Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence in the United States for her involvement in an alleged sex trafficking ring run by billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein, has said she is planning to file a petition seeking her release.The plan was revealed in a court filing on Wednesday and did not provide details about the legal grounds Maxwell would cite in her petition. It added that she would pursue her early release without the help of a lawyer.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThe letter further cautioned against releasing documents related to Maxwell’s case, as they may “contain untested and unproven allegations”.It explained that releasing grand jury materials from Maxwell’s case “would create undue prejudice so severe that it would foreclose the possibility of a fair retrial”, should her petition to be released succeed.The petition comes at a time of heightened scrutiny on the late Epstein’s crimes and those who may have known about them.US President Donald Trump, in particular, has faced questions about his administration’s handling of files related to the case, which may contain details of Epstein’s powerful associates.Critics have also pressed Trump to address his own relationship with Epstein.Speculation about a pardonThe billionaire financier died by suicide in August 2019, while he was in detention in a New York City jail.Hundreds of women have come forward to identify themselves as survivors of Epstein’s crimes. …
