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The family of Jeffrey Epstein’s madam Ghislaine Maxwell claims the convicted accomplice “did not receive a fair trial” and remains in prison due to “a promise the US government made and broke.”
In their first public statement since the FBI and DOJ announced the conclusion of the Jeffrey Epstein case, the Maxwells said they are ready to “file a writ of habeas corpus,” in the hopes it will “allow her to challenge her imprisonment” as she serves a 20-year sentence.
“Our sister Ghislaine did not receive a fair trial,” the siblings of Epstein’s right-hand woman wrote. “Her legal team continues to fight her case in the Courts and will file its reply in short order to the Government’s opposition in the US Supreme Court.”
They claim the writ of habeas corpus — a court order that requires a person in custody to appear before a judge to determine if their detention is lawful — would be “on the basis of new evidence such as government misconduct that would have likely changed the trial’s outcome.”
“I’d be surprised if President Trump knew his lawyers were asking the Supreme Court to let the government break a deal,” Maxwell’s lawyer David Oscar Marcus 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 US government made and broke,” he added.
Maxwell’s family said they “profoundly concur” with Marcus’s comments.
Maxwell, 63, has asked the US Supreme Court to toss her 2021 conviction for grooming and abusing young women based on that claim.
A Manhattan federal jury found the heiress guilty of helping deceased jet-setting financier Epstein — her boss and off-and-on lover — run a sex-trafficking ring of underage girls.
She is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence tin Tallahassee, Florida.
Her lawyers have urged the Supreme Court to consider their argument that her prosecution should have been blocked under the feds’ 2007 deal with Epstein — which allowed the convicted predator to serve just 13 months in a county jail where he could come and go during the day.
The deal stipulated that it would not bring future cases against either Epstein or his “coconspirators.”
However, prosecutors at the Southern District of New York have successfully argued that the agreement was only binding to Florida federal prosecutors, not to others around the country.
With the 2nd Circuit of Appeals having already rejected Maxwell’s appeal, only the Supreme Court remains to potentially review the case.
The Maxwell family’s statement follows the FBI and DOJ’s announcement last week of the conclusion of a “systematic review” of the Epstein case, in a controversial, unsigned memo.
The review found “no credible evidence” that Epstein, who died in his Manhattan jail cell on Aug. 10, 2019, was murdered, had “blackmailed prominent individuals,” kept a “client list,” or “evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”
US Attorney General Pam Bondi is facing a brewing firestorm over the announcement after last week saying that the government would not be releasing the records after all.
It comes after Bondi suggested on Fox News earlier this year that a stack of newsworthy Epstein files was “sitting on my desk” and that she planned to release the documents to the public.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) signaled support for releasing government files related to the dead pedophile on Tuesday.
“I’m for transparency,” Johnson replied to conservative podcast host Benny Johnson when asked if he would support congressional efforts to subpoena the Justice Department for documents or seek testimony from Maxwell.
“It’s a very delicate subject, but we should put everything out there and let the people decide.”
English (US)