GHISLAINE MAXWELL claims ‘significant new evidence’ has emerged in freedom bid

Thursday, December 18, 2025 -Ghislaine Maxwell, the former associate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking, has launched a dramatic legal bid to overturn her conviction and secure her release. 

She filed a habeas petition in a federal court in Manhattan arguing that “substantial new evidence” has emerged showing constitutional violations tainted her 2021 trial and that crucial information was withheld or misrepresented to the jury. Maxwell contends these revelations amount to a “complete miscarriage of justice” and undermine the fairness of the original proceeding.

In her petition, Maxwell asserts that information from recent civil actions, government disclosures, investigative reports, and newly available documents demonstrates that exculpatory evidence was suppressed and false testimony was permitted during her trial. 

She claims that if the full evidentiary record had been presented, no reasonable jury would have convicted her. This legal strategy follows the exhaustion of her direct appeals and represents an extraordinary attempt to persuade a judge to review her conviction based on these purported discoveries.

The timing of Maxwell’s request is particularly significant as it coincides with the upcoming public release of thousands of records related to Epstein and Maxwell’s case under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which mandates disclosure of investigative materials. 

Observers of the case note that this filing could complicate or influence the impact of the document release, although legal experts caution that such habeas petitions face very long odds in federal court.