Ghislaine Maxwell bids to have conviction overturned
The disgraced socialite and Jeffrey Epstein associate appealed to the Supreme Court on Monday in a last-ditch plea to be cleared.
Her lawyers argue she is covered by a 2007 plea deal Epstein reached with Florida prosecutors that absolves any of his accomplices.
The filing comes after President Donald Trump 's Justice Department earlier this month wrote it opposed the Supreme Court taking up the appeal.
'Rather than grapple with the core principles of plea agreements, the government tries to distract by reciting a lurid and irrelevant account of Jeffrey Epstein's misconduct,' Maxwell's legal team wrote in the petition.
'But this case is about what the government promised, not what Epstein did,' wrote the husband-and-wife duo, David and Mona Markus.
Maxwell met on Thursday and Friday with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to answer questions about the highly controversial case that has sparked a civil war in MAGA world.
David Oscar Markus said outside the courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida last week that his client answered every question the Blanche asked of her on over 100 Epstein contacts.
He also appeared to be angling for a pardon from the president.
In 2007, Epstein struck a deal that allowed him to plead guilty in Florida to solicitation of prostitution and procurement of minors to engage in prostitution and only serve 13 months in jail.
He also appeared to be angling for a pardon from the president.
The agreement stipulated that Miami's U.S. Attorney's Office would 'not institute any criminal charges against any potential co-conspirators of Epstein.'
The deal names four individuals, none of whom were Maxwell.
But the Marukses argue that the deal also included their client when it said 'any potential co-conspirators' are also immunized in the case.
On December 29, 2021, Maxwell was convicted on five out of six charges related to her role in the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Her convictions included sex trafficking conspiracy, enticing minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts and transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for her crimes.
Attorney General Pam Bondi seemed to quash the appeal earlier this month when the DOJ opposed the Supreme Court taking up the case.
But Maxwell's legal team is still pushing forward with a formal request for the highest U.S. Court to take up the appeal.
The 21-page document by Bondi's DOJ rejects Maxwell's argument that Epstein's non-prosecution agreement (NPA) when he was first investigated gave her immunity.
The letter says the idea that this deal covered the entire U.S. government – including the Southern District of New York, which brought her to trial in 2021 - was 'incorrect.'
In addition to the Supreme Court appeal, the lawyers are also angling for a presidential pardon for their client.
Maxwell engaged in more than nine hours of interviews with Blanche last week.
David Markus claimed that his client spoke with the deputy AG about '100 different people' related to Epstein's child sex trafficking ring.
'They asked about every possible thing you could imagine – everything,' he said.
The attorney also said Maxwell is being used as the 'scapegoat' in the entire Epstein case and has been 'treated unfairly for the last five years.'
Markus said that they had not put in a formal request with the White House for a pardon for Maxwell, but he didn't rule out taking that action in the future, saying 'things are happening so quickly.'
'The president said earlier he has the power to do so, we hope he exercises that power in the right way,' he said of a potential commutation.
Trump refused to rule out invoking his presidential pardon powers for Maxwell when asked on Friday morning.'
I'm allowed to do it, but it's something I haven't thought about,' he said.
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