Ghislaine Maxwell, the close associate and convicted accomplice of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, will ask US President Donald Trump to commute her prison sentence, according to a Democrat politician.Â
Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, wrote in a letter to Trump that Maxwell is working on filing a commutation application, citing an unnamed whistleblower.
Raskin said the information signals Maxwell either wants to be released from her prison sentence or is making recommendations about other federal convicts to the Justice Department.
The request comes just months after Maxwell's transfer to a minimum-security prison in Texas following a meeting with US Assistant Attorney General Todd Blanche in July.
In a letter to Trump, Raskin argued that Maxwell's preparation of a clemency petition suggests her significant influence over Trump's second administration, to the extent that the Justice Department is following her recommendations for clemency.
Raskin wrote that Maxwell is having custom-prepared meals delivered directly to her cell, that the warden made special accommodations for her to meet with visitors, and that she was allowed to have special time to play with a puppy, among other exceptions from standard prisoner treatment.
"Any inmate or staff who questions or blows the whistle on the institution's grotesque pampering of a serial sexual abuser and human trafficker at taxpayer expense is being punished and retaliated against by (the prison warden)," he wrote.
Raskin asked in the letter that Blanche attend a public hearing with the House Judiciary Committee.
The Democrats' accusations come amid a government shutdown, which is beginning to ease after a preliminary budget agreement.
Trump has not ruled out granting a presidential pardon to Maxwell.
Maxwell, a British national, is serving her sentence in a prison in Texas and has denied the accusations against her.
The families of Epstein's victims have asked that Maxwell remain in prison, arguing that a pardon would be an injustice to those who suffered his crimes.
In 2021, Maxwell was convicted in a New York federal court on five counts related to sex trafficking and sentenced to 20 years in prison. She is the only associate of Epstein to face prison time.
Epstein died in custody while awaiting trial in 2019.
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