Ghislaine Maxwell’s ‘pardon’ hopes rise as Republicans seek dirt on Democrats

Just before flying to Scotland to get away from the story that has dogged him for weeks, the president was fielding a question about whether Ghislaine Maxwell may be pardoned for her role in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation.

The possibility of Maxwell leaving prison is now on the minds of not only Trump but also the US deputy attorney general and Maxwell’s friends and supporters. Could she have her conviction overturned on appeal, or be the surprise beneficiary of some deeply partisan politics?

Epstein's former girlfriend was an international pariah when she was found guilty in 2022 and handed a 20-year prison sentence. But three years later, everyone in Washington DC wants to hear from her.

Donald Trump and Maga Republicans are hoping to uncover evidence of Democratic clients of the sex-trafficking conspiracy, and Democratic politicians are hoping to tie Trump more securely to Epstein.

The US deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche – Trump’s former lawyer – flew down to Florida to see Maxwell at a low-security federal prison in Tallahassee on Thursday and Friday. Blanche said: “The FBI and DOJ [Department of Justice] will hear what she has to say.” The justice department would “share additional information about what we learned at the appropriate time”, he added later.

Maxwell’s lawyer, David Oscar Markus, later said his client, identified as “Employee No 1” in Epstein’s 2019 federal indictment on sex trafficking charges, had answered questions about “100 different people” and “about every possible thing you could imagine – everything”.

“No person and no topic were off-limits,” he said separately. “We are very grateful. The truth will come out.”

ABC News said Maxwell had been given a proffer of immunity to testify freely, which is typically granted to individuals whom prosecutors are seeking to make cooperate in a criminal case. Lawmakers with the House oversight committee also sent the 63-year-old British-French-US citizen an invitation, this one for a sit-down with members of the Republican-controlled body on 11 August.

Maxwell never gave her version of events to federal prosecutors, did not testify at her criminal trial and is appealing against her conviction on the grounds that she should have been protected by a non-prosecution deal negotiated by Epstein in 2007 in exchange for pleading guilty to Florida state solicitation charges.

Last week, Maxwell’s brother Ian Maxwell said his sister “will be putting before [a] court material new evidence that was not available to the defence at her 2021 trial, which would have had a significant impact on its outcome”.

After her conviction, prosecutors signalled they would not strike a deal in exchange for testimony against lesser figures of clients of the conspiracy, and Maxwell’s protestation of innocence could not easily be reconciled with any deal.

However, some feel Maxwell is now in a stronger position. Her appeal to the US supreme court on the basis that the government overlooked the immunity clause in the Epstein deal is similar in spirit to the appeal that succeeded in overturning Bill Cosby’s conviction for sexual assault.

Jennifer Bonjean, the famous New York defence lawyer who led the Cosby appeal, believes Maxwell will win. “She was subject to a non-prosecution, and the government did not abide by that when they prosecuted her,” she said.

The atmosphere around Maxwell’s trial was significant, Bonjean said. “In high-profile sex or #MeToo cases, there tends to be influence by factors outside of the courtroom that are always a threat to due process and fairness.”

And gender is always a factor in high-profile cases. “Women are treated more harshly than men, as a general proposition, and I don’t think this is any exception.”

According to a friend of both Epstein and Maxwell who appears in the flight logs of Epstein’s private plane, her lawyers contacted the Trump administration earlier in the year to request a pardon. Last week’s face-to-face with the deputy attorney general was “the first step in that process”.

The most likely course, if the justice department moves forward, is to file a 5K1.1 motion seeking a sentence reduction for a defendant who has provided substantial assistance.

The friend of Maxwell and Epstein said: “Ghislaine has a lot to offer, but at what price? Most of those that she can offer are on the Democratic side, not the Republican side. The vast majority of Jeffrey’s network were Democratic powerbrokers. Rightwing Republicans weren’t part of his circle. So the Republicans want to see how many Democrats they can hang.”

They added: “Republicans are looking at this strategically. If she can provide enough ammunition for them to fire, then I think she can see a pardon in front of her. It’s as simple as that.”

The legal merit of Maxwell’s appeal is for now a sideshow to the political drama, with Trump growing increasingly testy on the subject.

Thousands of miles from Washington, the Epstein questions were waiting for him. “You’re making a very big thing over something that’s not a big thing,” he said to reporters on the tarmac after landing in Scotland.

Photograph by US Department of Justice