Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyer David Oscar Markus claimed that there is a “good chance” that his client could receive a presidential pardon.
“I think she’s a scapegoat,” Markus said of his client in an interview with Politico. said. “She would never have been prosecuted had Jeffrey Epstein not committed suicide, or whatever, however he died.”
The defense attorney added to the outlet that he has not spoken to the Trump administration about the possibility of a pardon, but noted that a clemency request may be had at a later moment. “[Maxwell] obviously wants clemency. There’s no secret about that,” he said. “I don’t think now is the best time to do it, with everything going on. We’re not on a full court press right now.”
“I don’t know what the percentages are,” Markus said. “There’s a good chance and for good reason that she would get a pardon.”
President Trump has denied considering a pardon for Maxwell. “It’s something I haven’t thought about,” he said on July 25.
In February, Maxwell pleaded the Fifth before the House Oversight Committee.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) sent a letter over the weekend to Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY), requesting confirmation as to whether Maxwell would plead the Fifth. “It is my understanding that Ms. Ghislaine Maxwell intends to invoke her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and decline to answer all substantive questions at her upcoming deposition before the House Oversight Committee,” the letter read.
Khanna noted that the “position appears inconsistent with Ms. Maxwell’s prior conduct, as she did not invoke the Fifth Amendment when she previously met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to discuss substantially similar subject matter.”
Maxwell, Markus, and Blanche met for closed-door sessions in July.
