The Department of Justice requested the Supreme Court on Monday to dismiss Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal of her sex-trafficking conviction, a decision that comes as the department has lately faced criticism for its treatment of Epstein’s case files.
A New York jury convicted Maxwell, 63, of five charges of underage sex trafficking and conspiracy in 2021. She was sentenced to twenty years in jail, Fox News noted.
Maxwell filed an appeal, claiming that her conviction should be overturned for several reasons, including the fact that a plea agreement Epstein struck with the federal government in 2007 immunized her and statutes of limitations had expired.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit refused her appeal, but Maxwell contended that circuit courts have given conflicting rulings about the type of immunity offered through non-prosecutorial agreements, such as the one Epstein obtained in 2007, and that the Supreme Court should step in.
Maxwell is serving her jail sentence in Tallahassee, Florida. It’s slated to terminate in 2037.
The DOJ’s statement to the Supreme Court comes after the government recently sparked outrage among some of Trump’s supporters by saying that it had no new material to provide about Epstein’s case. Epstein was accused in 2019 of sex trafficking minor women, but he died before his trial. Authorities determined that he committed suicide.
Some Trump DOJ officials had floated notions that the government was concealing facts about Epstein’s case, but they have now retracted those allegations.
Maxwell might be called to testify before Congress. The Daily Mail, citing unidentified sources, said Monday that Maxwell is interested in doing so. Maxwell’s attorney did not reply to a Fox News Digital request for comment on the story.
Her counsel did, however, criticize the Trump DOJ for its stance on Maxwell’s appeal.
“I’d be surprised if President Trump knew his lawyers were asking the Supreme Court to let the government break a deal,” attorney David Oscar Markus said. “He’s the ultimate dealmaker — and I’m sure he’d agree that when the United States gives its word, it should keep it. With all the talk about who’s being prosecuted and who isn’t, it’s especially unfair that Ghislaine Maxwell remains in prison based on a promise the government made and broke.”
Ghislaine Maxwell is prepared to appear and testify before Congress amid the fallout over the release of the Epstein files.
According to a source close to Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend, who continues to assert her innocence, would “welcome the chance to sit in front of Congress and tell her story.”
Furthermore, Epstein’s victims said they were handed about as sex toys to his affluent friends and billionaire business acquaintances, who frequently visited his houses, including his own island, Little Saint James.
“Despite the rumors, Ghislaine was never offered any kind of plea deal. She would be more than happy to sit before Congress and tell her story. No-one from the government has ever asked her to share what she knows. She remains the only person to be jailed in connection to Epstein and she would welcome the chance to tell the American public the truth,” according to sources who spoke to the Daily Mail.
Maxwell was convicted in 2022 for her participation in a decade-long plot to sexually exploit and abuse many women and teenage girls alongside Epstein.
Maxwell claims she should have been protected from prosecution as part of a Non Prosecution Agreement signed by Epstein, her former boyfriend and boss, in 2007 when he agreed to plead guilty to two minor prostitution counts in a “sweetheart deal” that resulted in his spending minimal time in prison.
And now, controversy rages over the Department of Justice’s statement that there is no Epstein “client list” and the release of videos from inside New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center, which the DOJ claims show he committed suicide in 2019 while being held in jail on sex trafficking charges.
Critics have pointed out that the prison house footage is missing a vital minute and does not show the door or the inside of Epstein’s jail cell.