(NEW YORK) — Republican Rep. Thomas Massie said Sunday he stands with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna’s calls to subpoena Jeffrey Epstein’s estate for documents related to his case, including, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, a birthday letter to Epstein allegedly written by President Donald Trump in 2003.
“Well, I think we should get a lot more than just the book. Let’s get the financial records of the estate. Where is it — follow the money, as they say up here,” Massie told ABC News’ “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl. “We should look at the plea bargain. Open that up. See what was the deal? What was the deal that was cut? I think there’s a lot more than just that letter.”
The Wall Street Journal reported on a birthday message Trump allegedly wrote in a book of messages for Epstein’s 50th birthday — the president denies it exists and has sued the Journal for defamation over the report. ABC News has not been able to confirm the existence of the letter.
Massie and Khanna’s joint legislation would force a House vote on the release of the Epstein files. However, Speaker Mike Johnson sent the House on an August recess a day early, effectively skirting the vote. Massie and Khanna are now seeking a discharge petition, which with 218 votes from House members, would bypass Johnson.
Massie said: “It would force a full release of the files. It has the force of law. It’s not a subpoena. It’s not a ‘Pretty please, would you release the files?’ It’s the force of law and, it’s got protections to redact victims’ names and to prevent, you know, release of child pornography.”
Khanna added the Democratic interest in this case is not new, despite claims that the party has latched on to the case as it causes infighting among some of Trump’s MAGA base.
“We have been pushing for transparency during the Biden administration, both in 2021 and 2024 the court ordered release of documents, but Donald Trump raised the stakes and he did it in a way in the campaign that was justified. He said, ‘Look, when I get there, I’m going to release the files,'” Khanna said.
(AUSTIN, Texas) — Texas Democrats on Friday traveled to California and Illinois for meetings with Democratic governors who have criticized Republicans’ plans to redraw the Texas congressional map to protect the GOP House majority.
The day of meetings with Gov. Gavin Newsom of California and Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois comes as Texas Democrats are weighing a walkout from the ongoing special legislative session where redistricting could be considered in Austin – in a bid to obstruct and delay the efforts.
“They’re changing the rules in the middle of the game… this is cheating,” Pritzker said on Friday of the GOP-led effort in Texas. “Everything is on the table.”
Texas state Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, told ABC News she was hoping to receive guidance on how to navigate the redistricting situation from Newsom, who has frequently sparred with the Trump administration.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, proclaiming a special legislative session that focused largely on flood relief, included redistricting on the agenda “in light of constitutional concerns raised by the U.S. Department of Justice.”
In a letter earlier this month, the Trump Justice Department told Texas that four majority minority districts represented by Democrats needed to be redrawn, citing a recent federal court decision and arguing they were now “unconstitutional racial gerrymanders.”
President Donald Trump has rubber-stamped the Texas effort, saying he wants his party to pick up five seats if Texas redraws its congressional maps. (States redo their maps every decade with new Census data, and rarely attempt to do so absent a court order mid-decade.)
Taken with Republican-led redistricting efforts in Ohio and other GOP-controlled states, the changes to Texas’ map could help Republicans insulate their fragile House majority from the historic midterm backlash presidents traditionally face from voters.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday suggested his state could revisit its map, which Republicans remade after the 2020 Census, because, in part, of “the way the population has shifted around Florida just since the census was done in 2020 — I think the state is malapportioned.”
In response, Democratic leaders in states like California, Illinois and New Jersey have raised the possibility of revisiting their maps if Texas moves forward, though some states face more legal and constitutional restrictions than Texas to do so.
While there has been speculation that Texas Democrats could interrupt the special session by walking out or breaking quorum, the travels on Friday do not break quorum and members are not framing it as a walkout.
In the state House, Democrats would need 51 members to agree to break quorum, and they’d all risk fines for doing so. The effort, which Democrats have attempted in the past, would be unlikely to do more than delay Republicans’ efforts to redraw the maps.
“I am more than willing to participate in a quorum break,” State Rep. Gina Hinojosa told ABC News on Friday while cautioning that discussion of one is premature.
Some Democrats, who for years have advocated for nonpartisan redistricting, say the party should respond in kind to GOP efforts.
“I think one of the things we can say while maintaining a reform principle is that we believe in an independent commission and independent redistricting, but that should only kick in when Texas agrees to it, or when Florida agrees to it,” said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.
The chair of the Texas redistricting committee, Republican state Rep. Cody Vasut, said during a Thursday hearing that “it is prudent and proper” for the committee to deal with items the governor put on the agenda, and that “we have no plans to change any particular district.”
Others are waiting to see if Texas actually moves forward with changes to its map.
“We have to think about what should our response be, and how do we make sure that we have a response that’s actually meeting voters with what they’re hoping for, instead of actually making a system worse for voters,” Gov. Wes Moore, D-Md., told ABC News.
Experts have told ABC News that either party could risk backlash from voters or in court, depending on how they redraw their state maps. And efforts to make Democrat-held districts in Texas more friendly to GOP pickup could weaken Republicans’ hold on neighboring red districts.
(NEW YORK) — He proposed free crosstown buses. He pushed for steep tax hikes on the wealthy—including an 18.5% property tax increase— insisting none of his rich friends threatened to leave the city over higher taxes. He championed millions to build supermarkets in long-neglected neighborhoods.
And under his plan, city workers could give privately raised cash to New Yorkers booking dental appointments or keeping their children in school.
These progressive policies, however, are not from New York City’s Democratic nominee for mayor, Zohran Mamdani. Experts said they were from Michael Bloomberg, New York’s billionaire former Republican mayor and a prominent supporter of Andrew Cuomo’s run for mayor.
As Mamdani reshapes the city’s political map, some experts told ABC News a striking parallel is emerging. Behind the labels of “socialist” and “technocrat,” both men share aligned goals: taxing the rich during crises, promoting expansive transit ideas, and bold plans to bring fresh food to low-income communities. Still, experts said, even when policies overlap, most New Yorkers do not see them as similar.
They point out many people know Mamdani as an organizer who has posted that capitalism is a form of theft; Bloomberg as a businessman who built a fortune managing the free market that Mamdani is critiquing. Mamdani identifies himself as a democratic socialist and has stated, “I don’t think that we should have billionaires.” Bloomberg is one of the richest people in the world.
Neither Mamdani nor Bloomberg provided statements to ABC News.
Mamdani recently acknowledged in a private meeting with business leaders that he hopes to emulate Bloomberg on a few issues — even as he draws fire from many in the business community, sources familiar told ABC News.
“There’s a resistance from a lot of powerful forces … And it doesn’t have to do with Mamdani’s politics, it has to do with the fact that he doesn’t come from them,” Democratic strategist Peter Feld told ABC News.
Bloomberg spent $8 million backing Cuomo’s failed bid to become the Democratic nominee for mayor.
“If you said which of these things go together, you probably wouldn’t pick Bloomberg and Mamdani,” Christine Quinn, the former city council speaker who helped Bloomberg pass key policies, told ABC News. “But when you peel away at the onion, there’s a lot of similarities.”
Free buses
As early as 2007, Bloomberg spoke about his public transit goals.
During his 2009 re-election campaign, Bloomberg proposed making some Manhattan crosstown buses free of charge. An archived screenshot from his campaign website states, “The MTA should eliminate fare collection…”
At a campaign event, he called the MTA “bloated” and “inefficient.”
The New York Times contrasted observers calling the proposal “radical,” and a Regional Plan Association official saying it “captured people’s imaginations.”
A Mamdani campaign pillar calls for free fares on all bus lines. After piloting a fare-free program on five lines as an assemblymember, Mamdani compared it to Kansas City and Boston’s free programs. Cuomo’s bus plan for mayor includes evaluating the “expansion of a fare-free bus pilot program” that Mamdani championed, and expanding a 50% discount on public transportation for low-income residents.
Regional Plan Association’s Kate Slevin, who served in city government under Bloomberg, said she “can’t remember other mayoral candidates” with a similar plan for free buses. Slevin told ABC News, “When it comes to fares, those are the only two I can remember.”
After Bloomberg won, a transportation website reported he removed the proposal from his website. The plan was never implemented.
Both men faced criticism over feasibility – the MTA controls bus fares.
Mamdani has not publicly highlighted Bloomberg’s old bus proposal, but he’s aware of at least one Bloomberg transportation initiative: in a recent video about expanding dedicated bus lanes, he said, “It’s not a new proposal, Mayor Bloomberg suggested it in 2008.”
Taxing the wealthy
After 9/11, during New York City’s financial crisis, Mayor Bloomberg increased property taxes by 18.5%, short of his original 25% push.
Months later, Bloomberg raised sales and income taxes. Single filers earning over $100,000 were among those impacted.
“[Bloomberg] knew that to make New York livable, you had to raise taxes, and he put that as a priority, rather than to simply cut the budget and vital services,” NYU Professor of Urban Planning and Policy, Mitchell Moss, told ABC News. “Taxes were not a peripheral part of his fiscal policy. They were a central part.”
In a 2007 USC speech, Bloomberg reflected, “As a last resort, we even raised property taxes and income taxes on high-earners,” recalling backlash, saying “raising taxes didn’t make me the most popular…”
Former Mayor Bill de Blasio attempted to raise taxes on the wealthy to fix subways, but was not successful.
Mamdani proposes permanent additional 2% tax increases for earners making over $1 million and raising corporate taxes. Bloomberg framed his hikes as temporary, specifically tied to emergencies.
However, even Bloomberg acknowledged that his tax revenue supported broader ambitions.
“Mike Bloomberg raised taxes following 9/11 out of fiscal necessity, not ideology,” Ed Skyler, a senior executive at Citigroup and former deputy mayor for Bloomberg, told ABC News.
At USC, he said increases, “allowed us to close the huge budget deficits, balance the books and continue investing in the future: building new schools, revitalizing old industrial areas, creating the largest affordable housing program in the nation, supporting our cultural institutions, parks, libraries, and universities, and expanding world-wide advertising to attract businesses and tourists.”
Food policy for low-income communities
Under Bloomberg, starting in 2009, dozens of FRESH grocery stores opened. Many are still operating today. The program offered public subsidies to private grocery operators to boost access to fresh food in underserved neighborhoods.
Quinn, then city council speaker and a key player in passing the program, said they always asked: “how do we use the powers of the city of New York to jolt the private sector into action?”
Bloomberg frequently sought to merge public and private efforts—through initiatives like his Green Carts program—which supplied permits for vendors selling fresh produce in “food deserts,” and Health Bucks, which enabled discounted food to be purchased at farmers markets.
Mamdani proposes one municipally owned, nonprofit grocery store in each borough, offering goods at wholesale prices. On “Plain English,” Mamdani said his plan would cost less than FRESH.
CUNY School of Public Health Professor Nevin Cohen said he believes Mamdani’s plan would cost less than Bloomberg’s, too. He wrote a piece titled “Guess What? Government Is Already in the Grocery Business,” mentioning existing markets in Madison and Atlanta.
Mamdani’s idea isn’t new to the city. Former Mayor Fiorello La Guardia created the first public market network and several still remain today. Under Bloomberg, one such market—Essex Market—was rezoned and relocated to a new, modern space.
Cohen said Bloomberg and Mamdani’s plans “are not just similar. They actually had the same underlying goal.”
Cohen said, “Bloomberg very much intervened in the market” and sent an old advertisement of Bloomberg, dressed as a nanny, labeled, “You only thought you lived in the land of the free.”
Quinn also notes that many of Bloomberg’s plans faced resistance, but once implemented, became part of the city’s fabric.
“What is radical on Monday often becomes widespread by Wednesday,” Quinn said.
Neither Cuomo nor Mayor Eric Adams provided statements to ABC News.
(WASHINGTON) — The roughly $6 billion in education programming that was frozen by the Trump administration earlier this month is being released, according to a Department of Education spokesperson on Friday.
This includes all title program funding for English language acquisition, teacher development and adult education, among other programs, the spokesperson confirmed.
On Thursday, in an interview with ABC News, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon suggested the roughly $6 billion in education programming that was paused and under review by the Office of Management and Budget could be released by the end of the year.
“We want to make sure that we have the right focus on what we’re trying to do with our students,” McMahon said.
The congressionally authorized education funding was under review to determine if programs “grossly misused” government funds to promote a “radical leftwing agenda.”
Last week, several Republican senators sent a letter to OMB Director Russ Vought urging the Trump administration to reverse its decision to withhold the more than $6 billion in federal funds for education programs already appropriated by Congress. Additionally, a coalition of school districts and advocacy groups sued the Trump’s administration over the funding freeze.
Friday’s announcement comes a week after OMB unfroze more than $1 billion in after-school and summer learning funds that had been under review. A senior administration official said the states would have to adhere to new guardrails moving forward. Many programs told ABC News they received the after-school and summer learning funding earlier this week.
It’s unclear how soon states will receive the additional education funding that was released today, but the school year starts in the coming days for many districts nationwide.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump’s attempt to ensure his pick remains in charge of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey has taken a new twist.
On Thursday, one day before Alina Habba’s tenure as the Interim United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey was set to expire, the White House withdrew her nomination for the post.
Habba then announced on social media that she is now the Acting United States Attorney, seemingly restarting the clock on what is usually a 120-day temporary term. Trump first appointed Habba as the state’s interim U.S. attorney in March.
“I don’t cower to pressure. I don’t answer to politics. This is a fight for justice. And I’m all in,” Habba wrote on social media.
The unorthodox legal maneuver appears to end a stalemate that began when federal judges in New Jersey selected Desiree Leigh Grace, an experienced federal prosecutor, over Habba, the president’s former personal attorney and choice to lead the office. The Department of Justice quickly stated that it fired Grace, leaving unclear who would take over the office.
In a social media post, Grace stated that she would still be willing to lead the office “in accordance with the law.”
“The District Judges for the District of New Jersey selected me to serve as the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. It will forever be the greatest honor that they selected me on merit, and I’m prepared to follow that Order and begin to serve in accordance with the law,” she wrote.
The Trump administration’s move to pull Habba’s nomination and then install her in an acting capacity appears to take advantage of a section of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which allows an acting officer to serve in a position for no more than 210 days if no one is nominated to the position.
A general view of the Trump Turnberry club house, July 24, 2025, in Turnberry, Scotland/ Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is making his fourth international trip of his second term this week, traveling to Scotland, where his mother was born, and where he plans to spend several days at his family’s golf courses — including one he’s said should host the British Open.
The Trump Organization currently has two golf resorts in Turnberry and Aberdeenshire, and is expected to cut the ribbon on another course opening at the latter in the coming weeks.
Trump visited his golf resort in Turnberry as president once before, for a weekend on the way to a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Finland in 2018.
In 2020, ABC News confirmed that Woody Johnson, then-U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, told colleagues he was asked by Trump if he could persuade the British government to hold the British Open golf tournament at Turnberry. The British government later said Johnson never made a request to Scottish officials, and Trump denied asking Johnson to do so.
The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, which organizes the Open, the world’s oldest golf tournament, said in a statement shortly after the Jan. 6 Capitol attack that it had “no plans” to stage the Open at Turnberry and “will not do so in the foreseeable future.”
“We will not return until we are convinced that the focus will be on the championship, the players and the course itself and we do not believe that is achievable in the current circumstances,” the chief executive of The R&A wrote in the statement at the time.
In 2023, in an interview at Turnberry, Trump told British conservative politician and media personality Nigel Farage that “everyone” wants Turnberry to host the Open.
“Everyone wants to see the Open Championship here. The players, it’s their favorite course, number one rated in Europe. In some lists, it’s the number one rated anywhere in the world, and they want to have the Open championship back here,” he said.
“I think they think I’m a little bit of a controversial figure,” he said at another point in the interview.
Recently, Mark Darbon, the new chair of the R&A, said there are “logistical challenges” to hosting the tournament at the club, which hosted the Open several times before Trump bought the property in 2014.
Darbon also revealed his organization recently met with Eric Trump and other Trump Golf leaders a few months ago to discuss the possibility.
ABC News has reached out to the Trump Organization for a statement.
In May, Trump traveled to the Middle East for his first official overseas visit of his second term, visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in an effort to deepen economic and political ties with the Gulf kingdoms.
The president’s family has also expanded its business interests in the Middle East. The Trump Organization partnered with developers on new projects in Saudi Arabia, Doha and the United Arab Emirates, and is involved in a cryptocurrency venture connected to a fund with ties to the Emirati government.
In his most recent financial disclosure, Trump reported hundreds of millions in income from his various properties, including golf clubs and his Mar-a-Lago estate and club. He has also earned millions from other business ventures, including trademarking merchandise like watches and fragrances.
His Aberdeenshire resort lost 1.4 million pounds last year, according to the BBC, citing financial disclosures.
Ethics experts have criticized some of Trump’s travels and raised concerns that the president has exposed himself to potential conflicts of interest between his official activities and his family’s business interests.
“At this point, he’s essentially using the White House as an extension of the Trump Organization and letting the taxpayers pick up the bill,” Jordan Libowitz, the Vice President for Communications at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told ABC News.
The administration has called Trump’s visit a “working trip,” and Trump is expected to have a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Starmer and will likely hold a press conference while overseas.
“President Trump’s working trip to Scotland will include a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Starmer to refine the historic US-UK trade deal. Donald J. Trump has built the best and most beautiful world-class golf courses anywhere in the world, which is why they continue to be used for prestigious tournaments and by the most elite players in the sport,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a statement to ABC News.
Trump’s assets are in a trust managed by his children and administration officials have long denied any conflict of interest.
(WASHINGTON) — A senior Department of Justice official is meeting with longtime Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell on Thursday in Tallahassee, Florida, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
The meeting between Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Maxwell is occurring in downtown Tallahassee at the U.S. attorney’s office, which is located inside the federal courthouse, sources familiar with the matter said.
Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking and other charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022. She is serving her sentence at a federal prison in Tallahassee.
Blanche arrived at the federal courthouse around 9 a.m. ET. He shook his head and said “no” when asked if he had anything to say ahead of his meeting with Maxwell.
Maxwell’s attorneys were also seen entering the federal courthouse in Tallahassee.
“We’re looking forward to a productive day,” David O. Markus, Maxwell’s appellate lawyer, told ABC News. He declined further comment.
The Justice Department said earlier this week that the meeting between Blanche and Maxwell would occur “in the coming days.”
“President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence. If Ghislaine Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say,” Blanche said in the statement posted by Attorney General Pam Bondi on X earlier this week.
Maxwell’s attorney confirmed earlier this week that they were in discussions with the government about the visit, saying in a statement that “Ghislaine will always testify truthfully.”
Separately, on Wednesday, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer issued a subpoena for Maxwell for a deposition to occur at the prison on Aug. 11.
“The facts and circumstances surrounding both your and Mr. Epstein’s cases have received immense public interest and scrutiny,” Comer wrote in a statement Wednesday.
(WASHINGTON) — A senior Department of Justice official is meeting with longtime Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell on Thursday in Tallahassee, Florida, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
The meeting between Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Maxwell is occurring in downtown Tallahassee at the U.S. attorney’s office, which is located inside the federal courthouse, sources familiar with the matter said.
Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking and other charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022. She is serving her sentence at a federal prison in Tallahassee.
Blanche arrived at the federal courthouse around 9 a.m. ET. He shook his head and said “no” when asked if he had anything to say ahead of his meeting with Maxwell.
Maxwell’s attorneys were also seen entering the federal courthouse in Tallahassee.
“We’re looking forward to a productive day,” David O. Markus, Maxwell’s appellate lawyer, told ABC News. He declined further comment.
The Justice Department said earlier this week that the meeting between Blanche and Maxwell would occur “in the coming days.”
“President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence. If Ghislaine Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say,” Blanche said in the statement posted by Attorney General Pam Bondi on X earlier this week.
Maxwell’s attorney confirmed earlier this week that they were in discussions with the government about the visit, saying in a statement that “Ghislaine will always testify truthfully.”
Separately, on Wednesday, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer issued a subpoena for Maxwell for a deposition to occur at the prison on Aug. 11.
“The facts and circumstances surrounding both your and Mr. Epstein’s cases have received immense public interest and scrutiny,” Comer wrote in a statement Wednesday.
(WASHINGTON) — A senior Department of Justice official is expected to meet with longtime Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell on Thursday in Tallahassee, Florida, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the expected meeting between Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Maxwell is occurring in downtown Tallahassee at the U.S. attorney’s office, which is located inside the federal courthouse.
Maxwell will be transported Thursday morning from the federal prison where she is being held to the U.S. attorneys office.
Blanche arrived at the federal courthouse around 9 a.m. ET. He shook his head and said “no” when asked if he had anything to say ahead of his meeting with Maxwell.
Maxwell’s attorneys were also seen entering the federal courthouse in Tallahassee.
“We’re looking forward to a productive day,” David O. Markus, Maxwell’s appellate lawyer, told ABC News. He declined further comment.
The Justice Department said earlier this week that the meeting between Blanche and Maxwell would occur “in the coming days.”
“President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence. If Ghislaine Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say,” Blanche said in the statement posted by Attorney General Pam Bondi on X earlier this week.
Maxwell’s attorney confirmed earlier this week that they were in discussions with the government about the visit, saying in a statement that “Ghislaine will always testify truthfully.”
Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking and other charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022. She is serving her sentence at a federal prison in Tallahassee.
Separately, on Wednesday, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer issued a subpoena for Maxwell for a deposition to occur at the prison on Aug. 11.
“The facts and circumstances surrounding both your and Mr. Epstein’s cases have received immense public interest and scrutiny,” Comer wrote in a statement Wednesday.
(WASHINGTON) — Ghislaine Maxwell engaged in a “significant pattern of dishonest conduct,” enabled and participated in the abuse of multiple teenage girls, and failed to take responsibility for her crimes.
That was the assessment of the federal prosecutors who brought a criminal case against the longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein and sent her to prison for 20 years.
Now, three years later — and amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files — the Department of Justice has decided to approach Maxwell, 63, to purportedly learn more about her knowledge of whether Epstein’s sex trafficking extended to people other than himself.
Prosecutors’ sentencing memorandum after Maxwell’s 2021 conviction offers a frank assessment of Maxwell’s “monstrous” crimes and casts doubt on her honesty ahead of her meeting with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche later this week.
“In short, the defendant has lied repeatedly about her crimes, exhibited an utter failure to accept responsibility, and demonstrated repeated disrespect for the law and the Court,” federal prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York wrote in June 2022.
Blanche is set to meet with Maxwell in the coming days to potentially learn more information “about anyone who has committed crimes against victims.”
Ahead of the meeting, Maxwell’s appellate counsel David Oscar Markus vowed that she would “testify truthfully” and thanked President Donald Trump for his “commitment to uncovering the truth in this case.”
Maxwell continues to appeal her conviction. Her lawyers have asked the Supreme Court to throw out her case, arguing a non-prosecution agreement that Epstein made with federal prosecutors in Florida in 2007 allegedly barred her subsequent prosecution in New York more than a decade later.
The Trump administration asked the high court earlier this month to deny Maxwell’s petition.
In their sentencing memo in 2022, defense lawyers argued Maxwell “should not bear all the punishment for which Epstein should have been held responsible.”
“Epstein was the mastermind, Epstein was the principal abuser, and Epstein orchestrated the crimes for his personal gratification. Indeed, had Ghislaine Maxwell never had the profound misfortune of meeting Jeffrey Epstein over 30 years ago, she would not be here,” they argued.
Prosecutors said Maxwell enabled Epstein and directly participated in the abuse.
According to prosecutors, the testimony elicited at Maxwell’s trial demonstrated she was a vital participant in Epstein’s crimes, offering a veneer of respectability and trust before the convicted sex offender abused dozens of teenage girls.
She identified and preyed on vulnerable young women, groomed them to normalize their abuse and participated in the abuse — directly enabling one of the most significant sex trafficking operations in US history, prosecutors said.
“Maxwell befriended her victims, won their trust, slowly broke down their boundaries, and normalized sexual abuse,” prosecutors wrote in the the memo. “Maxwell’s victims trusted her: she was a seemingly respectable woman who showed interest in them and promised to help them. She was key to the entire operation of the scheme, and Epstein could not have committed these crimes without her.”
According to the government’s sentencing memorandum, Maxwell “personally engaged in sexual abuse when she fondled the breasts” of three victims. She was also “the person who was most frequently in the room when Epstein abused” one of the victims, who testified under the name Jane.
“Years of sexual abuse, multiple victims, devastating psychological harm: none of this could have happened without Maxwell,” prosecutors wrote.
Maxwell repeatedly lied to officials, prosecutors said Prosecutors repeatedly emphasized at trial that Maxwell should not be trusted, arguing that she “engaged in a significant pattern of dishonest conduct, which speaks volumes about her character.”
They identified at least four instances in which Maxwell allegedly lied or made dishonest representations to the authorities or in civil lawsuits.
During a 2016 deposition, she said under oath that she never gave Annie Farmer, a victim who testified at trial, a massage. Farmer’s testimony at trial “established that was a lie,” prosecutors said.
She allegedly lied to court officials during an interview about her assets. When the court denied her bail application, the judge noted that Maxwell “misrepresent[ed] key facts to Pretrial Services and, by extension, the Court.”
Prosecutors said that Maxwell lied in November 2021 when she told the court, “I have not committed any crime” in response to a question about whether she engaged in plea discussions with the government.
Maxwell also falsely claimed she had no assets when she interviewed with the court’s probation office, despite having previously claimed she had $22 million in assets. She also declined to provide information about the circumstances of her marriage, prosecutors said.
“In short, the defendant decides when she wishes to disclose facts to the Court, and those facts shift when it serves the defendant’s interests,” prosecutors wrote.
Maxwell profited from relationship with Epstein, prosecutors said Prosecutors alleged that Maxwell lived a “remarkable life of privilege” and received approximately $23 million from Epstein during the timeframe of their alleged crimes.
Maxwell also received a townhouse in New York from Epstein and benefited from his lavish lifestyle, prosecutors allege. Epstein also bequeathed her $10 million from his estate, though Maxwell has not received those funds because the estate is in probate.
“As part of a disturbing agreement with Jeffrey Epstein, Maxwell identified, groomed, and abused multiple victims, while she enjoyed a life of extraordinary luxury and privilege. In her wake, Maxwell left her victims permanently scarred with emotional and psychological injuries,” prosecutors wrote.
Maxwell deflected responsibility for her crimes, prosecutors said At her sentencing, some of the witnesses who testified at trial urged Judge Alison Nathan to impose a severe sentence due to the harm Maxwell had caused and her apparent lack of remorse.
A witness who testified under the name Kate described Maxwell as “a manipulative, cruel and merciless person who only uses kindness to manipulate and generosity to seek recognition.”
“The lack of remorse or responsibility taken by Ghislaine for how she ruined the lives of countless women and children is exactly how we can tell that she doesn’t think what she did is wrong. She is not sorry, and she would do it again,” Kate said.
Annie Farmer asked the judge to consider the “ongoing suffering of the many women whom she abused and exploited” and how Maxwell’s inability to accept the consequences of her crimes continued to harm the victims.
“I ask you to bear in mind how Maxwell’s unwillingness to acknowledge her crimes, her lack of remorse and her repeated lies about her victims created the need for many of us to engage in a long fight for justice that has felt like a black hole sucking in our precious time, energy and well-being for much too long now, things that cannot be replaced,” Farmer said.
When Maxwell briefly addressed the court, she said that she “empathize[s] deeply with all of the victims in this case” and that meeting Epstein years earlier was her “greatest regret.”
Her lawyers have long argued that Maxwell was unfairly targeted for Epstein’s crimes after his death, and her statement at sentencing echoed that argument.
“Jeffrey Epstein should have been here before all of you. He should have stood before you all those years ago,” she said. “He should have stood before you in 2005, again in 2009, and again in 2019, all of the many times he was accused, charged, and prosecuted. But today it is not about Epstein ultimately. It is for me to be sentenced and for the victims to address me, and me alone, in this court.”
ABC News’ Peter Charalambous contributed to this report.
