New Book Alleges Donald Trump Worried Ghislaine Maxwell Would Tie Him to Jeffrey Epstein Case

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Author Michael Wolff's latest book Landslide: The Final Days of the Trump Presidency alleges that former President Donald Trump, fearing that Ghislaine Maxwell would link him to Jeffrey Epstein's "sex-abuse scandal," mulled pardoning the financier's companion in the final weeks of his presidency.

In excerpts from the book published Monday, Wolff, 67, alleges that Trump, 75, took "sudden interest" in Maxwell when discussing who to pardon near the end of his tenure. Maxwell, 59, the former companion of Epstein, is currently awaiting trial on multiple charges for her involvement with Epstein's sex trafficking of minors.

An excerpt from Wolff's book reads: "One 'oh, s---' moment involved [Trump's] sudden interest in Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein now facing years in prison over allegations of her role in the Epstein sex-abuse scandal. Trump had tried hard to downplay his own long relationship with Epstein."

"'Has she said anything about me?' [Trump] openly wondered. 'Is she going to talk? Will she roll on anybody?'" the excerpt continues.

Wolff further alleges that Trump ultimately didn't issue a pardon to Maxwell, and was dissuaded from doing so when informed that the federal move could trigger individual states to pursue her prosecution.

While Maxwell was ultimately not pardoned, Trump did pardon a number of other close friends and associates, including retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, former adviser Roger Stone, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner's dad.

Since the release of the excerpt from Landslide, Trump's spokeswoman Liz Harrington responded to the allegations on Twitter Tuesday, saying the conversations never happened and the stories in the book are "fake news."

Wolff followed up by saying that the former president was provided a detailed summary of the material in the book.

RELATED: President Trump Says the Explosive Fire and Fury Book Is 'Full of Lies'

Wolff made several headline-making accusations about Trump in his bestselling bombshell book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House back in 2018. Trump has previously said that Wolff's book was "phony" and "full of lies, misrepresentation, and sources that don't exist."

Trump's relationship with Epstein was under the microscope when the billionaire financier was arrested and charged. The case brought renewed scrutiny to Epstein's apparent friendship with Trump, who spoke highly of the financier to New York magazine in 2002.

"I've known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He's a lot of fun to be with," Trump said. "It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it – Jeffrey enjoys his social life."

Politico also reported in 2017 that Trump flew at least once on one of Epstein's private planes, and Epstein had the future commander-in-chief's phone numbers in his personal phone directory.