Ghislaine Maxwell to appeals court: Believe women
NEW YORK — Ghislaine Maxwell made an unexpected comparison to her alleged victims in new court papers Monday arguing for her release on bail.
Maxwell attorney David Oscar Markus noted the feds say their case rests on the testimony of women, whose credible claims are backed up by documentation and other witnesses. But when Maxwell says the conditions of her confinement in the Metropolitan Detention Center are akin to torture, prosecutors say she can’t be believed, he complained.
“The Government professes to believe women, but only when those women are on their side, despite their inconsistent and self-contradictory statements about old, uncorroborated allegations,” Markus wrote in a filing with the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. “When it is Ms. Maxwell who has been abused, the Government wants to believe only the abusers who say they did no such thing and without watching the actual video. It seems like the only rule is to get Ms. Maxwell at all costs.”
Manhattan Federal Judge Alison Nathan has denied the British socialite’s bid for home confinement while awaiting trial three times already. Maxwell will try her luck before the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals next week.
Ahead of that hearing, Maxwell, 59, has argued she’s the victim of sexism and being treated worse than Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby when they were awaiting trial.
Since her arrest in July, Maxwell has said the conditions of the jail on the Sunset Park waterfront make it impossible for her to prepare for trial.
She says she’s held in solitary confinement and that jail staff shine a light in her cell every 15 minutes at night to make sure she hasn’t committed suicide like her former boyfriend, Jeffrey Epstein.
Maxwell says she’s being punished due to the government’s failure to keep Epstein alive while he was behind bars.
“As much as the Government would like this case to be the Jeffrey Epstein show, Ghislaine Maxwell is not Jeffrey Epstein,” Markus wrote.
Maxwell will face two separate trials, one for grooming underage Epstein victims and another for lying under oath about her allegedly depraved lifestyle.
