ISTANBUL

Convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell on Monday filed an appeal with the US Supreme Court over her 2021 conviction for conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse underage girls, arguing that a federal immunity agreement should have protected her from prosecution.

Maxwell's legal team contends that a 2007 non-prosecution agreement between disgraced American financier Epstein and federal prosecutors in Florida should have barred charges against her in New York. Her lawyers argue the co-conspirator clause in Epstein's deal protected any associates without geographic restriction.

Maxwell's team claims her case presents a legal question creating "circuit split" – when different federal appellate courts on different circuits have conflicting rules on the same issue. "For decades now, the same federal promise has yielded opposite results in different jurisdictions, undermining the uniformity of federal law and the integrity of plea bargains nationwide," says her appeal.

The Second US Circuit Court of Appeals earlier rejected Maxwell's argument, arguing the protection was limited to Florida's Southern District.

The US Justice Department earlier urged the Supreme Court to deny Maxwell's appeal, arguing her interpretation of the agreement is incorrect. Maxwell remains incarcerated while cooperating with the Justice Department through recent interviews. US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche met with Maxwell Thursday regarding the ongoing Epstein investigation.

Maxwell, 63, is currently serving 20 years in prison for conspiring to sexually abuse minors.

The department's public determination earlier this month that Epstein was not murdered in his jail cell in 2019, and its claim that he had no "client list," set off the largest rift with Trump's MAGA, or Make America Great Again, base to date.

Epstein mingled with the wealthy and powerful, including prominent politicians, for decades before he pled guilty in 2008 to felony solicitation and procuring a person under the age of 18 for prostitution.

Trump's MAGA allies have for years loudly clamored for the release of the government's Epstein records as they speculate that the files incriminate high-profile individuals. The Wall Street Journal reported that the department has a “truckload” of documents related to Epstein in its possession.