration has been scrambling to contain that fallout.
MARTÍNEZ: So what did she have to say?
LUCAS: Well, she was asked about many of the rich and powerful people who have been associated over the years with Epstein. That includes, of course, President Trump, who was friends with Epstein for years before they had a falling out. Maxwell was very complimentary of Trump. She told Blanche that she liked him, that he was always a gentleman. She also said that she never saw any man do anything inappropriate with a woman of any age while with Epstein.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. She was also convicted of helping Epstein sexually exploit underaged girls, so how credible is she?
LUCAS: Right. She is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence, in fact, for helping Epstein recruit, groom and sexually exploit girls as young as 14. So a jury heard evidence at trial of her role in that and found her guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Federal prosecutors also charged her at one point with perjury for allegedly lying in a deposition about her actions with Epstein. So the Justice Department itself has previously said that she's not credible.
Now, Maxwell's attorney, David Markus, said in a statement after this interview was released that Maxwell is innocent, that she told the truth. But it's important to point out again that Maxwell is serving a long prison sentence. She would like some sort of clemency, whether a reduction in sentence or a pardon. And of course, President Trump is the only man with the power to deliver that. I'll also note that shortly after Maxwell's interview with Blanche, she was moved from a federal prison in Florida to a minimum security prison camp in Texas.
MARTÍNEZ: All right, now let's turn now to John Bolton, the search of John Bolton's home and office. Is this part of Trump's campaign, maybe, of vengeance against perceived political enemies?
LUCAS: Look, Trump said on Friday that he didn't know anything about it. His Vice President JD Vance told NBC News that Bolton was not targeted because he's a critic of the president. We know that this investigation relates to classified documents, but we don't know much more at this point. But look, there is certainly a growing list of people whom the president considers political enemies who are facing Justice Department investigations. California Senator Adam Schiff, New York Attorney General Letitia James are two of them.
The department also has reportedly taken steps to investigate actions around the Obama era intelligence that led to the Russia investigation into Trump's 2016 campaign, which of course is a main grievance of Trump's. The department has also fired prosecutors who worked on the investigations into Trump himself or January 6 Capitol riot cases. All of these actions certainly fit into the vision that Trump spelled out during the campaign of seeking vengeance on his perceived enemies.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR's Ryan Lucas. Ryan, thank you.
LUCAS: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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