Ghislaine Maxwell will make new plea to judge to let her out of prison

Ghislaine Maxwell attends day 1 of the 4th Annual WIE Symposium at Center 548 on September 20, 2013 in New York City. (Laura Cavanaugh/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend who was convicted of recruiting young girls into sex trafficking, is planning to ask a judge to release her from prison, according to a new court filing.

In a letter to Judge Paul Engelmayer filed Wednesday, Maxwell’s attorney said the one-time British socialite would soon file a habeas corpus petition seeking her release from the prison where she is serving a 20-year sentence. The lawyer, David Oscar Markus, said Maxwell plans to file “pro se,” meaning she would represent herself and not use an attorney.

Markus informed the judge in response to the Justice Department’s request to unseal grand jury transcripts and modify a protective order in her criminal case.

He said Maxwell “does not take a position” as to release of materials but writes, “releasing the grand jury materials from her case, which contain untested and unproven allegations, would create undue prejudice so severe that it would foreclose the possibility of a fair retrial should Ms. Maxwell’s habeas petition succeed.”

The filing did not state what grounds Maxwell would argue to seek her release. Markus could not immediately be reached for comment. The Supreme Court recently rejected Maxwell’s appeal of her conviction and sentence.

Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking minors in 2021. She was held at a low-security prison in Tallahassee, Florida, but moved to a less restrictive minimum-security prison in Bryan, Texas, following a two-day interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche this summer. The transfer ignited controversy over whether she was receiving preferential treatment to help the administration.

Markus has previously denied that Maxwell is seeking a pardon. Trump has said he’d have to “take a look” at whether he would grant her one.

The Trump administration has been under fire for not releasing records related to its investigations into Epstein and Maxwell. After months of refusing to give the public access to the records, Trump reversed course last month and signed a bill overwhelmingly supported in Congress, requiring the release of records within 30 days.

The U.S. Justice Department asked the judges overseeing the Epstein and Maxwell cases to release grand jury transcripts and modify protective orders that would allow them to make public financial records, travel documents, search warrants, and notes from victim interviews.

On Wednesday, lawyers for Epstein’s estate told the judge they do not take a position as to the unsealing of records given the government’s “commitment” to redacting victim and personally identifying information.