Political Quotes

On the recordMarch 19, 2026
Back in 2022, Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex trafficking minors as Jeffrey Epstein's coconspirator in their horrific crimes against women and girls. She was a key person in the grooming, the abuse, and the rape of a vast number of young girls. Bureau of Prison policy requires that sex offenders be housed in at least low security prisons. To explain, there are high security, medium security, low security, and then way down at the bottom--you know, think hotels--there is this minimum security. Prison policy requires that minimum security is unacceptable for people who have been sex offenders--people like Ghislaine Maxwell--but then, in July of 2025, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche spent 2 days meeting with her in conversations that are completely opaque to everyone else in America, and suddenly, after these 2 days of conversation in which who knows what was promised, she was transferred to a minimum facility in Bryan, TX--otherwise known as Club Fed. Now, in this minimum security facility, there is an athletic field, there are extracurricular activities, there is vocational training and access to service dogs. I guess that is pretty important to me because I love dogs, and I would love, if ever I was incarcerated, to have access to a dog. Hopefully, I will never be incarcerated.
Said by
Jeff Merkley
Democratic · Oregon

Editor's note · Context

Discussing the transfer of Ghislaine Maxwell to a minimum security prison after her conviction.

Share

More from Jeff Merkley

Aug 14, 2026

This is a president trying to become a strongman authoritarian.

reason.com
Aug 18, 2026

This type of coercive diplomacy does not serve U.S. global health interests and is extremely susceptible to risk of corruption.

wyden.senate.gov
Aug 4, 2026

No one is above the law, and EFTA II ensures that even Trump and his crony, acting attorney general Todd Blanche, can’t stop the truth from coming to light.

theguardian.com
Jul 23, 2026

Our bipartisan bill supports more prescribed fire on the landscape—an essential forest management activity—while giving our communities the resources to plan and prepare for smoke events.

padilla.senate.gov

Other voices in this conversation