As the fight escalates among MAGA supporters over what the Trump administration is and isn’t disclosing about Jeffrey Epstein’s potential clients, the legal battle of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell is also heating up.
Maxwell, who was convicted of trafficking a minor to engage in sex acts with Epstein, may know if Epstein had clients who were involved in a sex-trafficking ring and if he kept a so-called “black book” listing their names.
The Justice Department said this month, in reference to Epstein’s case, that no such list exists in its records. In a memo released July 7, the department said a “systematic review” of documents related to Epstein “revealed no incriminating ‘client list,'” and that “no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”
Government lawyers urged the Supreme Court on July 14 to reject Maxwell’s appeal of her 2021 sex-trafficking conviction. Maxwell is arguing that a 2007 plea deal for Jeffrey Epstein meant prosecutors shouldn’t have been able to go after her.
The 2007 agreement, which many who are familiar with the case regard as an overly lenient deal for Epstein following accusations of child sexual abuse, included a provision protecting potential Epstein co-conspirators from criminal charges. Epstein was allowed to plead guilty to two state prostitution offenses and received a sentence of just 18 months.
However, the government says the prosecution against Maxwell didn’t run afoul of that deal because the deal only applied to prosecutions in the Southern District of Florida. Maxwell was prosecuted in the Southern District of New York, where she was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The Supreme Court is now set to decide whether to review Maxwell’s case or outright reject her latest appeal.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ghislaine Maxwell seeks appeal, leniency from Supreme Court
