Politics
DOJ Makes Huge Decision After Ghislaine Maxwell Promises Epstein Tell-All
Lawyers for the U.S. Department of Justice have rebuffed a request from Ghislaine Maxwell to share intimate details about her partnership with Jeffrey Epstein, instead asking a federal judge to dismiss her latest plea for freedom.
Maxwell, 63, on Monday sought to reduce or eliminate her sentence of 20 years on charges related to human trafficking and the grooming of underage girls. She is widely seen as the driving force behind Epstein, the late pedophile and philanthropist who killed himself in a jail cell in 2019.
One day prior, a source close to Maxwell told media outlets that she is prepared to come forward with additional knowledge about Epstein, including the potential existence of a “client list” at the center of a MAGA firestorm directed at the Trump administration.
Maxwell’s attorney, David Oscar Markus, argued in court that she should be immune from prosecution, citing a Non Prosecution Agreement signed by Epstein in 2007 when he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor crimes of underage prostitution.
“Despite the existence of a non-prosecution agreement promising in plain language that the United States would not prosecute any co-conspirator of Jeffrey Epstein, the United States in fact prosecuted Ghislaine Maxwell as a co-conspirator of Jeffrey Epstein,” her attorneys wrote in their petition to the U.S. Supreme Court in April, per ABC News.
Trump, Markus said, is the “ultimate dealmaker” and would relish the chance to shed light on Epstein in exchange for Maxwell’s freedom.
“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,” he told the Daily Mail.
The DOJ’s lawyers, led by Solicitor General John Sauer, faulted Markus for his “implausible reading” of the law and “misplaced” arguments that the government could not maintain its conviction against Maxwell.
A district court and federal appeals court have previously rejected Maxwell’s legal argument.
“That contention is incorrect, and petitioner does not show that it would succeed in any court of appeals,” wrote U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer.
“The government was not even aware of [Maxwell’s] role in Epstein’s scheme at that time,” he argued at one point.
Markus, responding to Sauer’s submission on Monday, urged President Trump to direct his lawyers to reconsider Maxwell’s deal.
“I’d be surprised if President Trump knew his lawyers were asking the Supreme Court to let the government break a deal. 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,” Markus wrote in a statement to ABC.
Sigrid McCawley, a lawyer who has represented hundreds of Epstein’s victims, told the outlet that Maxwell is deserving of her sentence and should stay behind bars.
“After two-plus decades of recruiting and abusing young girls trapped in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking enterprise, Ghislaine Maxwell has again attempted to escape accountability by trying to hide behind the non-prosecution agreement. Maxwell does not deserve any protection, and she should remain in prison for the horrific crimes she committed,” wrote McCawley, a managing partner at Boies Schiller Flexner.