Weekend Report (vacation edition): What's going on?

Epstein co-conspirator Maxwell receives immunity from Trump. Pardon not ruled out. Scotland welcomes "Convicted Felon" on his visit.

Hi all! I’ve been on vacation since Thursday so there will be light posting this week into next, when I’ll be off from my SiriusXM most of the week (back on Friday). So here is a truncated, vacation edition of the Weekend Report, for all subscribers. You’ll all have to do the talking!

Ghislaine Maxwell has received limited immunity from the Department of Justice after Donald Trump’s deputy attorney general Todd Blanche spoke with her twice. ABC reports:

Ghislaine Maxwell, who sources told ABC News initiated the meetings with the Department of Justice, answered questions for about nine hours over two days after being granted a limited form of immunity, the sources said.

The immunity allowed Maxwell to freely answer Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche's questions without fear that her responses could later be used against her, the sources said.

The so-called proffer immunity is commonly granted to individuals prosecutors are seeking to make cooperators in a criminal case. Maxwell has already been tried, convicted and sentenced for sex trafficking underage girls.

[Maxwell attorney David] Markus said Maxwell was asked about "maybe 100 different people" during her interview with the deputy attorney general. He said she answered every question.

"She didn't hold anything back," Markus said.

He declined to be specific about who Maxwell was asked about or whether she provided information about others who might have allegedly committed crimes against victims, as Blanche said he was seeking.

Is this what everyone’s been thinking, an attempt to have Maxwell clear Trump in return for a pardon? Trump of course is not ruling it out From Mediate:

In a disjointed press gaggle Friday morning on the South Lawn of the White House, President Donald Trump was asked whether he would consider issuing a pardon or clemency to Ghislaine Maxwell — the longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein who is currently in discussions with the Department of Justice, including Trump’s own former defense attorney turned Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche.

Trump did not say no.

Instead, the former president praised Blanche as “a great attorney” before pivoting, as he often does, to a list of other Epstein-adjacent figures — most notably former President Bill Clinton and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.

What was missing? Any denial that Maxwell might be in line for a pardon or clemency.

The question then came up again later in the gaggle and Trump said while he hadn’t “thought about it” he insisted it was something he was “allowed” to do:

We’ll see how this plays out, but I really don’t think it’s going to fly, not with the conspiracy theorists in the MAGA base. Again, they want the actual files, not statements from someone who is part of of what they believe is the global sex trafficking elite, whom they don’t trust. What do you all think?

Meanwhile, Scotland’s welcome to Trump on his visit from the national newspaper is brilliant.

Okay, the rest of the discussion is up to you while I’m on vacation. (We’ve taken my old, sick pup Artie with us, which turned out to be great for him as he’s been q bit reinvigorated at the beach.)

So please join the comments if you like. I’ll pop back in.