Maxwell’s lawyer issues warning over unsealing Epstein files | US | News
Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyer, David Oscar Markus, issued a warning that sealing the Epstein files could potentially lead to a mistrial.
The US Department of Justice is preparing to receive grand jury documents and lift the protective order by Friday, following the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act in Congress, which was later signed into law by US President Donald Trump. The Epstein estate agreed to turn over the files at the Justice Department’s request, even though sensitive information was redacted. The Mirror US reports.
The bipartisan bill was introduced amid mounting criticism of the Trump administration’s handling of the high-profile sex trafficking and exploitation case linked to horrific underage sex crimes committed by Epstein, who once shared a close personal relationship with Trump and is a significant obstacle to his second term.
Trump’s Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, even acknowledged that this has proven to be a bigger problem for the White House than expected in a recent Vanity Fair article.
Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for child sex trafficking and other crimes related to the late sex offender and pedophile Epstein, has long fought to hide all the material from the public.
According to his attorney, David Oscar Markus, he will file a pro se habeas corpus petition to challenge the terms of his sentence while trying to maintain the confidentiality of the records. This came after she was transferred to a minimum security women’s facility in Texas following a two-day meeting with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, a decision that sparked significant backlash.
Markus also warned ahead of the much-anticipated disclosure of the files that sealing the documents could result in a retrial because of harm from false allegations of criminal activity that would emerge from grand jury transcripts. He also stated that Maxwell remained neutral on the matter.
“Understanding that President Trump signed the Epstein Transparency Act into law, Ms. Maxwell does not take a position on the government’s request that the grand jury transcripts be sealed and the protective order modified,” he said.
Some of the files have gradually become public in recent months, including disturbing photos and emails from the Epstein estate, as well as other revealing documents illuminating the extravagant lifestyle among society’s elite.
Among them is an alleged birthday letter Trump wrote to Epstein, which included a drawing of a naked woman and suggested the two shared wondrous secrets. Trump vehemently denies writing the letter and filed a $20 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal over its publication in July.
Trump has consistently claimed that he had no knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activities and played no part in any crimes. But a disturbing 2011 email exchange between Maxwell and Epstein, made public by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, appears to challenge Trump’s account.
“I want you to understand that that dog that doesn’t bark is Trump,” Epstein wrote to Maxwell via email. “[VICTIM] “I spent hours with him at my home.”
Responding to the revelations, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt accused House Democrats of “scrounging” and “selectively leaking” the documents to liberal media “in order to create a false narrative to smear President Trump.”
