FACT CHECK: Was The Judge Who Approved The Mar-A-Lago Raid Photographed With Ghislaine Maxwell?

Christine SellersAugust 15, 2022

An image shared on Facebook purportedly shows Florida Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart posing with Ghislaine Maxwell.

The image is digitally altered. A reverse image search reveals the original shows Maxwell posing with Jeffrey Epstein, not Reinhart.

Reinhart signed off on a search warrant for the FBI to search former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida Monday, according to The Palm Beach Post and CNN. The search allegedly centered around classified nuclear documents that were improperly moved, The Washington Post reported.

Now, an image has surfaced on Facebook that allegedly shows Reinhart holding a package of Oreo cookies, a bottle of alcohol and a red plastic cup while Maxwell, an associate of the deceased convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, gives him a foot massage.

“This is the judge who signed the search warrant for Mar-a-Lago,” reads text included in the image. “Ghislaine Maxwell and Judge Bruce Reinhart looking cozy.” (RELATED: Did Fox News Report That Trump ‘Vowed To Pardon Ghislaine Maxwell If He Wins In 2024’?)

The image is digitally altered. A reverse image search reveals the original photo shows Maxwell with Epstein, not Reinhart. The image appears in a 2021 article from The Daily Beast titled, “Ghislaine Maxwell and the Ecstasy of the Feet,” which details previously-unreleased evidence obtained during a 2019 raid on Epstein’s Manhattan estate.

The photo of Reinhart stems from a September 2017 Facebook photo that shows him holding the cookies and a bottle of alcohol. The post’s caption indicates he was on his back patio watching a football game when the picture was taken.

Check Your Fact has reached out to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received.