The family of disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has said new evidence such as “government misconduct” could be used to challenge her imprisonment.
The 63-year-old was found guilty in December 2021 of luring young girls to massage rooms for paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein to molest between 1994 and 2004.
She was sentenced to 20 years in prison at the federal court in the southern district of New York (SDNY) in June 2022.
The US government has faced a backlash from President Donald Trump’s support base following words from Attorney General Pam Bondi that there was no evidence Epstein had a “client list”.
Maxwell’s family have frequently claimed she “did not receive a fair trial”, but legal appeals against her sex trafficking convictions have been rejected by the courts.
Judges previously dismissed her lawyers’ arguments that she “should never have been prosecuted” because of a “weird” agreement drafted more than 15 years ago – concluding that the Florida agreement “does not bind” the United States Attorney’s Office for the SDNY.
The US justice department has reportedly written to the Supreme Court to ask a judge to further deny Maxwell’s appeal against her convictions.
During her three-week trial in 2021, jurors heard prosecutors describe Maxwell as “dangerous”, and were told details of how she helped entice vulnerable teenagers to Epstein’s various properties for him to sexually abuse.
In a statement, the disgraced socialite’s family said: “Our sister Ghislaine did not receive a fair trial.
“Her legal team continues to fight her case in the courts and will file its reply in short order to the government’s opposition in the US Supreme Court.
“If necessary, in due course they will also file a writ of habeas corpus in the US district court, SDNY.
“This allows her to challenge her imprisonment on the basis of new evidence such as government misconduct that would have likely changed the trial’s outcome.”
The statement continued: “Following the government’s response, David Oscar Markus, counsel of record for our sister in her petition to the United States Supreme Court, had this comment: ‘I’d be surprised if President Trump knew his lawyers were asking the Supreme Court to let the Government break a deal.
“He’s the ultimate dealmaker and I’m sure he’d agree that when the United States gives its word, it should keep it.
“With all the talk about who’s being prosecuted and who isn’t, it’s especially unfair that Ghislaine Maxwell remains in prison based on a promise the US government made and broke.’
“These are sentiments with which we profoundly concur.”
Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.
The death was ruled a suicide.
