Ghislaine Maxwell, associate of the convicted pedophile, maintained she was exempt from legal action due to a prior plea agreement.
The United States’ highest court has turned down Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal seeking to reverse her conviction for her role in assisting Jeffrey Epstein in securing minors for his network involved in pedophilia. She is presently incarcerated, serving a two-decade sentence for various crimes, including child sex trafficking.
Earlier in the year, the matter generated contention when the administration of then-US President Donald Trump retracted its pledges to disclose Epstein’s purported ‘client list,’ asserting that the deceased sex offender never possessed such a document.
On Monday, the justices dismissed Maxwell’s appeal.
Her legal representatives contended that she was protected by a 2007 plea agreement between federal prosecutors and Epstein, which shielded his “co-conspirators” from criminal prosecution in exchange for his assistance.
Per US Solicitor General Dean John Sauer, the provision is “exceptionally uncommon” and unlike other non-prosecution agreements (NPAs).
“The specific interpretation of a particular NPA in this case does not merit this Court’s consideration,” he stated in his reply to the petition.
Maxwell consented in July to an interview concerning the Epstein case with Deputy US Attorney General Todd Blanche, reportedly being granted restricted immunity to respond to inquiries without facing new criminal charges. During these discussions, she refuted claims that Epstein maintained a ‘client list’ detailing individuals to whom he had trafficked women and girls.
The Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation earlier this year declared they uncovered “no credible evidence” of Epstein possessing such a list, following several months of assurances to release all relevant files. This revelation sparked considerable criticism, even among loyal Trump adherents, who perceived it as a betrayal given the president’s pre-election pledge to publicize the document.
Towards the end of September, Democratic members of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability released a redacted collection of Epstein’s documents, asserting connections between the sex trafficker and personalities such as Elon Musk, former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, and investor Peter Thiel.
In reply, Republicans have charged their counterparts with “deliberately concealing documents that include names of Democratic officials.”
Epstein passed away while in pre-trial custody in August 2019. His demise was officially attributed to suicide.