In the continuing battle over documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking ring, his former associate Ghislaine Maxwell is firmly opposed to the unsealing of testimony.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi requested the release of grand jury testimony in various cases against Epstein, who is deceased, as well as Maxwell. One request related to two cases has already been rejected on the basis of appellate court rules that do not apply in other cases.
‘When Epstein died, prosecutors … pivoted and made Maxwell the face of his crimes. She became the scapegoat and the only person the government could put on trial.’
“Jeffrey Epstein is dead. Ghislaine Maxwell is not,” Maxwell’s attorney David Markus wrote in the filing Tuesday. “Whatever interest the public may have in Epstein, that interest cannot justify a broad intrusion into grand jury secrecy in a case where the defendant is alive, her legal options are viable, and her due process rights remain.”
Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence over trafficking charges and is appealing the charges. The case may be taken up the U.S. Supreme Court in September.
Markus went on to claim that Maxwell was being scapegoated by prosecutors. He argued that she has not been able to review the testimony under consideration.
“When Epstein died, prosecutors from the Southern District of New York pivoted and made Maxwell the face of his crimes. She became the scapegoat and the only person the government could put on trial. She was convicted in a media firestorm of false reporting and mischaracterization of evidence,” Markus wrote.
“Now, with her case pending before the Supreme Court, the government seeks to unseal untested, hearsay-laden grand jury transcripts, which contain statements presented in secret and never challenged by the adversarial process,” he added. “Maxwell has never been allowed to review those transcripts even though the government did not oppose her recent request to do so.”
RELATED: Prison workers who were guarding Jeffrey Epstein admit to falsifying records — but avoid jail time in deal with prosecutors
Maxwell has been meeting with Trump officials in hopes of reaching an agreement to testify before Congress about what she saw as Epstein’s confidante.
Markus says Maxwell was asked questions about 100 people during the interview and answered every question without citing her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. He also suggested that she would seek a pardon from President Donald Trump.
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