The U.S. Department of Justice has officially urged the Supreme Court to dismiss Ghislaine Maxwell’s final appeal, reaffirming that she will not escape accountability for her central role in Jeffrey Epstein’s child sex trafficking ring.
Maxwell, 63, is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence at FCI Tallahassee. Her legal team made a last-ditch effort to overturn her conviction by citing Epstein’s controversial 2008 non-prosecution agreement (NPA) with Florida prosecutors—an agreement they argue shielded co-conspirators like Maxwell from future charges. But the DOJ, under Attorney General Pam Bondi, firmly rejected that argument in a 21-page filing Monday.
The department said the NPA applied only to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Florida and did not bind federal prosecutors in other jurisdictions like the Southern District of New York, which convicted Maxwell in 2021. “[The NPA] cannot reasonably be construed to extend to the entire federal government,” the DOJ wrote, calling Maxwell’s interpretation “implausible.”
Adding fuel to the fire, the memo was filed just as Bondi faces fierce backlash from within Trump’s base for her handling of the Epstein investigation—especially after the DOJ and FBI released a memo last week concluding that Epstein died by suicide and no further arrests would be made. That announcement ignited a political storm, with Trump loyalists demanding Bondi’s resignation and accusing her of burying explosive evidence, including the elusive “client list.”
Maxwell’s lawyers slammed the DOJ’s stance, arguing that her conviction violated the U.S. government’s prior commitments. “The United States gave its word and broke it,” said her attorney, David Oscar Markus. “With all the talk about who is and isn’t being prosecuted, it’s especially unfair that Ghislaine Maxwell remains in prison while the real power players walk free.”
Trump’s Solicitor General nominee, John Sauer, responded to Maxwell’s plea by accusing her team of relying on a distorted reading of the law and attempting to manipulate the language of Epstein’s plea deal.
Meanwhile, new photos emerged of Maxwell jogging inside the prison yard—portrayed as a fallen socialite now reduced to a quiet routine behind bars. Despite her incarceration, she remains the only individual to face prison time for Epstein’s crimes. Her lawyers argue that she’s been unfairly scapegoated, saying the government turned her into the face of Epstein’s abuse after his death.
In a surprising twist, sources told the Daily Mail that Maxwell is now willing to testify before Congress, offering to reveal what she knows about Epstein’s network. “She would be more than happy to sit before Congress and tell her story,” a source close to her said. “She remains the only one jailed, and she would welcome the chance to tell the American public the truth.”
Yet no one in government has formally asked her to do so.
President Trump, whose name appears in Epstein’s flight records, brushed off the renewed attention, posting on Truth Social: “It’s Epstein, over and over again. Why not talk about Crooked Hillary and Obama?”
Still, pressure is mounting. Bondi’s leadership is under scrutiny from both sides of the aisle, and conservative firebrands like Dan Bongino have threatened to resign from federal roles if Bondi is not replaced.
Legal experts also point to inconsistencies in how different federal circuits interpret Epstein’s plea deal. Maxwell’s attorneys argue that in at least five circuits—including the one where Epstein signed his deal—her dismissal request would likely have been granted. “This disparity must be resolved by the Supreme Court,” they urged.
For now, the DOJ’s position remains unchanged: Maxwell was not a named party to Epstein’s plea deal, and her conviction stands. But her case is far from finished—especially if she follows through with her offer to testify before Congress and expose the secrets that have long been buried with Epstein.
