NEW YORK — The judge presiding over the trial of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged madam Ghislaine Maxwell is being recommended for a prestigious federal appeals court spot — a nod coming the same day jury selection started in the high-profile Maxwell case.
Sen. Chuck Schumer on Tuesday night announced his recommendation that Judge Alison Nathan be elevated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.
It’s not clear how a nomination would affect the trial, which is expected to last about six weeks in Nathan’s Southern District of New York courtroom.
District Court spokesman Edward Friedland suggested Nathan could still preside over the trial through the nomination process.
“If Judge Nathan is nominated, I have every reason to believe, as is customary for lower court judges who are nominated to higher courts, she will continue to do her day job and preside over the many matters on her docket,” he said.
Federal prosecutors accuse Maxwell of procuring girls as young as 14 to pressure them into having sex with Epstein, and helped traffic them to locations around the world.
Maxwell, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, contends she’s been made a scapegoat for Epstein’s sins after he killed himself in federal custody in August 2019.
In a statement recommending that President Joe Biden nominate her, Schumer praised Nathan as a “deeply respected legal leader” and noted she’d be the second openly lesbian woman to serve as a federal appellate judge.
“Ali Nathan is an outstanding judge for the Southern District of New York and her experience, legal brilliance, love of the rule of law and perspective would be invaluable in ensuring the federal judiciary fulfills its obligation to ensure equal justice for all,” Schumer said.
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