Supreme Court rejects appeal from Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell
By John Fritze, CNN
(CNN) — The Supreme Court declined Monday to hear an appeal from the former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein, brushing aside an argument from Ghislaine Maxwell that she should have been shielded from prosecution under a plea agreement that Epstein struck with federal authorities.
Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison in 2022 for carrying out a years-long scheme with Epstein to groom and sexually abuse underage girls. In her appeal at the Supreme Court, filed in April, Maxwell argues she should have been covered by a non-prosecution agreement Epstein secured as part of his agreement to plead guilty in Florida.
She was later charged by prosecutors in New York.
“We’re, of course, deeply disappointed that the Supreme Court declined to hear Ghislaine Maxwell’s case,” Maxwell’s lawyer, David Oscar Markus, said. “But this fight isn’t over. Serious legal and factual issues remain, and we will continue to pursue every avenue available to ensure that justice is done.”
The New York-based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Maxwell, finding that the agreement made with prosecutors in Florida did not bind the authorities in New York.
Maxwell’s attorney has argued that appeals courts have taken different approaches to the issue of whether a non-prosecution agreement with the United States is nationally binding.
Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to state prostitution charges and was indicted on federal sex trafficking charges in July 2019 but died by suicide in prison a month later.
The Trump administration has been defending the charges and conviction at the Supreme Court, even as the Justice Department met with Maxwell this summer. Maxwell told the department that she never witnessed anything untoward in Donald Trump’s friendship with Epstein and never heard of any allegations that he acted inappropriately.
Maxwell was transferred to a minimum-security prison camp shortly after the interview with the deputy attorney general was completed.
Maxwell “was not a party to the relevant agreement,” the Justice Department told the Supreme Court in a brief filed over the summer. “Only Epstein and the Florida USAO were parties.”
Some Republicans and supporters of President Donald Trump have called for more transparency in the Epstein case. Early last month, the House Oversight Committee released tens of thousands of pages of records from the Epstein case, including a note bearing Trump’s name that was part of a collection of letters gifted to the late convicted sex offender for his 50th birthday. The president has repeatedly denied writing that letter.
Trump says he’d ‘have to take a look at’ pardon for Maxwell
Trump on Monday declined to rule out pardoning Maxwell, telling CNN he’d speak to the Department of Justice about possible clemency.
“You know, I haven’t heard the name in so long. I can say this, that I’d have to take a look at it,” Trump told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins at the White House.
Pressed in a follow-up exchange on whether Trump was actively considering pardoning Maxwell, the president told Collins, “I wouldn’t consider it or not consider, I don’t know anything about it. I will speak to the DOJ.” He later added that “a lot of people have asked me for pardons,” including Sean “Diddy” Combs, who was sentenced Friday to more than four years in prison for his conviction on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
Pressed Monday on the severity of Maxwell’s crimes, which include a conviction for child sex trafficking, Trump seemed to shrug it off.
“I mean, I’m going to have to take a look at it,” Trump told CNN. “I have to ask DOJ, I didn’t know they rejected it. I didn’t know she was even asking for it, frankly.”
This story was updated with more developments.
CNN’s Donald Judd contributed to this report.
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