Supreme Court rejects appeal from Ghislaine Maxwell

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from Ghislaine Maxwell to throw out her conviction on charges related to Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of young women.

The decision means that Maxwell’s 20-year criminal sentence remains in place, leaving her only likely chance for an early release a pardon or clemency from President Donald Trump — a possibility the president did not rule out.

“I would have to take a look,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “I wouldn’t consider it or not consider it.”

Trump added that “a lot of people have asked me for pardons.” He also claimed he didn’t know about the ruling from the high court.

“I’m going to have to take a look at it. I have to ask DOJ. I didn’t know they rejected it. I didn’t know she was even asking for it, frankly,” he said.

The justices — as is their tendency — did not explain why they turned away Maxwell’s appeal.

Her attorney vowed to fight on.

“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.

“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.”

He didn’t elaborate, and one former U.S. attorney said there was no path forward for Maxwell.

“This is the end for her,” said Mimi Rocah, former federal prosecutor with the Southern District of New York. “She was trying to argue that she never should have been prosecuted, but it was clear from people who know how plea agreements work that’s not the law. The prosecutors in New York were not bound by the agreement that was made in Florida.”

Rocah explained that the plea agreement in Florida — which did not explicitly name Maxwell — would not be binding in New York. “This is the perfect example of why you shouldn’t do that. Here’s an office, in Florida, which did something against the wishes of the victims and gave Epstein a pass. This didn’t mean he got a pass in New York.”

Maxwell was convicted in 2021 on federal charges related to facilitating the crimes of Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.

But her attorneys argued that a 2007 non-prosecution agreement made by then-U.S. attorney Alex Acosta with Epstein’s lawyers also protected his “potential co-conspirators” from federal charges anywhere in the country.

Maxwell was prosecuted in Manhattan, where the Southern District of New York argued any deal made in Florida didn’t apply in its jurisdiction.

The Epstein case has returned to the spotlight after Trump’s Justice Department declined to release additional files on it, causing a wave of fury among the president’s MAGA supporters, who have long touted conspiracy theories related to the late millionaire and his network of powerful friends.

The House oversight committee is investigating the matter. It has subpoenaed the Justice Department files along with financial records from the Treasury Department and from Epstein’s estate. A few files have been released — including Epstein’s infamous “birthday book” — with the committee promising more to come.

Acosta, the U.S. attorney for Florida charged with giving Epstein a “sweetheart deal” in 2007, testified behind-closed doors to the panel, where he stood by the plea agreement.

Lawyers for the Trump administration pushed for the Supreme Court to stay out of the case, arguing the Florida non-prosecution agreement did not extend to all federal prosecutors throughout the country.

The founder of one of the nation’s largest anti-trafficking organizations praised the Supreme Court’s decision.

“We are obviously happy to see the denial of Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal,” said Lauren Hersh, an advocate for Epstein victims and national director of World Without Exploitation.

“In 2022, the jury 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.”

Under the Florida deal, Epstein pleaded guilty to state criminal charges in June 2008. Federal prosecutors agreed not to bring more criminal charges against him related to the sex-trafficking investigation and, crucially, agreed not to target any “co-conspirators.”

Maxwell, who was Epstein’s girlfriend for years, claimed the charges against her violated that agreement.

She argued — in court filings — that a person accused of a crime “should be able to rely on a promise that the United States will not prosecute again, without being subject to a gotcha.”

But Solicitor General D. John Sauer, arguing for the government, noted that under Justice Department policies, the U.S. attorney would have to obtain permission from superiors if the agreement were to apply outside of the district where it was made. There is no evidence that Acosta did that, he noted.

The Florida agreement came under scrutiny after the Miami Herald published its “Perversion of Justice” series examining the sweetheart deal.

Months later, in July 2019, Epstein was arrested in New York. A month after his arrest, Epstein was found dead in his New York jail cell. His death was ruled a suicide.

The next year Maxwell was prosecuted for her role in abusing and procuring girls for Epstein. She denied all charges.

At the time, a federal judge ruled the Florida deal did not apply to her. She was convicted by a New York jury on three charges and given a 20-year prison sentence.

In August, Maxwell sat for an interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Shortly after that interview — in which she was given immunity for anything said in it — she was moved from her high-security federal prison in Florida to a low-security women’s facility in Texas.

Trump and Epstein were friends for years but the president said the two men had a falling out sometime before the allegations against Epstein were made public.

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