Ghislaine Maxwell is taking her case to the highest court in the country, and her legal team says it’s not just about her, it’s about whether Americans can trust the government to keep its word.
On Monday, Maxwell’s lawyers filed a brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear her appeal of her 2021 sex trafficking conviction. They argue that federal prosecutors broke a deal the government made years ago with Jeffrey Epstein, which they claim was supposed to protect her from any criminal charges.
According to the brief, a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) signed by Epstein back in the day included promises that extended to others, including alleged co-conspirators like Maxwell. “Plea and non-prosecution agreements resolve nearly every federal case. They routinely include promises that extend to others—co-conspirators, family members, potential witnesses. If those promises mean different things in different parts of the country, then trust in our system collapses,” her legal team wrote.
The core of the fight is whether the NPA, signed in Florida, should have prevented Maxwell from being prosecuted in New York. Prosecutors have said no — the agreement only applied to the Southern District of Florida and didn’t cover other jurisdictions. But Maxwell’s attorneys insist there were no such limits in the text.
“It is not geographically limited to the Southern District of Florida, it is not conditioned on the co-conspirators being known by the government at the time,” they wrote. “This should be the end of the discussion.”
The Justice Department, for its part, has urged the Supreme Court to reject the appeal. Prosecutors argue that Maxwell wasn’t a party to the original deal and, therefore, can’t enforce it. But her lawyers aren’t letting that slide.
“Petitioner’s alleged status as Epstein’s co-conspirator was the entire basis of her prosecution,” they argued.
The brief also delivered a pointed message, claiming the federal government can’t promise one thing in one state and do the opposite in another. “No one is above the law—not even the Southern District of New York. Our government made a deal, and it must honor it,” the defense said.
In a statement, Maxwell’s attorney David Oscar Markus made it clear they’re not just aiming at the legal system — they want to appeal to public opinion and even the White House. “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,” he said.
“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.”
Whether or not the Supreme Court takes the case remains to be seen, but Maxwell’s team is going all in on the idea that a deal is a deal — and if the government breaks one, nobody’s safe from being next.