RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Topline Ghislaine Maxwell’s path to getting out of prison narrowed Tuesday after a federal judge rejected a request to throw out her conviction, potentially leaving it up to President Donald Trump to grant her clemency—but while Maxwell’s attorney is hopeful, the president hasn’t yet given a clear indication on whether he could pardon Jeffrey Epstein’s key associate.
Judge Paul Engelmayer rejected Maxwell’s petition to throw out her conviction Tuesday, ruling her legal arguments about why her conviction was unjust are “meritless” and largely “frivolous.”
Maxwell’s petition to the court, filed in December, was one of the final options she had to challenge her conviction and 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking crimes, after a federal appeals court and the Supreme Court previously rejected her case.
While Maxwell could still try to appeal Engelmayer’s decision—though there’s no indication that would be successful—the easiest way for her to get out of prison would to get a presidential pardon from Trump, or have the president commute her prison sentence.
Trump, who used to socialize with Maxwell, has not said either way whether he could pardon her, most recently saying in October he’d “have to take a look at” her case and adding, “I wouldn’t consider it or not consider it—I don’t know anything about it.”
The White House directed Forbes Tuesday to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt past comments on the issue, saying in February that while she hadn’t spoken to Trump “recently” about a pardon, “Last time we did speak about it, he said it’s not something he’s considering or thinking about.”
Maxwell’s attorney David Oscar Markus has been more optimistic about his client’s chances, telling Politico in April, “There’s a good chance and for good reason that she would get a pardon.”
There’s still no indication of when, or if, Trump could grant Maxwell clemency. Markus told Politico his client “obviously wants clemency,” but suggested she’ll more formally request it only after public interest in Epstein’s case and the Epstein files that’s surged has died down. “I don’t think now is the best time to do it, with everything going on,” Markus told Politico, referencing the recent release of the Epstein files and the broader interest in Epstein’s case. That interest has surged over the past year since the Trump administration initially said last summer it would not release more Epstein files voluntarily, kicking off a public outcry that led to Congress forcing the Epstein files’ release through legislation.
No—the pardon authority rests with the president alone. The Senate unanimously passed a resolution in July declaring lawmakers’ opposition to Maxwell getting a pardon or commutation, but it’s nonbinding and doesn’t have any impact on Trump’s ability to pardon her.
Markus has also made a case for granting Maxwell clemency by saying it’s one of the only ways she would agree to participate in the House Oversight Committee’s investigation into Epstein’s case. After the committee subpoenaed Maxwell to testify as part of the probe, Markus told lawmakers in July 2025 that Maxwell would not speak with them because of the ongoing appeal of her conviction. If Trump pardoned her, however, Markus said she would be “willing—and eager—to testify openly, and honestly, in public.” The attorney has otherwise suggested that Maxwell could testify only after her appeals process is exhausted, though it’s unclear if Tuesday’s decision upholding Maxwell’s conviction means she’d now be willing to talk. It’s still possible that Maxwell could try to appeal Engelmayer’s decision, and continue to refuse to cooperate with her subpoena.
Trump has been noncommittal about pardoning Maxwell throughout his presidency, but raised eyebrows in July 2025 when he noted he was “allowed” to grant her clemency. “Well, I’m allowed to give her a pardon, but I — nobody’s approached me with it,” Trump said. “Nobody’s asked me about it. It’s in the news about that, that aspect of it, but right now, it would be inappropriate to talk about it.” Trump also previously drew criticism for saying after Maxwell’s arrest, “I wish her well.” Trump socialized with Maxwell decades before his presidency, when he was also friends with Epstein, and noted after Maxwell’s arrest, “I’ve met her numerous times over the years, especially since I lived in Palm Beach.” A 2002 email from his wife Melania Trump to Maxwell was included in the Epstein files—referring to her as “G” and asking her to “give me a call when you are back in N.Y.”—which the first lady has defended as just being “casual correspondence.”
While Trump and Maxwell were known to be friendly with each other, a FBI report included in the Epstein files suggests the now-president later had a less pleasant opinion of her. Trump told Palm Beach police in 2006 that Maxwell was “evil” and described her as Epstein’s “operative,” according to the FBI’s interview with the officer he spoke with, telling law enforcement to “focus on her.” “Thank goodness you’re stopping him, everyone has known he’s been doing this,” Trump also allegedly told then-police chief Michael Reiter about Epstein.
Maxwell heavily praised Trump in a 2025 interview with now-Attorney General Todd Blanche, which has been criticized as an instance of her being flattering to the president in order to appease the Trump administration and help secure a pardon. She absolved Trump of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, telling Blanche she “never witnessed the President in any inappropriate setting in any way,” though she acknowledged Trump and Epstein were “friendly like people are in social settings.” Maxwell said she met Trump in the 1990s through her father and described the now-president as being “always very cordial and very kind to me.” She told Blanche she “admire[d] his extraordinary achievement in becoming the President now, adding, “I like him, and I've always liked him.”
Maxwell, Epstein’s key known a...
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