Ghislaine Maxwell begs Donald Trump to free her
The disgraced British heiress, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for procuring underage girls for the late paedophile, asked the US Supreme Court and the president for leniency.
'We are appealing not only to the Supreme Court but to the president himself to recognise how profoundly unjust it is to scapegoat Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein's crimes, especially when the government promised she would not be prosecuted,' attorney David Oscar Markus said in a statement.
Maxwell's lawyers appeared to be capitalising on the Trump administration's recent interest in their client's case, filing a motion on Monday urging the Supreme Court to move forward with the appeal they filed in April.
Maxwell, the financier's ex-girlfriend, has long argued her 2021 sex-trafficking conviction should be overturned because of a 2007 plea deal that promised immunity for Epstein's accomplices. She is the only person who has been convicted in connection with his crimes.
Flanked by Sir Keir Starmer at his Turnberry golf course in Scotland on Monday, Mr Trump again refused to rule out pardoning Maxwell.
Responding to a question on the prospect of granting clemency to Maxwell, he 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.'
When asked the same question last week, Mr Trump refused to rule out the prospect, instead telling reporters he was 'allowed' to pardon her.
Todd Blanche, US deputy attorney general, and Mr Trump's former personal lawyer, visited Maxwell last week at her jail in Tallahassee, Florida.
Legal experts have speculated that Maxwell is keen to make a deal, and that the president may be dangling a pardon in exchange for testimony that would paint him in a favourable light, or implicate his enemies.
Maxwell answered 'every single question'
Mr Trump is under mounting pressure over his own links to the late financier and Maxwell.
Maxwell answered 'every single question' put to her by Mr Blanche, her lawyer said in a statement.
'She never stopped, she never invoked a privilege, she never declined to answer. She answered all the questions truthfully, honestly and to the best of her ability,' he said.
Mr Trump and Maxwell socialised in the same circles in Palm Beach and New York in the 80s and were pictured together on several occasions at parties and fashion shows.
Speaking in 2020 when she was being prosecuted for sex trafficking, Mr Trump said of Maxwell: 'I just wish her well, frankly. I haven't really been following it too much. I've met her numerous times over the years, especially since I lived in Palm Beach, and I guess they [Epstein and Maxwell] lived in Palm Beach.'
Mr Trump has repeatedly stated that his friendship with Epstein, and his former girlfriend, ended long before the financier was implicated in any criminality.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
8 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Britain's new immigration hotspots mapped: Up to one in 20 residents in some boroughs are migrants who came here last year - so what is the figure in YOUR area?
Up to one in 20 residents in parts of England and Wales are immigrants who moved here last year, new analysis suggests. It comes after Government statistics last week revealed that the total population of the two nations shot up by 700,000 in 2023/24. Immigration fuelled the surge – the second largest since WW2. The Daily Mail can reveal that net international migration – defined as the difference between the number of people entering the country and leaving – was positive in all but one of 318 councils. Newham, home to roughly 374,000 people, saw an influx of 17,200 immigrants in the year to mid-2024. That suggests new migrants arriving from abroad in the last year now account for 4.6 per cent of the London borough's total population – roughly one in 20 people. Luton (4.3 per cent) and Coventry (4.2 per cent) had similarly high figures, according to estimates published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Experts say current immigration levels, which have hit all-time highs, are piling even greater pressure upon on housing, schools and the NHS. Our postcode search tool - available to use below - shows how the situation in your area has changed over the last 12 months, tracking births and deaths as well as net international migration. Robert Bates, research director at the Centre for Migration Control, said mass migration is 'changing the very fabric of Britain'. He said: 'Assimilation has been made impossible by the sheer scale of mass migration and our national culture is damaged as a result. 'Stretched public services - from the NHS and GP surgeries to public transport and schools - are being further eroded by a low wage, low-skill immigration system. 'Politicians have ignored the concerns of voters due to a misguided belief that open borders benefit the economy. 'We fast need a government which rejects this dogma and starts work to scrap a whole raft of failed visa routes, end foreign nationals' access to the welfare system, and invests in skills for the British workforce.' There were an estimated 61.8m people in England and Wales in mid-2024, up from 61.1m in mid-2023, according to the ONS' estimates. That increase, of 706,881 people, was eclipsed only by the 821,210 population rise in the 12 months to mid-2023, with growth in both years driven almost wholly by record rises in the number of migrants. Some 1.1m people are thought to have immigrated in the last 12 months, countered by the 450,000 believed to have emigrated. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage yesterday claimed the figures were' disastrous for the quality of life for everyone in the country'. There were slightly more births (596,012) than deaths (566,030) in the year to mid-2024, which added just 29,982 to the population. In terms of raw numbers, the biggest local authorities, such as Birmingham (38,700) had the most international migrants arriving. Given the West Midlands city has a population of 1.2million, however, the effects of international migration aren't as stark as they are in Newham. The City of London technically had the highest share of its current population down to international migration in 2024 (10.8 per cent) – although it is home to only 15,000 people. Only one local authority, South Holland in Lincolnshire, experienced a negative sum, due to more international migrants leaving than arriving. The ONS said it had 557 arrivals from abroad last year, but 695 people emigrated. Movement around the UK – known as internal migration – is recorded separately. Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch UK, said: 'The latest ONS figures are another eye-opener. 'While there is no breakdown of migration into nationality, sex, age or immigration status - as the ONS should do in the future - overall, the population of England and Wales increased by over 700,000 (the equivalent of Newcastle.) 'Just 30,000 of this was from births exceeding deaths.' Mr Mehmet also branded the government's response to the rising rates as 'complacent'. He said: 'Most worrying, these latest figures show that the speed with which the nature of our society is changing has not let up, and that the ethnic minority proportion of our population will become the majority in 30-35 years. 'The government must take decisive action to stem the immigration tsunami if we are not to become the island of strangers the Prime Minister referred to a few months ago.' The ONS cautions there might be some overlap in the data, although it is unclear by how much because of the difficulties in examining population flow. For example, the same person could be classed as both an international immigrant and internal emigrant. They could also die, further confusing the picture. Tory shadow Home Office minister Katie Lam said the data showed the population is rising at 'an unsustainable pace'. She said: 'This isn't about numbers on a spreadsheet, it's about pressure on housing, NHS waiting lists, school places, wages and it's about community and our culture. 'Britain simply cannot plan or build fast enough to keep up. 'We must secure our borders and deliver a fair and sustainable immigration system that works for the British people.' However Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said yesterday the figures 'confirm the truth of the Tory legacy on immigration'. She added: 'Their failed open borders experiment resulted in net migration quadrupling to a peak of almost a million per year in 2023 even as they promised it would fall. 'Since the election, net migration has come steeply down, and as part of the Government's Plan for Change we have set out new measures in the Immigration White Paper and have already changed immigration rules to bring net migration down further. 'To be successful, effective and fair, our immigration system must be properly controlled and managed. Out of the chaos and failure of the Tory past, that is what this Government will deliver.' Keir Starmer unveiled a crackdown on immigration in May, warning that failure to control the system risked turning Britain into an 'island of strangers'. Downing Street was forced to deny angry comparisons from MPs that it was an echo of Enoch Powell's infamous 'Rivers of Blood' speech. Scrambling to blunt the threat of Reform, Sir Keir has vowed to give voters what they had 'asked for time and time again' as he announced a package to 'take back control of our borders'. However, the month after the speech Sir Keir went on to say he 'deeply regretted' it, despite polling showing most Brits had no problem with the language used. His package of long-awaited policies to curb immigration involved a hiking of the skills threshold for immigrants and a toughening of the rules on fluency in English. Migrants will also be required to wait 10 years for citizenship rather than the current five and face deportation for even lower-level crimes. Policymakers estimate the Government's package will bring down annual inflows by around 100,000. It comes after Sir Keir signed a deal with French president Emmanuel Macron in a desperate attempt to solve the small boat Channel crisis. The Prime Minister and his French equivalent announced a 'one in, one out' migrant swap deal, although it was far less ambitious than expected.
The Independent
38 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump's DoJ is demanding states hand over election information. Officials are wondering what they intend to do with it
The Department of Justice is on a mission to collect election information, including sensitive voter information, from states as part of President Donald Trump 's executive order cracking down on voting accessibility – but it's left state officials concerned. Over the last three months, the DoJ's Voting Section has reached out to at least 15 states seeking their voter roll, information about individuals who may have violated federal voting laws, and questions about the state's process for identifying and removing ineligible voters, the Associated Press reported. Traditionally, the Voting Section's main focus is to protect citizens' right to vote, but under Trump's direction, it's cracking down on voter fraud – a rare occurrence that Trump has mischaracterized as a major problem in the United States. But some state officials have flagged concerns with the swath of information being requested, saying voter rolls contain private information about individuals and cannot be shared without congressional notification. Utah's Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson, the state's top election official, said she refused to provide expansive information on the state's 2.1 million voters to the DoJ. 'We've offered the public voter list. If they want protected data, there's a process for government entities to request it for lawful purposes,' Henderson told The Salt Lake Tribune. 'We'll address that if it comes,' she continued, 'but so far we haven't identified any federal or state statute that would justify handing over to the federal government the personal identifying information of 2.1 million Utah voters,' Henderson added. Officials in at least four California counties told the Associated Press that DoJ officials requested information about the number of people removed from rolls for being noncitizens, including their ID numbers, dates of birth, and voting records. Trump has sought to conduct the largest deportation of undocumented immigrants, in part by targeting individuals using government information. In Colorado, DoJ officials demanded the state hand over 'all records' pertaining to the 2024 election – a massive trove of documents that includes ballots and voting equipment information, as well as records retained from the 2020 election. Last year, the Colorado state Supreme Court tried to bar Trump from appearing on the presidential ballot, claiming he was ineligible because he violated the Fourteenth Amendment by inciting the January 6 attack on the Capitol. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ruled in favor of Trump, declaring that states did not have the authority to determine a federal candidate's eligibility. In Maine, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said she was denying the DoJ's request for the state's voter registration list, the names of officials who maintain the list, and the number of ineligible voters due to noncitizenship status. Officials had sent multiple requests for information, one of which insinuated that Maine had an unusually high number of registered voters, the Maine Morning Star reported. 'The nature of these questions suggest that the DOJ is more interested in keeping people that they don't like from voting than promoting voter registration and participation,' Bellows told Maine Morning Star. Already, DoJ officials had spoken to Bellows about a potential 'information-sharing agreement' to provide the department with information on registered voters who are ineligible to vote. Similar requests were made to Arizona, Connecticut, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. 'Why on Earth does the Department of Justice need the voter information from all 50 states?' Bellows asked. 'If Congress thought it was appropriate that there be a national voter file, Congress could have authorized the Department of Justice to do that, but they have not.' The DoJ's motivation in collecting such information appears to be to assist its efforts to identify and prosecute those who violate federal election laws. Trump has directed the attorney general and DoJ to collect election information from states to add extra safeguards to elections. Despite no evidence of mass voter fraud or noncitizen voting in the last several elections, Trump has continually claimed the 2020 election was rigged with mass voter fraud and that undocumented migrants voted in the 2024 election.
The Independent
38 minutes ago
- The Independent
Jess Phillips: Nigel Farage would enable ‘modern day Jimmy Saviles'
Jess Phillips has joined criticism of Reform UK's pledge to repeal the Online Safety Act, suggesting such a move would empower 'modern-day Jimmy Saviles'. Ms Phillips, the Home Office minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, appeared to accuse Nigel Farage of being more concerned about 'clicks for his monetised social media accounts' than children's safety online. She backed her colleague Peter Kyle after his row with the Reform UK leader last week. The Technology Secretary said Mr Farage was putting himself on the side of 'extreme pornographers' and people like Savile by opposing the law. Under rules that came into effect on July 25 as part of the act, online platforms such as social media sites and search engines must take steps to prevent children from accessing harmful content such as pornography or material that encourages suicide. Mr Farage has said the legislation threatens freedom of speech and open debate. Writing in The Times, Ms Phillips said: 'Farage said it's the biggest threat to freedom of speech in our lifetimes. 'My colleague Peter Kyle said he was siding with modern-day Jimmy Saviles preying on children online.' She said she would like to speak to Mr Farage about 'one of those modern-day Saviles, Alexander McCartney'. McCartney, who posed as a teenage girl to befriend young females from across the globe on Snapchat and other platforms before blackmailing them, 'just needed a computer' to reach his targets, Ms Phillips wrote. Believed to be one of the world's most prolific online offenders, McCartney abused at least 70 children online and drove one girl to suicide. Ms Phillips said the Online Safety Act exists to try to provide a 'basic minimum of protection, and make it harder for paedophiles to prey on children at will'. She said police have told her that paedophile networks use 'normal websites where their parents assume they're safe' to coerce and blackmail young people. 'Perhaps Nigel Farage doesn't worry about that — there's no political advantage in it, and no clicks for his monetised social media accounts. But I do. 'I worry about what it means now and what it will mean when boys reared on a diet of ultraviolent online child abuse are adult men having children of their own. I can't ignore that, neither can Peter Kyle, and, most importantly, nor can millions of parents across the country. 'I defy Nigel Farage to tell me what any of that has to do with free speech. 'I defy him to meet even one parent who has lost a daughter to suicide because she was being blackmailed online and tell them that is just the price of civil liberties. Maybe he'd feel differently after that kind of meeting, or maybe he wouldn't care.' Her comments echo those of Mr Kyle, who said last week: 'Make no mistake about it, if people like Jimmy Savile were alive today, he'd be perpetrating his crimes online. And Nigel Farage is saying that he's on their side.' Mr Farage demanded an apology from the Technology Secretary, who refused to withdraw the remarks.
