Republican lawmakers are cautioning President Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi to be very careful about granting a pardon to Ghislaine Maxwell, the Jeffrey Epstein confidante, or commuting her 20-year sentence for sex trafficking.

Republican senators are waving the caution flag after Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche met with Maxwell in Florida recently to gather more information on what she knows about Epstein’s illicit activities.

The meeting came while Trump and Bondi were under pressure from MAGA-aligned activists to order the Justice Department to release all of its files related to Epstein.

GOP lawmakers say that Trump and Bondi need to proceed carefully on any decision to pardon Maxwell or lighten her sentence for sexually exploiting teenage girls.

They worry it could be seen as rewarding her for making statements to distance the president from Epstein’s activities, or further fuel conspiracy theories about a government cover-up to protect powerful people who were in Epstein’s orbit.

“It’s ridiculous that he would consider shortening a sentence for somebody who aided and abetted sexual trafficking as she did,” said a Republican senator who requested anonymity to comment on the sensitive topic.

“She’s trafficking underage children. I can’t imagine anything she could say could nullify her heinous crimes,” the senator added.

The senator said Maxwell has incentive to “lie” to reduce her sentence.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that Maxwell has lied under oath before, citing the perjury charge that was filed against her for making false statements during a civil deposition in 2016.........

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