Ghislaine Maxwell Seeks Appeal
A look at her last ditch effort to overturn a 20 year conviction
Ghislaine Maxwell is a lot of things. Yielding is not one of them.
Despite the gravity of the charges against her and grim predictions from legal experts weighing in, Ghislaine remains steadfast in her determination to overturn her conviction and emerge victorious in a plot twist only the spawn of Robert Maxwell could entertain with such unwavering confidence, powered by grand delusions and that signature Maxwellian resilience that seems to thrive best under ripe scandal.
- Side note: Every time I hear the Kendrick DNA song, I think of the Maxwells -
In a last-ditch effort to clear her name, and evade the 20 year prison sentence she’s currently serving in a low security prison in Florida, Ghislaine, along with help from her ever dedicated siblings, has restocked her whole legal team with not one but two of Weinstein’s key players who are now pulling out all the stops in the 100+ page appeal filed last week with allegations about jury misconduct, prosecutorial overreach, judicial mishaps, and a breach of the controversial 2008 non prosecution agreement that protected Maxwell (and other Epstein co-conspirators) from any legal repercussions. Aside from Ghislaine, all the other women named in the agreement are roaming free. Some, like Sarah Kellen, are even listed as beneficiaries to Epstein’s trusts. According to court documents, Kellen has received millions of dollars from Esptein’s trust funds after his death but somehow remains legally unbothered for her role in grooming and procuring in the years after Ghislaine dropped out of the scene.
But there are others.
“While Ghislaine Maxwell awaits her fate, Sarah Kellen - her ex-right-hand-woman and third key figure in Jeffrey Epstein drama - strolls carefree in Manhattan” - The Daily Mail headline, June 2022
Epstein and Kellen in Manhattan, 2018
The appeal mainly argues that Ghislaine is a “proxy” for Epstein. To satisfy public outrage after his death. In efforts to pin the blame for the government’s own incompetence (and Epstein’s crimes) on Maxwell, the appeal also accuses the Government of charging her with “time-barred” offenses, resurrecting and recasting “decades-old” allegations for conduct previously ascribed to Epstein (and other named assistants), as well as joining forces with civil attorneys whose interests were all financially motivated to develop new and manipulated allegations with edited details & conflicting ages & dates that would support charges brought against Maxwell.
The age of Kate, for example, is called into question. In addition to highlighting how profitable the victim’s fund has been for victims who testified in court. Some of the ages they claim were manipulated to suit trial charges.
“Kate testified that she met Maxwell in 1994 when she was 17. Maxwell invited Kate to visit her at her home on Kinnerton Street in Belgravia, but land records show that Maxwell did not purchase Kinnerton Street until March 20,1997, when Kate was 20.”
Prince Andrew’s dry (and unapologetically snobbish) cousin, Christina Oxenberg (author of “Trash Encounters with Ghislaine”) got the scoop from GM’s lawyer, Arthur L. Aidala — the man behind Weinstein’s New York appeal success; a trial the Maxwell family seemed to be tracking intently, swooping in to pluck two of his head attorneys after his trials ended, to aid their sister in a similar uphill battle.
The appeal is a legal long shot.
But based on what I learned in the trial, some of the points raised in this “proxy” defense are actually valid. Namely, the bit about Bill Barr. Who the family accuses of staging a theatrical FBI capture of Ghislaine in New Hampshire (to be shared in greater detail later this week) to make up for the fact that he had dropped the ball and needed someone as a lynching post, to serve as the face for this scandal and close it up completely. Evidence of “justice served.”
The conviction of Maxwell was meant to end and silence the scandal entirely.
The Maxwells suggest that a lot of shady antics went into the legal gymnastics required to shift focus onto Ghislaine. The media’s persecution of her (pretrial) they say was a major factor in redirecting public fury so that Barr’s failure to prosecute the man behind these crimes, would ultimately be forgotten and forgiven. It mostly worked. With a new monster to focus on the attacks on Barr dissolved.
Who is Bill Barr?
The former United States Attorney General served under President Donald Trump from 2019 to 2020, and was the head of the Department of Justice which oversees federal law enforcement agencies and has broad responsibilities related to the enforcement of federal law with history to Jeffrey Epstein. Their relationship has long been subject to controversy and speculation, as the two go way back. Barr's father was the one who hired Epstein for the Dalton School in the late 1970s, so this association with Epstein became a major source of embarrassment when Epstein was found ‘unalive’ in his jail cell, August 2019. Barr faced extreme criticism for his handling, particularly after it was revealed that Epstein had been placed on suicide watch after an earlier suicide attempt, but was later removed from suicide watch and left alone in his cell. He ordered an investigation into Epstein's death, but the investigation has been largely deemed “deficient” in its findings. As detailed by Tucker Carlson recently.
In November 2020, the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility released a report on the department's handling of the Epstein case. The report found that there were "serious irregularities,” including “a failure to properly monitor him while he was on suicide watch and a failure to follow procedures for transferring him to a different facility.” Barr, faced with mounting criticism, needed a “victory” to counteract growing outrage.
The arrest of Ghislaine offered him that. Hence, her dramatic arrest on July 2nd, 2020, in New Hampshire by the FBI on the anniversary of Epstein's arraignment. A symbolic finale designed to snuff out lingering suspicion and controversy in the aftermath of Epstein’s suicide.
Ghislaine behind bars
Based on recent accounts from fellow inmates, Ghislaine was punished after her interview with Talk TV, after confessing that she believed Epstein was murdered.
Inmates say she was approached without warning, handcuffed in the hall in front of everyone and grew visibly upset, crying and arguing, insisting that she had not received payment for the interview which is what the prison officials were allegedly accusing her of. She was taken by guards to the SHU for punishment and not seen again for three days.
Interesting, no?
Prior to that, according to recent reports on various news outlets, Ghislaine seemed generally at ease and in brighter spirits in the weeks leading up to the filing of her appeal. Her shift in demeanor, likely due to the finalization of her divorce from Scott Borgerson and the 10 million dollars it freed up to fund this appeal. Inmates described her as noticeably “more relaxed, chatty, and generally in a better mood” than they’ve ever seen her before.
The negotiations between Maxwell and Borgerson have been long and messy. Maxwell was reportedly seeking a significant portion of Borgerson's assets — including his home in Massachusetts + spousal support + legal fees, while Borgerson was accusing Maxwell of hiding her assets and seeking to drain his finances to fund her sinking legal team.
The couple's legal battle played out in both the States and the United Kingdom, with each seeking to gain the upper hand in the courtrooms in both countries.
** Scott Borgerson, Vikki Spruill, Jeff Spruill, and Ghislaine Maxwell attend a cake-cutting ceremony celebrating the 50th anniversary of the New England Aquarium on June 20, 2019 (note G’s wardrobe)
With the final chapter of this bitter settlement behind them, the details of the financial agreement between the couple remains unclear, but given the acrimony that has characterized this battle so far, it seems likely that negotiations were anything but amicable.
“She stupidly turned over all of her money to him to avoid further lawsuits,” a source with close knowledge of the situation told me. “She trusted him and he screwed her over. Big time.”
A separate source revealed that it was a family friend that loaned the money needed to push her appeal forward, before her divorce settlement was finalized.
Press Statement :
Maxwell Family Statement :
Ian, forever on defense in good suits & overly earnest brows…
sigh….
But even in an orange jumpsuit, with a lifelong prison sentence looming over her, Ghislaine Maxwell is flourishing. Her schedule, cramped by teaching classes (yoga, feminist courses, legal council for appeals, recommending books during library shifts, and fitness classes mentioned below)
On Twitter the other day, I found one user sharing text messages from a friend’s sister who recently moved to the Tallahasse prison and is still adjusting to life behind bars. In the texts she mentions yoga with Maxwell, drones overheard, and a helicopter ladder dropped from the sky to try and tempt her into a hurried escape? Like a scene straight out of James Bond flick. Things meant for movies but unfolding in real time somewhere in a bricked lined Florida prison yard where drama still manages to hook and sink a Maxwell.
** For conspiracy kicks: check how the outfit G’s wearing in the group photo above (even the black rimmed glasses hung on her neckline) matches the outfit she’s wearing in the infamous photo of her at an In-N-Out in LA — A decoy image that began circulating right after Epstein’s death to throw off the press about her location whereabouts.
If the above image was taken in New Hampshire, was this superimposed creation taken the same day?
If so, doesn’t this further confirm obvious falsity?
And, who’s idea was it to include “The Book of Honor: The Secret Lives and Deaths of CIA Operatives.” According to the author, the book was published 20 years ago and sold out thanks to this image.
“I have yet to get my promised 15 minutes of fame, but Thursday night brought me a good five minutes, when the elusive Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged co-conspirator in abusing underage girls, was spotted in a Los Angeles fast-food restaurant reading my book “The Book of Honor: The Secret Lives and Deaths of CIA Operatives.
Not long after the New York Post reported the sighting, other publications jumped on board to spread the word. For most, the big news was that Maxwell had been found at all — she had remained out of the limelight while Epstein was being held for trial on sex-trafficking charges in New York and after his apparent suicide earlier this month.
Welcome isn’t the half of it. In the day since the book was mentioned in Maxwell’s allegedly nefarious hands, the book has skyrocketed on Amazon rankings from the torpid depths of the mid-300,000s to a sizzling No. 103, closing in on bestseller status among nonfiction books. But then it apparently sold out on Amazon. My agent is contacting the publisher to try to get more books sent over there. (Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos also owns The Post.)”
Whatever the case, GM is apparently a fan of badly botched photoshops. Which draws into question Lady Victoria’s previous claims that Maxwell is the one who taught Virginia and Maria how to use the tool. A tool Victoria swears was used in the case of the infamous ‘Andrew in the hallway’ shot. So now we have two cases of repeated outfits in suspiciously framed shots.
As loathsome as GM is, it’s infuriating that one woman is behind bars for the repulsive crimes of so many wealthy and powerful men like Bill Clinton.
She should get off if they won't prosecute Epstein's clients because that means she trafficked minors to nobody. If she worked for Mossad, MI6 and/or the CIA I bet she walks and walks soon.