Maxwell says Epstein file releases invalidate her sex-trafficking conviction

On June 24, Ghislaine Maxwell told a federal court that newly unsealed Epstein records prove her 2021 sex-trafficking conviction is “invalid, unsafe and infirm,” a bid to unwind the 20-year sentence she is serving in a federal prison camp in Texas. The filing had been sealed since April, and Maxwell, 64, is representing herself in asking the court to vacate her conviction or reduce her sentence.

Maxwell argues that documents released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed in November 2025, expanded the evidentiary record beyond what the trial judge and appellate courts had seen. She says the new material would have mattered for cross-examination and impeachment, and wrote that no reasonable juror would have convicted her had the documents been before the jury.

Federal prosecutors answered with a nearly 100-page rebuttal filed May 19, calling her claims speculative, factually erroneous and procedurally barred. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Pomerantz said Maxwell’s papers repeated baseless claims of government misconduct. Maxwell was convicted in December 2021, sentenced in June 2022, lost her appeal in the Second Circuit in September 2024 and was denied Supreme Court review in October 2025.

Maxwell had already pressed a habeas petition in December 2025, saying newly available litigation material, sworn depositions and released records showed withheld exculpatory information, false testimony and misrepresentations to the jury. Prosecutors said an amended request arrived by FedEx on a USB drive in April 2026.