Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche Won't Promise Pardon For Ghislaine Maxwell

Ghislaine Maxwell can't rely on President Donald Trump to secure her release from prison ... because his acting Attorney General says he will not recommend pardoning Maxwell.

Todd Blanche -- who took over the DOJ in earlier April after POTUS fired AG Pam Bondi -- testified before Congress Tuesday ... and the infamous Epstein files came up.

Senator Chris Van Hollen pressed Blanche on whether he'd meet with Epstein's victims -- he said he has -- before asking him if he'd commit to not pardoning any person named in the files.

Blanche said there are tens of thousands of names in the documents ... and that he could not make a promise that broad. Van Hollen followed up by asking about Maxwell -- and Blanche agreed.

Sources told us that last year Maxwell was hopeful for a pardon after the Trump administration debunked the so-called "client list" -- but a senior White House official told us there was simply no way they'd ever do that. Trump said a few weeks later he had the power to pardon Ghislaine ... but didn't commit to setting her free.

Maxwell sat down for a series of conversations with the DOJ in July ... and promised a complete account of everything that went down with Epstein in exchange for clemency.