The decision by the Supreme Court of the United States to decline to hear Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal is in fact the right one and it sends a clear message: accountability stands, and now the pressure squarely lands on the Donald Trump administration. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of five counts involving sex-trafficking of minors and conspiracy for her role in aiding Jeffrey Epstein. By refusing to rehear the case, it puts the onus on Trump to send her back to maximum security prison instead of playing with puppies.
Maxwell’s attempt to overturn her conviction rested on a strained interpretation of Epstein’s 2007 non-prosecution agreement arguing it shielded her and other conspirators. But the lower appellate court rejected that logic, finding that the plea terms did not bind the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York. The Supreme Court’s decision not to intervene means the legal path Maxwell tried is closed, and the justice system ensured that her role in recruiting and transporting under-age girls is treated with the seriousness it demands.
At the same time, this ruling ought to embolden calls for the Trump administration to follow through with full transparency. For an administration that once pledged openness, this flip-flop is unacceptable. What is he hiding?
Moreover, the administration must insist Maxwell be held in a maximum-security facility appropriate to her conviction. Reports indicate she was transferred to a low-security prison camp in Texas following interviews with the DOJ’s Deputy Attorney General. That signals laxity or favoritism at odds with the gravity of her crimes. The message must be: a guilty verdict stands, appeal denied, no back-room deals.
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