When Ghislaine Maxwell refused to testify before the US Congress last week, she nonetheless insisted on her willingness to help.
Maxwell, who was convicted of helping Jeffrey Epstein draw teenage girls into a world of sexual abuse, dangled the prospect of revealing truth before Congress and the American public – so long as she was freed from jail.
“If this committee and the American public truly want to hear the unfiltered truth about what happened, there is a straightforward path. Ms Maxwell is prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency by President Trump,” her attorney, David Oskar Marcus, said. “Only she can provide the complete account. Some may not like what they hear, but the truth matters.”
He added: “For example, both President Trump and President Clinton are innocent of any wrongdoing. Ms Maxwell alone can explain why, and the public is entitled to that explanation.”
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While Donald Trump’s team has denied he was considering such an act of mercy for Maxwell, her pitch rekindled discourse on whether a presidential pardon, or commutation of her sentence, were potentially on the table.
Trump for months has dealt with political blowback over his administration’s handling of the Epstein files, as he waffled on campaign trail promises to release all documents amid growing attention on his prior association with him.
Legal veterans have said that any sort of clemency for Maxwell – albeit hypothetical at this point – would probably do little to provide insight into Epstein’s crimes. Lawyers for Epstein’s victims, meanwhile, have condemned her clemency pitch, with one calling it “twisted” and cast doubt on her motivations, and ability, to tell “the truth”.
[ Epstein files: Key revelations and some stories you may have missedOpens in new window ]
“She’s saying, ‘look, what I’ll do is: I’ll clear you, Mr President Trump, I’ll clear whomever, if you let me out,’” said RJ Drelling, a defence attorney and former prosecutor in Los Angeles. “If she’s saying, ‘Get me out of jail in exchange for this information’, it obviously undermines any kind of credibility for her and any information she provides.”
“It’s kind of a game of chess between her and the administration, where she’s saying, ‘Help me out, and I can help you. Don’t help me out, and maybe I can hurt you,’” Drelling said.
“Obviously, the president doesn’t want to be seen granting clemency to someone who’s convicted of an extremely serious series of crimes. But at the same time, he’s got to be worried that he could do or say something that could really even more negatively impact his reputation and his standing with the American public.”
Neama Rahmani, founder of West Coast Trial Lawyers, said: “As a former federal prosecutor, I think Maxwell’s proposal is distasteful, actually downright shameful, but there’s nothing unlawful about it. She realises now that her supreme court petition has been denied, she is going to spend decades in federal prison unless she can get a pardon or sentence commuted.”
Rahmani added: “She theoretically has potential habeas argument, but I think it’s very unlikely that she’ll be able to collaterally attack her conviction. This is her easiest way out.”
Aside from credibility concerns – which also stem from prior allegations that Maxwell lied under oath – clemency would not guarantee she would tell everything she knows.
“When it comes to presidential clemency, I’m not aware of any conditional pardons or clemency that have previously been issued,” said Eric Faddis, a defence attorney at the Law Offices of Eric Faddis, and a former prosecutor. “What is the legal mechanism by which you can go back to Maxwell and say, ‘Hey, you didn’t give us enough. We’re pulling this clemency?’”
“It doesn’t work like that, so there’s really a question as to how any conditions of a presidential clemency could be enforced.”
Lawyers have also noted that information about Epstein’s crimes – and his sweetheart deal that allowed him to skate federal prosecution in 2008 in exchange for admitting to state-level charges – could be revealed without Maxwell’s promise of help.
“It’s clear that anything that comes out [from Maxwell] would be so corrupt and tainted that it’s worthless,” said John Day, a defence attorney who previously worked as a prosecutor. “If you don’t see that, you’re ignoring the realities of this case.”
“The way to get to the truth is to follow the trails of victim statements [and] unredacted documents, and find out who was trying to protect all these rich and powerful men through the redactions,” Day said. “Stay with the victims. Look through the records. Ask who is protecting whom still, and [do] not believe anything that Maxwell says, because her story is up for sale. There’s a price on it.”
Lawyers representing Epstein’s victims see Maxwell’s offer as little more than self-interested horse-trading.
“Ghislaine Maxwell invoking the fifth while dangling the promise of testimony in exchange for a pardon is not courage or cooperation – it is leverage. This is a convicted sex trafficker with a documented history of deception attempting to trade on information she has withheld for years in order to secure personal freedom,” said Spencer Kuvin of Goldlaw, who has represented numerous Epstein victims.
“Conditioning ‘the truth’ on clemency from Donald Trump looks less like a search for justice and more like the latest maneuver in a long pattern of manipulation,” he also said in a statement. “Victims have waited far too long to see accountability to accept another transactional offer wrapped in the language of disclosure.”
Jennifer Freeman of Marsh Law Firm, who represents Epstein victim Maria Farmer, voiced similar sentiments.
“It was no surprise that Ghislaine Maxwell – a convicted sex trafficker and felon who has been previously accused of repeatedly lying under oath – is now attempting to trade her version of her involvement in crimes against young women and girls, for a pardon or other leniency,” she said. “Maxwell’s statements are not to be trusted, designed to best suit her twisted agenda and continued concealment of her wrongdoings.”
“Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Maxwell deserve justice for the abuse and trafficking they have endured, which would be thwarted by crediting Maxwell, offering her clemency, pardoning her, commuting her sentence, or in any way limiting the hard fought conviction imposed after trial by a jury of her peers, and sentence delivered by a an experienced, well-regarded judge.”
Maxwell’s team did not immediately respond to a request for comment. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said of the pardon issue: “This is not something I’ve discussed recently with the president because frankly, it’s not a priority.”
According to the Hill, Leavitt said: “He’s focused on many of the issues that the American people are dealing with and providing solutions to those issues.” Leavitt also noted that when she last spoke to Trump, it was “not something he’s considering or thinking about”.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein. – Guardian
