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US supreme court declines to hear Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal of sex-trafficking conviction

Jeffrey Epstein associate was sentenced in 2022 to 20 years in prison for sex trafficking and related crimes

View image in fullscreen Ghislaine Maxwell sits at the defense table in court in New York on 8 March 2022. Photograph: Jane Rosenberg/Reuters

View image in fullscreen Ghislaine Maxwell sits at the defense table in court in New York on 8 March 2022. Photograph: Jane Rosenberg/Reuters

The US supreme court has declined to hear an appeal from the Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell of her sex-trafficking conviction.

The decision brings an end to Maxwell’s legal effort to have her 2021 conviction on sex-trafficking charges overturned – and leaves presidential clemency as her only option for early release from a 20-year prison sentence handed to her in 2022.

“We’re, of course, deeply disappointed that the Supreme Court declined to hear Ghislaine Maxwell’s case,” Maxwell’s lawyer, David Oscar Markus, said in a statement to CNN. “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 decision also leaves Maxwell, 63, as the only person to be convicted on charges related to Epstein’s two-decade sex-trafficking operation, despite mounting pressure from across the US political spectrum for other alleged co-conspirators – or clients of the conspiracy – to be brought to justice.

In a contentious decision earlier this year, the FBI and justice department said they had “labored to provide the public with maximum information regarding Epstein and ensured examination of any evidence in the government’s possession”.

 

And, the agencies also said: “It is the determination of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation that no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”

The memo provoked a political firestorm from lawmakers and Epstein survivors , both demanding further accountability. Todd Blanche, the US deputy attorney general, subsequently interviewed Maxwell in a Florida prison. Audio recordings and transcripts of the meeting were also released, but yielded little new information.

She was also transferred to a lower-security federal facility in Texas.

Maxwell’s appeal to the US supreme court centered on an argument that she was protected by a 2008 non-prosecution agreement made between Epstein and Florida prosecutors that covered co-conspirators.

But Maxwell was not named in the controversial deal that saw Epstein – who died in detention in 2019 while awaiting trial – agree to plead guilty to Florida state charges of solicitation of a minor. He was handed a lenient 13-month sentence in a Palm Beach county lockup and required to register as a sex offender.

Monday’s US supreme court ruling follows a decision by the New York-based second US circuit court of appeals last year that found Epstein’s non-prosecution agreement in Florida did not bind prosecutors in New York – and it let Maxwell’s conviction and sentence stand.

The decision by the supreme court to deny her appeal was issued without comment. It also offers a reprieve to Donald Trump, who has been under pressure from disclosures by a congressional oversight committee looking into the case and has struggled to contain a scandal over the president’s past friendship with Epstein.

In September, the committee released content from Epstein’s 50th birthday album, complete with a sexually suggestive entry attributed to Trump that the White House has claimed is fraudulent.

Trump later filed a defamation claim against the Wall Street Journal – which first reported on the greeting.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said the White House would welcome expert handwriting analysis and called the Epstein case generally “a hoax” meant to distract from the administration’s achievements during Trump’s second presidency.

But critics say the Trump administration has failed to fulfil a promise to release all of the federal government’s documentation on Epstein. He has also stoked controversy by saying he is “allowed” to give Maxwell a pardon or commute her sentence under his presidential powers – although he has also maintained “it’s something I have not thought about”.

The Epstein-Maxwell conspiracy continues to swirl through corridors of power and society.

In September, Peter Mandelson, British ambassador to the US, was abruptly recalled after leaked emails showed his friendship with Epstein continued long after the financier’s Florida guilty plea. Mandelson called Epstein his “best pal” in one exchange.

Keir Starmer, the UK prime minister, later said he would “never” have appointed Mandelson to be US ambassador if he had known the full details of Mandelson’s relationship with the convicted sex offender.

Starmer said Mandelson had been properly vetted before his appointment.

Sources close to Mandelson say that his dismissal, coming days before a lavish state visit to the UK by Trump and US first lady Melania Trump, had earned Starmer “a bitter enemy”.

Lauren Hersh, national director of World Without Exploitation, a group representing the rights of sex-trafficking victims, said on Monday’s decision: “We are obviously happy to see the denial of Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal.”

Hersh’s statement said jurors “spoke loud and clear about how, for decades, Maxwell caused such devastating harm to so many women and girls”.

“We’re heartened that she was rightfully not given leniency for her heinous crimes.”

More details soon …

Source: The Guardian

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