The Justice Department, under Attorney General Pam Bondi, rejected Ghislaine Maxwell’s bid to escape her 20-year sentence for her role in Jeffrey Epstein’s child sex trafficking ring, filing a 21-page response on Monday to block her Supreme Court appeal, as the Daily Mail reports. Maxwell, convicted in 2021 for perjury, enticement, and transporting minors for criminal sexual activity, was a key figure in Epstein’s depraved schemes. Her lawyers’ plea for leniency reeks of elite privilege dodging accountability.
Maxwell’s legal team argued that a 2008 non-prosecution agreement (NPA) with Epstein in Florida should shield her from charges. That deal, which let Epstein serve a measly 15 months for soliciting minors, didn’t name Maxwell among the four women it protected. The DOJ rightly scoffed at this, noting prosecutors in 2008 had no clue about Maxwell’s role -- hardly a free pass for her crimes.
Back in the late 1990s and 2000s, Maxwell played Epstein’s girlfriend, jet-setting on his plane and living with him in Palm Beach and New York. Victims consistently described a woman with a British accent aiding Epstein’s predatory behavior. Maxwell’s claim of being a victim herself, as floated by her defenders, strains credulity against the mountain of evidence.
“Certainly she should get a commutation,” said Alan Dershowitz, former Harvard law professor and noted defense attorney. He called her sentence excessive and painted her as Epstein’s scapegoat. This sob story conveniently ignores the minors she helped entice and transport for Epstein’s pleasure.
Maxwell’s 2021 trial exposed her as a central cog in Epstein’s trafficking machine. She wasn’t just complicit -- she was convicted of conspiracy and perjury, among other charges. Dershowitz’s clemency plea sounds like another elite trying to rewrite history for a friend.
The DOJ’s filing clarified that the 2008 NPA’s reference to “the United States” only applied to Florida prosecutors, not the entire federal government. The Southern District of New York, which prosecuted Maxwell in 2021, wasn’t bound by that deal. Maxwell’s lawyers whining about “inconsistency” in the law is just legal gymnastics to skirt justice.
“While ‘the United States’ could conceivably refer to the entire federal government,” the DOJ document stated, the NPA’s context made it clear it only meant Florida’s prosecutors. John Sauer, Trump’s pick for Solicitor General, called Maxwell’s arguments “implausible” and “misplaced.” The DOJ’s stance cuts through the fog of Maxwell’s excuses with precision.
Maxwell’s team claimed that in five other circuit courts, including Florida’s Eleventh Circuit, her dismissal request might have succeeded. This is a desperate reach, implying the law should bend for her because of a technicality. The DOJ’s response exposes this as a flimsy attempt to dodge accountability.
Epstein’s death by suicide in August 2019, which occcurred while he was awaiting trial, left Maxwell as the primary prosecution target. An unsigned DOJ and FBI memo leaked recently confirmed his death as a suicide by hanging and dismissed rumors of a “client list” of high-profile co-conspirators. This memo’s timing raises eyebrows, but it firmly closed the door on further Epstein-related arrests.
Maxwell, now 63, was spotted running at FCI Tallahassee prison around 7:15 p.m., decked out in gray prison garb for a 45-minute evening jog. She returned to her cell by 8:00 p.m., perhaps plotting her next legal maneuver. Her exercise routine won’t outpace the DOJ’s resolve to keep her locked up.
“Despite the rumors, Ghislaine was never offered any kind of plea deal,” an unnamed source told the Daily Mail. The source claimed Maxwell would testify before Congress to “tell her story.” This sounds like a publicity stunt, not a genuine quest for truth.
Despite President Donald Trump’s defense of Pam Bondi’s DOJ leadership, some MAGA supporters criticize her handling of the Epstein files. The department’s Federal Programs Branch has seen 69 of its 110 lawyers leave or plan to leave since Trump’s election, signaling internal unrest. Bondi’s focus on upholding Maxwell’s conviction, however, aligns with keeping predators behind bars.
Maxwell’s attorney, David Oscar Markus, argued, “He’s the ultimate dealmaker -- and I’m sure he’d agree that when the United States gives its word, it should keep it.” This appeal to Trump’s dealmaking persona is a clever but hollow attempt to flip the script. The DOJ’s response rightly prioritizes victims over honoring a shady 2008 deal.
Jean-Luc Brunel, another Epstein associate, died by suicide in 2022 before his trial, further shrinking the circle of accountability. Maxwell remains the only major figure jailed in this sordid saga. Her continued imprisonment sends a clear message: no one is above the law, no matter how well-connected.
