Ghislaine Maxwell is asking a federal judge to erase her sex trafficking conviction, arguing that newly released Jeffrey Epstein files show her rights were violated before she was sentenced to 20 years in prison for helping the late financier sexually abuse minors.
Maxwell, 64, first launched this post-conviction challenge in December 2025, when she filed a habeas petition seeking to vacate her conviction and sentence. She expanded that effort around April 20 in an amended petition that relied heavily on documents released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, arguing the materials showed that “no reasonable juror would have convicted her.“
In response to her renewed efforts, U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton’s office urged U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer to reject Maxwell’s petition in a 101-page opposition filed on Thursday, saying most of her claims were filed too late, already rejected on appeal, or could have been raised earlier.
“None of the defendant’s claims has any merit,” prosecutors wrote. They said Maxwell’s arguments based on newly released Epstein materials were speculative, misread the record, failed to show prejudice, and did not undermine the fairness of her trial.
The former British socialite and most infamous Epstein associate claimed the nearly 3.5 million files released by the Justice Department revealed that lawyers for Epstein’s accusers operated as “de facto prosecutors and agents of the government.” She argued the alleged coordination violated her due process rights and helped produce what she called an “unsafe conviction.”
Maxwell cited, among other materials, a letter from a former federal prosecutor who wrote, “I did what I could” to assist private attorneys representing Epstein’s accusers in their effort to set aside Epstein’s controversial 2007 non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors in Florida.
Her ongoing habeas fight is separate from Maxwell’s other appeals fight that played out last year, which focused largely on her argument that Epstein’s Florida non-prosecution agreement also shielded her from prosecution in New York. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit rejected that argument, and the Supreme Court declined to hear her case last year.
This latest petition instead leans on recently disclosed Epstein files and broader claims that prosecutors failed to conduct an adequate independent investigation, withheld evidence, relied on flawed witness testimony, and misled judges and jurors.
Clayton’s office further contends the trial evidence showed Maxwell played an “instrumental role” in Epstein’s abuse of multiple underage girls and helped identify, groom, and transport minors to Epstein’s properties between 1994 and 2004.
Maxwell was convicted in December 2021 of five counts tied to recruiting and grooming underage girls for Epstein to abuse. She is representing herself in the habeas proceeding and is incarcerated at a minimum-security federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas, with a projected release date in 2037.
Maxwell’s latest bid to overturn her conviction comes as congressional investigators continue examining the federal government’s handling of the Epstein case and whether additional records related to the disgraced financier remain undisclosed. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform has interviewed more than a dozen witnesses as part of the inquiry since last year.
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Scheduled to appear before the House oversight committee for a transcribed interview Friday is former Apollo Global Management CEO Leon Black, who paid Epstein roughly $170 million between 2012 and 2017 for tax and estate planning services, after Epstein had already registered as a sex offender.
Lawmakers such as Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) have said evidence gathered during the investigation may suggest Epstein served as a fixer for Black, helping manage sensitive matters, including legal settlements and nondisclosure agreements. Others have pointed to different phrases repeated in the Epstein files released by the DOJ, such as one that was repeated over 300 times throughout the millions of files, stating, “Please call Leon Black.“
