The Supreme Court justices met behind closed doors Monday to go over petitions submitted over the summer, and among them was Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal of her child sex trafficking conviction.
Maxwell, the longtime associate and former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein, is asking the high court to review whether prosecutors fairly pursued their case against her.
Her legal team reportedly argues that federal prosecutors violated the terms of Epstein’s 2007 plea deal in Florida, which promised not to charge potential co-conspirators if he pled guilty to state prostitution charges. That controversial non-prosecution agreement has reportedly been central to Maxwell’s defense, although lower courts have already ruled that it only applies in Florida.
For Maxwell, now 63, the stakes are high. She was indicted in 2020 for crimes tied to Epstein’s decades of recruiting and abusing underage girls. In 2021, she was convicted of child sex trafficking and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Her lawyers are pressing the justices to throw out the conviction, but the Justice Department has urged the court to reject her case. The justices could decide as early as this week whether to hear it. Four of the nine must agree for her appeal to move forward, as per reports, USA TODAY.
This comes as lawmakers in Congress are fighting for transparency in the Epstein case. Democrats, with support from a few Republicans, are pushing to force the Justice Department to release any remaining files connected to Epstein’s sex trafficking network.
Newly elected Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona has said she plans to sign onto the measure once sworn in, giving Democrats the final vote they need. For now, though, the timing of her swearing-in remains unclear.
The renewed attention has put Epstein’s shadow back in the spotlight. When he was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges, he died by suicide in prison before trial. That outcome fueled public suspicion and widespread conspiracy theories, especially about who else might have been involved in his crimes.
Former President Donald Trump had promised on the campaign trail to release the Epstein files. While some documents came out, his administration never released everything, and speculation about whether powerful people are being shielded has only grown.
Trump and Epstein were once friends in the 1990s and early 2000s, but Trump later cut ties. He has never been accused of any wrongdoing connected to Epstein.
Meanwhile, Maxwell’s situation has taken unexpected turns. This summer, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche interviewed her over two days at a Florida courthouse, not far from the maximum-security prison where she had been serving time. Just days later, she was suddenly moved to a minimum-security facility in Texas.
Reports said she agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department, but her attorneys have refused to let her voluntarily testify before Congress unless some form of clemency is offered.
Maxwell has not requested a pardon from Trump, though she has acknowledged his power to grant one. Trump, for his part, has not committed to giving her clemency.
For now, all eyes are on the Supreme Court. Whether they take up her case or not, the combination of her appeal and the push to unseal Epstein’s files ensures the controversy is far from over.