It's no secret that President Donald Trump and disgraced financier and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein were friends at one time--long before Epstein was first arrested for trafficking underage girls.

According to a DOJ interview with his partner-in-crime Ghislaine Maxwell, however, Trump reportedly never did anything that would cause concern that he was involved in any of Epstein's sexual crimes.

Attorneys at the DOJ including Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche spent more than nine hours over two days last month asking Maxwell everything they could think of regarding Epstein's crimes and who was involved in them.

Now, Attorney General Pam Bondi is considering releasing the recordings of those interviews to combat criticism about a lack of transparency around the so-called Epstein files.

Angling for a pardon?

Maxwell, now 63, is serving a 20-year prison sentence for her part in Epstein's sex trafficking activities. She's the only one serving any time for it, since Epstein died, apparently by suicide, while in a Manhattan prison in 2019.

She has been in prison for five years, and now seems to be trying to cooperate with the Trump administration so that Trump will grant her a pardon.

Shortly after the interview, she was transferred from a low-security prison to a minimum security one, so her plan may be working.

Maxwell's attorney David Markus said she identified around 100 people related to Epstein's sex trafficking.

Markus said Maxwell was being used as a "scapegoat" for Epstein's crimes and was being treated unfairly.

"They asked about every possible thing you could imagine – everything," Markus said.

Taking the heat off

Releasing the Maxwell interview could take some of the heat off Bondi and Trump, who boasted that they would release the Epstein files before they were actually reviewed by the DOJ, but then later backed off from doing so.

The public and leaders in both parties are chomping at the bit to know which famous celebrities and politicians who moved in Epstein's orbit were involved in the trafficking because let's face it--it's much more fun to hear about someone else's "sins" than face up to your own.

Epstein was an evil person who took pleasure in using women and girls as well as trading them for status and power over the rich and famous in America and other parts of the world.

Is it really any better to use his crimes to point the finger at political enemies and maybe for a minute, feel better than them?