The Jeffrey Epstein associate’s apparent last hope would be a Hail Mary from Donald Trump – a presidential pardon
Ghislaine Maxwellseems to be all but guaranteed to have run out of legal avenues to challenge her conviction for her involvement inJeffrey Epstein’s abuse of girls and young women with perhaps her lingering hopes of freedom resting on a pardon from the Trump administration.
Paul Engelmayer, a Manhattan federal court judge, last weekrejectedMaxwell’s contention that her constitutional rights were violated at trial and sentencing for her crimes. “Maxwell’s claims are all meritless and all or almost all are frivolous,” Engelmayer wrote in his ruling on the former British socialite’s legal gambit.
Engelmayer also rejected Maxwell’s claim that new evidence, which she said came to light during Epstein Files Transparency Act disclosures, did not support her allegations of constitutional violations. “On the contrary, to the extent it is relevant, far from exculpating her, it incriminates her or reinforces the correctness of the legal rulings,” he ruled.
Maxwell’s family said in a statement that Engelmayer’s ruling was “marked by a tone of sarcasm and disdain that, in our view, undermines the appearance of impartiality and invites scrutiny of the judge’s conduct”. They also said Maxwell “will continue to pursue every available legal avenue” for relief.
Legal veterans said, however, that Maxwell had virtually exhausted all her court-based routes. With Maxwell apparently running out of legal pathways, many have wondered whether Donald Trump will at some point deliver a Hail Mary – apresidential pardon.
“She’s exhausted her direct appeals. Now she’s trying to collaterally attack the conviction, which is very difficult to do,” said Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor who founded the law firm West Coast Trial Lawyers.
“I don’t know what world she lives in,” Rahmani also said. “Her only chance of ever seeing the light of day before her sentence runs is a presidential pardon.”
Rahmani explained Maxwell’s recent rejected request was different from her supreme court effort – which was based on claims that a decades-old non-prosecution agreement with south Florida federal authorities shielded her from prosecution. The supreme court bid failed when the justices declined to review that appeal.
Maxwell could ask the second circuit court of appeals to review Engelmayer’s ruling, but that is a request, not a surefire opportunity to be heard, said Mark Chutkow, a former federal prosecutor now practicing white-collar defense at the firm Dykema.
“Ordinarily, you either have to get a certificate of appealability from the trial court that denies your motion or your petition, or you can get it from the appellate court,” he said, noting Engelmayer did not grant such a certificate. “I would assume what she’s going to do is seek a certificate of appealability [from] the second circuit.”
The second circuit, however, will see Engelmayer’s decision and his denial of this certificate. “It seems unlikely that she is going to get a certificate of appealability from the second circuit court of appeals meaning that in essence, her legal avenues are going to be dead,” Chutkow said
“This decision should bring Ghislaine Maxwell’s campaign to escape accountability to a final close. A jury heard the evidence and convicted her. The court of appeals affirmed her conviction. The supreme court declined to intervene,” said Spencer Kuvin, an attorney at Goldlaw who has represented dozens of Epstein survivors. “Now, after thoroughly reviewing her latest claims, Judge Engelmayer has found that the evidence of her guilt was overwhelming and that her arguments were largely frivolous, procedurally barred, and based upon speculation, distortions and outright falsehoods.”
Given that Engelmayer’s ruling virtually shuts the door on future efforts per longtime attorneys, attention has once again shifted to a presidential pardon or commutation from Trump, who has been saddled with ongoing Epstein and Maxwell controversies since taking office again.
Trump vowed while campaigning that his administration would release all Epstein documents, but his justice department repeatedlymissedcongressionally mandated disclosure deadlines, and some allege that some files remain secret. Trump, who socialized with Epstein before the latter’s Florida state court soliciting conviction, has maintained that he never engaged in inappropriate conduct.
