Attorney For Ghislaine Maxwell Appeals To Trump With Request To Overturn Conviction

Trump has acknowledged that he has the power to pardon Maxwell for a series of sex trafficking crimes she committed alongside the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, but he has not revealed whether he is seriously thinking about doing so.

Maxwell’s attorneys have been petitioning the high court to review her case on the basis that the charges should not have been brought. They argue that she was covered under the controversial plea deal Epstein negotiated in 2007, which shielded him from federal prosecution in Florida if he pleaded guilty to state-level sex crimes. It also covered a select few co-conspirators.

David Oscar Markus, Maxwell’s attorney, asserted that Trump should understand the importance of honoring a deal, alluding to the president’s 1987 bestselling book.

“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,” Markus said in a statement.

“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.”

The language stipulated that it covered “any potential co-conspirators of Epstein, including but not limited to” four assistants — none of whom was Maxwell.

Her attorneys say that it doesn’t matter if she was not explicitly named.

“By using ’including but not limited to’ before naming some individuals, the government knowingly extended the benefit of the bargain to other unnamed individuals who participated in Epstein’s offenses,” read the Monday court filing.

“Whether the government attorneys personally knew the identities of every such person is beside the point; they certainly knew there could be others (hence the language). Ghislaine Maxwell’s name was well known to Epstein’s circle and was referenced in public reporting at the time of the NPA. But even if she had been entirely unknown, the broad language of the NPA evidences an intent to cover whoever might later be deemed a co-conspirator.”

The Justice Department, meanwhile, has argued that Maxwell was never party to the agreement — only Epstein and the Florida U.S. Attorney’s office.

Maxwell was charged in the Southern District of New York and sentenced to 20 years behind bars in 2022. She has been serving her time at a low-security facility in Tallahassee.