Imprisoned Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell seeks release, citing ‘new evidence’

Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend and associate of Jeffrey Epstein, filed a petition Wednesday asking a federal judge to overturn her sex trafficking conviction and release her from prison, where she is currently serving a 20-year sentence.

In her habeas corpus petition filed in Manhattan federal court, Maxwell claims that “substantial new evidence” has emerged since her 2021 trial that would have resulted in her acquittal had it been available then. She alleges that information critical to her defense was withheld and that false testimony was presented to the jury.

“Since the conclusion of her trial, substantial new evidence has emerged from related civil actions, Government disclosures, investigative reports, and documents demonstrating constitutional violations that undermined the fairness of her proceeding,” the court filing states. “In the light of the full evidentiary record, no reasonable juror would have convicted her.”

Maxwell’s legal challenge comes just days before records in her case are scheduled to be released publicly under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which President Donald Trump recently signed into law after months of public pressure. The legislation requires the Justice Department to provide Epstein-related records to the public by December 19.

The Justice Department has announced plans to release 18 categories of investigative materials from the sex trafficking probe, including search warrants, financial records, victim interview notes, and data from electronic devices.

Maxwell, a British socialite, was arrested in July 2020, approximately one year after Epstein’s detention on sex trafficking charges. Epstein died in his cell at a New York federal jail in August 2019, with his death ruled a suicide. Maxwell was subsequently convicted of sex trafficking in December 2021.

Her attorney, David Markus, wrote that while Maxwell “does not take a position” on unsealing documents from her case, doing so “would create undue prejudice so severe that it would foreclose the possibility of a fair retrial” if her habeas petition succeeds. Markus argued that the records “contain untested and unproven allegations.”

Despite previous resistance from the Justice Department to unsealing requests, Judge Paul A. Engelmayer in Manhattan granted the department’s motion to publicly release the materials last week. During a news conference on another topic Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton affirmed that he would follow both the law and the judge’s orders regarding the records.

Judge Engelmayer noted that the materials in question “do not identify any person other than Epstein and Maxwell as having had sexual contact with a minor.”

Maxwell’s case has garnered significant public attention as part of the broader Epstein scandal, which has implicated numerous high-profile individuals and raised questions about the justice system’s handling of sex trafficking cases involving powerful figures.

The habeas petition represents one of Maxwell’s last legal options after exhausting her direct appeals. Such petitions allow prisoners to challenge their detention on constitutional grounds, such as ineffective legal representation or procedural violations that may have compromised their right to a fair trial.

Maxwell was recently transferred from a federal prison in Florida to a prison camp in Texas after being interviewed by the Justice Department’s second-in-command in July, though the reasons for this transfer have not been made public.

As the December 19 deadline approaches for the release of Epstein-related documents, Maxwell’s legal maneuver highlights the continuing legal battles and public interest surrounding one of the most notorious sex trafficking cases in recent American history.