Trump deflects Ghislaine Maxwell pardon question
Trump deflects Ghislaine Maxwell pardon question
#breakingnews #trump #epstein #ghislainemaxwell
US President Donald Trump said he would “take a look” at a pardon for convicted sex trafficker and his long-time friend Ghislaine Maxwell.
“I’ll take a look at it. I will speak to the DOJ (Department of Justice).
Ghislaine Maxwell’s long shot bid to be released from prison has been thwarted by the Supreme Court which has refused to even hear her case.
It means any prospect of early freedom may only be possible if Donald Trump reduces her sentence or allows her to walk free.
Trump appeared to be unaware that Maxwell’s appeal bid was knocked back when in the Oval Office.
“You know, I haven’t heard the name in so long. I can say this, that I’d have to take a look at it. I would have to take a look,” he said.
“I’ll take a look at it. I will speak to the DOJ (Department of Justice).
“I wouldn’t consider it or not consider, I don’t know anything about it.”
He then brought up Sean “Diddy” Combs, another acquaintance convicted of sex crimes.
“I have a lot of people have asked me for pardons. I call him Puff Daddy, (he) has asked me for a pardon,” Trump said.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison term after being found guilty of sex trafficking a teenage girl.
Earlier this year, she was moved from a low-security federal prison in Florida to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas after she was interviewed in July by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Maxwell worked for disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein who died in 2019 ahead of a trial on sex trafficking charges.
She was convicted in 2021 of facilitating Epstein’s crimes and was sentenced to 20 years.
Maxwell’s legal team had argued that when Epstein made an agreement with a US attorney general in Florida it guaranteed that any co-conspirators – for example her – would not be prosecuted.
But Maxwell was put on trial all the same.
As such, her lawyers argued, her conviction should be overturned as it broke this agreement.
However the US Justice Department said that agreement only applied in Florida and not in New York where she was charged, tried and convicted.
Maxwell’s appeal was one of a number that the Supreme Court declined to hear for its new session after the northern summer break.
“We’re, of course, deeply disappointed that the Supreme Court declined to hear Ghislaine Maxwell’s case,” Maxwell’s lawyer David Oscar Markus said.
“But this fight isn’t over. Serious legal and factual issues remain, and we will continue to pursue every avenue available to ensure that justice is done”.
As Maxwell has been accused of a federal crime, President Donald Trump could intervene by reducing her sentence, tossing it completely or granting her early release. He has said he has the power to do just that. But to follow through and so would go down badly with MAGA Republicans. They’re eager to see the release of the Epstein files, not see Epstein’s accomplice released.
Maxwell has had something of a win in recent months however. She was unexpectedly moved to a lower security prison. This came after she was interviewed by US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as anger over the non-release of the Epstein files reached fever pitch.
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