{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/us-senate-passes-resolution-opposing-presidential-pardon-for-epstein-accomplice-ghislaine-maxwell", "U.S. Senate Passes Resolution Opposing Presidential Pardon for Epstein Accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell", "2026-07-29", "2026", "2026-07", "Democrat", "Senate", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", "jackreed", "https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Even as President Donald Trump refuses to rule out a pardon for his long-time friend, Ghislaine Maxwell -- Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s co-conspirator and a convicted child trafficker -- the U.S. Senate today unanimously passed a resolution offered by U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) stating that Ms. Maxwell should not be allowed a presidential pardon or clemency of any kind.\n\nMaxwell is currently serving 20 years in a federal prison for conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse minors over the course of a decade.\n\nIn October 2025, President Trump was asked about a potential pardon for the convicted sex trafficker who aided Jeffrey Epstein's abuse of underage girls. President Trump responded: \u201cWell, I'll take a look at it. I wouldn\u2019t consider it or not consider it. I don't know anything about it. I will speak to the DOJ,\u201d he said. In July of 2025, President Trump went further: \u201cWell, I'm allowed to give her a pardon but nobody\u2019s approached me with it, nobody\u2019s asked me about it,\u201d Trump said. \u201cIt\u2019s in the news about that\u2014that aspect of it, but right now it would be inappropriate to talk about it,\u201d he stated, continuing: \u201cI\u2019m allowed to do it, but it\u2019s something I have not thought about.\u201d\n\nThe non-binding resolution was brought to the floor and passed today ahead of a Judiciary Committee vote that is scheduled tomorrow on the nomination of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, whom President Trump nominated to become the next full-time Attorney General. It passed by unanimous consent, without objection from any U.S. Senator.\n\nAfter the Senate passed the anti-pardon for Maxwell resolution, U.S. Senator Jack Reed stated:\n\n\u201cToday, the entire U.S. Senate passed a resolution saying Ms. Maxwell should not get a pardon, but President Trump refuses to rule one out. Sexual predators should not be afforded preferential treatment, but that is what the Trump Administration continues to provide Ms. Maxwell. Ms. Maxwell\u2019s victims and the American people deserve to know why. The Trump Administration needs to come clean and release everything and answer the victims\u2019 questions. Congress must continue working on a bipartisan basis to press for answers.\u201d\n\nReed has long criticized the Trump Administration\u2019s unexplained, favorable treatment for the British socialite who has a decades-long relationship with Donald Trump. Reed wants the American people to know why -- despite being a sex offender who was just a few years into her sentence \u2013 Ms. Maxwell was suddenly transferred from a Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee, Florida, to the minimum security Federal Prison Camp Bryan \u2013 better known as \u2018Club Fed\u2019 in Bryan, Texas after a jailhouse meeting with then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who previously represented Trump as his personal lawyer. During Blanche\u2019s visit to Maxwell on July 24 and 25, the two spoke for several hours, including a recorded portion on the record.\n\nDuring the conversation Ms. Maxwell seems to indicate both Donald Trump and Prince Andrew did not engage in wrongdoing. Maxwell claimed that an infamous photo of her with Prince Andrew and an American teenager is fake and that the alleged sexual encounter between the British royal and the girl could not have happened as it has been portrayed in the media.\n\nAdditionally, the transcript of the conversation -- which showed Maxwell saying she didn\u2019t recall ever seeing Donald Trump at Epstein\u2019s house \u2013 is directly contradicted by Epstein\u2019s own e mails that were later released by the House Oversight Committee, indicating that Donald Trump \u201cspent hours at my [Epstein\u2019s] house\u201d with one of the victims, and that Trump \u201cknew about the girls.\u201d\n\nDuring a May 19 Appropriations Subcommittee on CJS, Senator Reed asked Blanche why he was sent to interview Ms. Maxwell.\n\nThe Acting Attorney General incredulously responded: \u201cHe didn\u2019t send me. I went. What, what do you mean? Do you think President Trump called and asked me to go interview a witness in federal prison. Honestly?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I do, frankly,\u201d Reed flatly responded. \u201cBecause you know why? Because the deal was in. He needed somebody he could rely upon to talk to her and find out what would she say if she was asked about Jeffrey Epstein, and you were the perfect choice. And you went down there and suddenly, shazam! She\u2019s out of what is a more confining situation\u2026 A much more relaxed federal prison.\u201d", 1, "2026-07-31T07:49:23Z", "2026-07-31T07:50:48Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/us-senate-passes-resolution-opposing-presidential-pardon-for-epstein-accomplice-ghislaine-maxwell"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 3.3315119799226522, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}