CNN panellist says Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyer ‘admitted’ secret Trump deal on live TV

Her attorney said that good lawyers always get something in exchange for client co-operation with the government.

Speaking to a panel on CNN NewsNight, Maxwell's attorney, Arthur Aidala, revealed that defendants who cooperate with the government typically do so in order to get something in return.

He told host Abby Phillip that he didn’t know the ins and outs of Maxwell’s transfer to a lower-security prison after her meeting with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

When asked why the convicted sex trafficker was moved to a 'cushier' prison, Aidala said he could talk 'in generalities'.

“When anybody who’s represented by a lawyer who knows what they’re doing goes in and meets with the government, there’s always a quid pro quo.

"You don’t just take your client in and say, ‘Let me talk to you about something.’

"They wanted information from—hypothetically, anytime the government wants information from a citizen, the citizen says, ‘Well, I have a right to remain silent. If you want me to give up that right, I need something in return,'" said the attorney.

He explained that typically, the exchange will result in a plea bargain before being interrupted by fellow panelist, former Biden adviser Neera Tanden, laughing.

When questioned by Aidala as to why she was laughing, she exclaimed: “You just admitted to a quid pro quo with the Trump administration!” 

He retaliated: “But that’s how the whole system works!”

Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for her involvement in helping lure, manipulate, and groom young girls for Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial.

In a 2022 memo, President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice concluded that Maxwell was unreliable and unremorseful, stating that she 'apparently decides when she wishes to disclose facts to the Court, and those facts shift when it serves the defendant’s interests.'

“If anything stands out from the defendant’s sentencing submission, it is her complete failure to address her offense conduct and her utter lack of remorse,” they added.

Despite this, Department of Justice officials interviewed her over the summer following a growth of heated demands for new information in the Epstein case among Trump’s MAGA base.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who also used to be President Trump's criminal defense attorney, spent nine hours questioning Maxwell, during which she said she had never witnessed the US President behave inappropriately.

Following the questioning, she was moved from the low-security Federal Correctional Institute in Florida to the minimum-security Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Texas.

Camp Bryan is a dorm-style facility with a study, game room, and arts and crafts classes.

Further, inmates can take technical courses and are allowed video calls with family.

According to NBC News, her move required the Federal Bureau of Prisons to waive a particular policy that outlined that convicted sex offenders must, at least, be held at a low-level prison.

Speaking about Tanden to the Daily Beat yesterday, Aidala claimed: “She’s not a lawyer and doesn’t know what she’s talking about."

Furthermore, he added that he is more focused on Maxwell's appellate process and post-trial motions rather than her interview with the Department of Justice.

“Sometimes knowledge is power, and sometimes ignorance is bliss,” he added.