ISTANBUL

US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche is expected to meet Thursday with convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, according to multiple media reports that cited sources familiar with the matter.

CNN and NBC confirmed the planned meeting between the senior official and Maxwell, who served as a longtime aide to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The meeting comes at Attorney General Pam Bondi's direction, after Blanche communicated with Maxwell's counsel to determine her willingness to speak with prosecutors.

US President Donald Trump has faced criticism after the Justice Department (DOJ) publicly determined that Epstein did not keep a "client list" that could be used to charge additional individuals with sex crimes, and said Epstein committed suicide and was not murdered in his jail cell in 2019.

"If Ghislaine Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say," Blanche wrote on X.

Trump has repeatedly railed against the deepening controversy surrounding Epstein, calling it a "hoax" and directing Bondi last week to release any relevant grand jury testimony in the case. The directive followed a Wall Street Journal report examining Trump's friendship with Epstein during the 1990s and 2000s.

Maxwell was convicted in 2021 on sex trafficking charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison. She is imprisoned at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee, Florida.

US House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer subpoenaed Maxwell on Wednesday to testify in a closed-door deposition on Aug. 11.