(José Niño, Headline USA) In the latest twist of the Jeffrey Epstein saga, lawyer Alan Dershowitz is urging the Trump administration to consider a pardon or commutation for his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, arguing she has become a scapegoat in the wake of Epstein’s death.
Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for her role in recruiting and trafficking underage girls for Epstein.
Speaking to the Daily Mail earlier this month, Dershowitz argued that Maxwell’s sentence was “way, way, way in excess of anything she was alleged to have done,” and described her as “in part a victim of Epstein.” He claimed that Epstein’s death had made Maxwell a primary target for prosecutors, leading to what he considers an unjustly harsh punishment.
Maxwell’s conviction in late 2021 followed a high-profile trial in New York, where she was found guilty of five out of six counts related to her involvement in Epstein’s abuse network. Prosecutors portrayed her as a key enabler, but Dershowitz has consistently maintained that she did not receive a fair trial and that the media and public have unfairly scapegoated her in the absence of Epstein himself.
Dershowitz’s advocacy is not new; he previously lobbied Trump for a pre-emptive pardon during the final days of his first administration, though no such action was taken.
Headline USA has previously reported on Dershowitz’s questionable connections to Epstein.
On one occasion he stated that he kept his underwear on during a massage from one of Epstein’s purported sex slaves, described as an older Russian woman named “Olga.”
On top of that, reporter Nick Bryant reportedly uncovered that Dershowitz falsely stated he had never flown on Epstein’s jet without his wife.
“I put a number of Epstein’s flight logs and Black Book on the internet. Epstein’s flight logs show that Dershowitz accompanied Epstein on a December 1997 flight from Palm Beach to New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport, and they were accompanied by one unidentified ‘female,’ as well as a ‘Hazel,’ a ‘Claire,’ and Maxwell,” Bryant wrote in a hard-hitting July 2022 piece where he explored Dershowitz’s connections to Epstein.
“A 2005 flight log shows Epstein and Dershowitz traveling from Massachusetts to Montreal with a ‘Tatianna,’ et al. Dershowitz’s wife is noticeably absent on those flights and others.”
According to Bryant, Dershowitz played a key role in securing Epstein’s 2008 plea deal, which resulted in just 13 months in county jail, despite the Justice Department having identified 32 victims. A subsequent DOJ report concluded that former Labor Secretary Alex Acosta showed “poor judgment” in his handling of the case while serving as a top federal prosecutor in Florida.
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
