Something very strange transpired at Tuesday’s Coronavirus Task Force press conference, which was really just Donald Trump standing up and rambling wildly before he took a few questions from reporters.

One of those questions was about accused sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, who is current in federal custody and facing felony charges that could wind up putting her behind bars for the next 35 years for her role in allegedly procuring and grooming underage girls who were forced to have sexual relations with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

A reporter asked the president:

“Ghislaine Maxwell is in prison and a lot of people want to know if she’s going to turn in powerful people. I know you’ve talked in the past about Prince Andrew and you’ve criticized Bill Clinton’s behavior. I’m wondering, do you feel she’s going to turn in powerful men? How do you see that working out?”

Trump replied:

“I don’t know, I haven’t really been following it too much. I just wish her well, frankly. I’ve met her numerous times over the years, especially since I lived in Palm Beach and I guess they lived in Palm Beach. But I wish her well, whatever it is. I don’t know the situation with Prince Andrew, I just don’t know. Not aware of it.”

He wishes her well? What in the hell?!

That response led Julie K. Brown, of the Miami Herald, who has done extensive reporting on the Epstein case, reply to tweets from former federal prosecutors Elie Honig and Joyce Vance:

Yes, maybe there’s a pardon in her future? https://t.co/65uwyI9L78

— julie k. brown (@jkbjournalist) July 21, 2020

Maybe there’s a pardon in her future….🤔 https://t.co/Cp0nzoxeqc

— julie k. brown (@jkbjournalist) July 21, 2020

That’s an interesting premise, and we know that Trump had ties to both Epstein and Maxwell. He may say he barely knew them, but the facts suggest otherwise.

Trump’s comments on Maxwell also led CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta to note that senior officials in the administration were probably furious that the president had wished Maxwell, the best:

“There are White House officials behind the scenes who are just tearing their hair out, you know, when they heard the president say that. Here is a situation where there are only a few months left in this campaign. He’s asked about Ghislaine Maxwell, who is an accused sex trafficker at this point, an associate of Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced, you know, financier who obviously is no longer alive, committed suicide. And the president is wishing Maxwell well.”

If Maxwell has dirt on Donald Trump, it makes sense that he’d send best wishes to her and perhaps even try to telegraph that he has her back. And in exchange, Maxwell is to remain silent and wait for the case against her to go away.

Though we can’t know exactly what Trump’s intentions are, when you consider that he’s already pardoned people who may also have had dirt on him such as Michael Flynn and Roger Stone, it’s perfectly logical to suspect the president might be sending a message to Maxwell, too.