Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyer said Friday he has not yet spoken to the Trump administration about seeking a pardon or commutation for the convicted sex-trafficking accomplice, even as he said she would like clemency and could have a case for it.
David Oscar Markus told Politico that he did not think now was the best time to press the issue because Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged abuse and the government’s Epstein files remain a major news story. But he also said there is “a good chance and for good reason that she would get a pardon.”
The comments keep alive a question that has followed Maxwell for months. Trump said in October he would “look at” pardoning her after the Supreme Court rejected her case, while in July he said it was something he had not thought about. In February, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the last time she spoke with the president about a possible pardon, “He said it’s not something he’s considering or thinking about.”
Maxwell’s path to possible relief runs on two tracks. After the Supreme Court turned away her appeal, she filed a new court petition asking for her 20-year sentence to be thrown out or amended, saying there was “substantial new evidence” that she did not receive a fair trial. That petition is still pending. Separately, any pardon or commutation would have to come from Trump, who said during his first term and after that he was allowed to act but had not really weighed it.
The possibility of clemency is especially charged because Trump and Maxwell were known to have been friendly in the 1980s and 1990s, when Trump was friends with Epstein. Maxwell also told the Justice Department last year that Trump was “always very cordial and very kind to me.”
Her legal position has already been the subject of another controversy. Maxwell was transferred to a low-security prison in Texas last year after meeting with the Justice Department, a move that drew suspicion from critics. Markus denied that the transfer was a quid pro quo, saying it was tied to threats to her safety after the meeting.
For now, the immediate answer is simple: no pardon request has been made to the Trump team. But Markus’s remarks show that Maxwell’s lawyers believe clemency is possible and are waiting for a quieter political moment before trying to get it.
