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The Department of Justice on Monday asked the Supreme Court to deny Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghilaine Maxwell’s appeal of her sex-trafficking conviction, a move that comes as the department has recently come under fire for its handling of Epstein’s case files.
Maxwell, 63, was convicted by a jury in New York in 2021 of five counts involving sex trafficking of a minor and conspiracy. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Maxwell appealed her conviction, saying it should be tossed out for several reasons, including that a plea deal Epstein reached with the federal government in 2007 immunized her and that statutes of limitations had run out.
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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied her appeal, but Maxwell argued that circuit courts have issued disparate orders about what kind of immunity is granted through non-prosecutorial agreements, such as the one Epstein received in 2007, and that the Supreme Court should weigh in.
Maxwell is serving out her prison sentence in Tallahassee, Florida. It is set to end in 2037.
The DOJ’s response to the high court comes after the department recently ignited fury among a faction of President Donald Trump’s supporters by announcing it had no new information to release related to Epstein’s case. Epstein was charged in 2019 with sex trafficking underage women, but he died before he could stand trial. Authorities ruled his death was caused by suicide.
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Some Trump DOJ officials had advanced theories that the government was hiding information related to Epstein’s case, but they have since walked back those claims.
Congress could call on Maxwell to testify before lawmakers. Citing anonymous sources, the Daily Mail reported Monday that Maxwell is interested in doing that. Maxwell’s attorney did not respond to a Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the report.
Her attorney did, however, take a jab at Trump over the DOJ’s position on Maxwell’s appeal.
“I’d be surprised if President Trump knew his lawyers were asking the Supreme Court to let the government break a deal,” attorney David Oscar Markus said. “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.”
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