Latest news with #Ghislaine Maxwell
Daily Mail
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Ghislaine Maxwell bids to have conviction overturned
is trying to get her federal sex trafficking 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.
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Top DOJ official says he will continue Maxwell interview on Friday, share information ‘at the appropriate time‘
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said that he will continue his interview with convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell on Friday and that the Justice Department (DOJ) will share more information about the discussions at 'the appropriate time.' 'Today, I met with Ghislaine Maxwell, and I will continue my interview of her tomorrow. The Department of Justice will share additional information about what we learned at the appropriate time,' Blanche said in a Thursday evening post on X. Blanche met with Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022, for about five hours. Maxwell was a longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender and financier. Maxwell's attorney David Oscar Markus said that his client answered every question and expressed gratitude to the federal government for trying to 'uncover the truth.' 'Looking forward to another productive day tomorrow. Ghislaine honestly answered every question that @DAGToddBlanche asked,' the lawyer wrote in a Thursday evening post on X. 'And she will continue to do so. We are grateful that the government is trying to uncover the truth. They have never before spoken with her and we trust the process.' 'He took a full day and asked a lot of questions, and Ms. Maxwell answered every single question,' Markus said to reporters after the interview. 'She never stopped. She never invoked her privilege,' the attorney added. 'She never declined to answer. She answered all the questions truthfully, honestly and to the best of her ability.' The interview with Maxwell in Florida comes as President Trump's administration is under pressure from the MAGA base and others to release more evidence related to Epstein's case. Maxwell is currently appealing her 2021 conviction to the Supreme Court, while the DOJ has urged the justices last week to deny her request. Epstein, who ran in high-powered circles, mingling among politicians, business owners and fashion moguls, was found dead in his jail cell in New York while awaiting trial. The medical examiner ruled that his death was a suicide. The DOJ and FBI reaffirmed the finding in a joint, unnamed memo earlier this month, stating that Epstein died by suicide and that he did not keep a 'client list.' The memo has infuriated the MAGA base, which has been demanding more transparency. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who said in February she had Epstein's alleged client list 'sitting on my desk right now to review,' later objected to releasing more documents, arguing it would be damaging to Epstein's victims and that the batch was full of pornographic images. Bondi told Trump in May during a briefing that his name appeared multiple times in the Epstein files, according to The Wall Street Journal. Bondi also said many other high-profile figures have been named, but that alone is not a sign of wrongdoing. The White House brushed off the report. 'The fact is that The President kicked him out of his club for being a creep. This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media, just like the Obama Russiagate scandal, which President Trump was right about,' White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement on Wednesday. Ian Maxwell said Wednesday evening his sister Ghislaine 'will be putting before that court material new evidence that was not available to the defense at her 2021 trial, which would have had a significant impact on its outcome.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ghislaine Maxwell makes pitch to Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court should hear Ghislaine Maxwell's appeal of her 2021 sex trafficking conviction because the government has an "obligation to honor" a non-prosecution agreement with Jeffrey Epstein that inoculated Maxwell from any criminal charges, her lawyers argued in a brief to the Supreme Court Monday. "Plea and non-prosecution agreements resolve nearly every federal case. They routinely include promises that extend to others—co-conspirators, family members, potential witnesses. If those promises mean different things in different parts of the country, then trust in our system collapses," the brief said. Federal prosecutors have argued that the non-prosecution agreement applied only in Florida and did not bind New York, where charges against him, and subsequently Maxwell, were brought. MORE: Ghislaine Maxwell received limited immunity during meetings with deputy attorney general: Sources Maxwell's attorneys argued the terms of the NPA Epstein signed were unqualified. "It is not geographically limited to the Southern District of Florida, it is not conditioned on the co-conspirators being known by the government at the time, it does not depend on what any particular government attorney may have had in his or her head about who might be a co-conspirator, and it contains no other caveat or exception. This should be the end of the discussion," the defense brief said. The Justice Department has urged the Supreme Court to reject Maxwell's petition even as Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche agreed to meet with Maxwell last week. Prosecutors have argued Maxwell cannot enforce the NPA because she was not a party to it. The defense disagreed. MORE: Video Meeting wraps between deputy AG and Ghislaine Maxwell "Petitioner's alleged status as Epstein's co-conspirator was the entire basis of her prosecution," the defense brief said. "No one is above the law—not even the Southern District of New York. Our government made a deal, and it must honor it. The United States cannot promise immunity with one hand in Florida and prosecute with the other in New York. President Trump built his legacy in part on the power of a deal—and surely he would agree that when the United States gives its word, it must stand by it. We are appealing not only to the Supreme Court but to the President himself to recognize how profoundly unjust it is to scapegoat Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein's crimes, especially when the government promised she would not be prosecuted," Maxwell's attorney David Oscar Markus said in a statement.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ghislaine Maxwell makes pitch to Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court should hear Ghislaine Maxwell's appeal of her 2021 sex trafficking conviction because the government has an "obligation to honor" a non-prosecution agreement with Jeffrey Epstein that inoculated Maxwell from any criminal charges, her lawyers argued in a brief to the Supreme Court Monday. "Plea and non-prosecution agreements resolve nearly every federal case. They routinely include promises that extend to others—co-conspirators, family members, potential witnesses. If those promises mean different things in different parts of the country, then trust in our system collapses," the brief said. Federal prosecutors have argued that the non-prosecution agreement applied only in Florida and did not bind New York, where charges against him, and subsequently Maxwell, were brought. MORE: Ghislaine Maxwell received limited immunity during meetings with deputy attorney general: Sources Maxwell's attorneys argued the terms of the NPA Epstein signed were unqualified. "It is not geographically limited to the Southern District of Florida, it is not conditioned on the co-conspirators being known by the government at the time, it does not depend on what any particular government attorney may have had in his or her head about who might be a co-conspirator, and it contains no other caveat or exception. This should be the end of the discussion," the defense brief said. The Justice Department has urged the Supreme Court to reject Maxwell's petition even as Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche agreed to meet with Maxwell last week. Prosecutors have argued Maxwell cannot enforce the NPA because she was not a party to it. The defense disagreed. MORE: Video Meeting wraps between deputy AG and Ghislaine Maxwell "Petitioner's alleged status as Epstein's co-conspirator was the entire basis of her prosecution," the defense brief said. "No one is above the law—not even the Southern District of New York. Our government made a deal, and it must honor it. The United States cannot promise immunity with one hand in Florida and prosecute with the other in New York. President Trump built his legacy in part on the power of a deal—and surely he would agree that when the United States gives its word, it must stand by it. We are appealing not only to the Supreme Court but to the President himself to recognize how profoundly unjust it is to scapegoat Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein's crimes, especially when the government promised she would not be prosecuted," Maxwell's attorney David Oscar Markus said in a statement.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ghislaine Maxwell Petitions Supreme Court to Overturn Sex Trafficking Conviction
Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's longtime co-conspirator, is serving a 20-year prison sentenceNEED TO KNOW Ghislaine Maxwell is seeking to have her sex trafficking conviction overturned by the Supreme Court Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year sentence following her 2021 conviction Maxwell is Jeffrey Epstein's longtime co-conspiratorGhislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's longtime co-conspirator, is attempting to have her sex trafficking conviction overturned. Maxwell's attorneys wrote in a Supreme Court petition obtained by PEOPLE that she should have received immunity as part of Epstein's controversial deal with federal prosecutors that they claim shields her from prosecution. Epstein served just over a year in prison after pleading guilty in 2008 to state prostitution charges, following an agreement with the U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Florida. As part of the deal, federal prosecutors dropped the charges against Epstein as long as he pleaded guilty to state charges. According to Maxwell's attorneys, the non-prosecution agreement stated that 'the United States also agrees that it will not institute any criminal charges against any potential co-conspirators of Epstein." Maxwell's attorneys contend that Maxwell is covered by that agreement. "...This case is about what the government promised, not what Epstein did," the attorneys wrote. Related: DOJ Official to Meet with Ghislaine Maxwell as Congress Moves to Subpoena Her Amid Epstein Scandal Epstein was indicted in New York in 2019 on sex trafficking charges. He controversially died by suicide while in custody in Manhattan. In 2021, Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking and was later sentenced to 20 years in prison. Maxwell recently met with federal prosecutors following backlash over the Trump administration's handling of files related to the Epstein case. Epstein, the billionaire financier, has been linked to high-profile individuals like Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals previously denied Maxwell's petition to have her conviction overturned, leading to her bid for the Supreme Court to intervene. Read the original article on People
