Ghislaine Maxwell to file new motion for release on bail, according to court filings

Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend and alleged accomplice, will file a new motion for release from jail on bail, according to court filings.

Maxwell’s attorneys told the court that she has “assembled substantial information that was not available to present” when she was denied bail at her initial hearing, as well as a proposed bail package that would be co-signed by family members and friends “who were unable to come forward at that time.”

In filings made under seal in November and unsealed Friday, Maxwell’s lawyers told a federal judge that her new bail application “will rely on sensitive and private information that, if made public, would be highly damaging to both Ms. Maxwell and third parties,” in part because the third parties would be subject to harassment and media scrutiny.

They also told the judge that Maxwell will provide a report prepared by an accounting firm that summarizes her financial condition in the past five years and discloses all of her assets, including assets held in trust and assets held by other family members. Maxwell’s opaque finances were one of the reasons she was denied bail.

According to a joint filing from Maxwell’s lawyers and federal prosecutors, Maxwell was to file the new bail application under seal on Monday, with a redacted version to be filed publicly.

In July, Maxwell was charged by New York federal prosecutors with helping recruit, groom and ultimately sexually abuse minors as young as 14 as part of a sex-trafficking ring allegedly operated by her late former boyfriend. US District Judge Alison Nathan ordered her jailed pending trial, saying that her wealth, international ties and “extraordinary capacity to avoid detection” made her a flight risk.

Maxwell, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

Her attorney decried the restrictive conditions of her jail stay in a letter to the court two weeks ago. Attorney Bobbi Sternheim wrote that Maxwell is being woken up every 15 minutes by flashlight to see if she’s alive, is being held in “de facto” solitary confinement and is “excessively and invasively searched.”

A staff attorney at the New York jail where Maxwell is being held disputed that she has been held in solitary confinement. In a letter to the judge overseeing Maxwell’s case, the attorney wrote that the former British socialite has restrictions similar to other inmates, including access to common areas for 11 hours a day.

Flashlights are used to ensure inmates are breathing and inmates are subject to searches, including body scans, the attorney said.

“In her current assignment, Ms. Maxwell, like other inmates housed at MDC Brooklyn, is allowed access to the common area of the housing unit from 7:00 AM through 8:00 PM, daily. She has access to recreational space, social calls, television, shower, legal telephone calls, email, computers, and discovery material. A discovery laptop is available to her from 8:00 AM through 5:00 PM. When Ms. Maxwell returns to her cell at 8:00 PM, like other inmates she has access to drinking water, snacks she purchased through the commissary, and discovery material. Since August 3, 2020, Ms. Maxwell has been able to purchase items from the full commissary list. She receives commissary every second week like all other inmates,” the letter said.

The restrictive conditions come after Epstein died by suicide last August while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center. The death led to the removal of the acting head of the Bureau of Prisons, and two guards on duty that night were charged with filing false records for saying they had checked on Epstein in his cell.