"Days after Ghislaine Maxwell asked a judge to immediately free her from a 20-year prison sentence, the public release of grand jury transcripts from her sex trafficking case returned the spotlight to victims whose allegations helped land her behind bars. The disclosure of the transcripts as part of the Justice Department's ongoing release of its investigative files on Maxwell and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein exposed how an FBI agent told grand jurors about Maxwell's critical role in Epstein's decades-long sexual abuse of girls and young women."
"Maxwell, a British socialite and publishing heir, was convicted of sex trafficking in December 2021 after four women told a federal jury in New York City about how she and Epstein abused them in the 1990s and early 2000s. Epstein never went to trial. He was arrested in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges and killed himself a month later in his cell at a Manhattan federal jail."
"Two weeks ago, as the Justice Department prepared to begin releasing what are commonly known as the Epstein files, Maxwell filed a habeas petition, asking a federal judge to free her on grounds that "substantial new evidence" has emerged proving that constitutional violations spoiled her trial. Maxwell claimed exonerating information was withheld and that witnesses lied in their testimony. She filed the petition on her own, without the assistance of a lawyer."
Grand jury transcripts in the Ghislaine Maxwell case were publicly released, bringing renewed attention to victims whose allegations contributed to her conviction. An FBI agent told grand jurors that Maxwell played a critical role in Jeffrey Epstein's decades-long sexual abuse of girls and young women. Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking in December 2021 after four women described abuse in the 1990s and early 2000s. Epstein died in custody in 2019 after his arrest on sex trafficking charges. Maxwell filed a pro se habeas petition claiming "substantial new evidence" and alleging withheld exonerating information and false witness testimony. A judge admonished her for failing to redact victim identities and ordered future filings sealed to protect victims; victims say they fear a pardon and express heightened concern as records are released.
Read at Fortune
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]