Much remains unknown but The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s convicted accomplice, currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking, plans to ask a Manhattan federal court to release her.
“The letter, submitted by her lawyer, offers no details about what grounds Ms. Maxwell will cite in her filing, known as a habeas petition,” The Times said. “But the letter indicated that she would file the request shortly, and that it would be done without a lawyer representing her.”
Does the fact that she’s representing herself mean that Maxwell’s lawyer thinks the habeas petition is a fool’s errand? Or maybe that he doesn’t want to be involved in something corrupt coming down the pike?
The Times further reported that the letter suggests Maxwell will challenge her December 2021 conviction. That is odd because her appeal of the federal conviction was rejected by the Supreme Court in October.
Regardless, according to The Times, her lawyer, David Oscar Markus, wrote in his letter that “his client took no position on a recent request by Attorney General Pam Bondi that the court release sealed materials related to the grand jury investigation of Ms. Maxwell.” But he also wrote that releasing the materials “which contain untested and unproven allegations, would create undue prejudice so severe that it would foreclose the possibility of a fair retrial should Ms. Maxwell’s habeas petition succeed.”
Meanwhile, Maxwell is serving the kind of prison sentences most felons can only dream of. She was transferred to her cushy digs in Bryan, Texas right after she told Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, now second in command at the DOJ, just what they wanted to hear: that she never saw President P***ygrabber do anything untoward with his former bestie, Jeffrey Epstein
Maxwell seems to be getting special treatment at Club Fed, too. One inmate was transferred out for publicly criticizing the sex trafficker. Prison staff as well as inmates were reportedly warned not to speak about Maxwell. Plus, sex offenders are supposed to be kept out of Maxwell’s Club Fed. But she got a waiver.
So, what’s really going on here? The Brennan Center for Justice says that a habeas petition requires a judge “to weigh the legality” of the petitioner’s confinement. “It is the government’s responsibility to prove that the individual’s detention is lawful, and if it fails, the person must be freed,” the center’s website states.
Will the Trump DOJ decide not to oppose Maxwell’s petition? Put up such a terrible argument that the judge will have no choice but to grant it? Or worse, will the DOJ support her petition? We’ll have to stay tuned to find out. But one thing is pretty certain: Any shenanigans by the Trump DOJ will almost certainly not go down well no matter what excuse Attorney General Pam Bondi and her team of Trump sycophants come up with.
