一名联邦法官驳回吉斯莱恩・麦克斯韦针对定罪结果提出的异议两天后，其家属于周四对外表示，麦克斯韦不会就此认输，将继续对判决展开抗争。
美国地区法官恩格尔迈尔此前判定麦克斯韦的抗辩理由 “毫无依据、纯属无稽之谈”。家属在周四发布的声明中批评该裁决 “令人失望，出人意料”。
家属声明写道：“这份法院判决书字里行间充满讥讽与鄙夷。在我们看来，这种行文有损司法中立的观感，法官的处理方式理应受到审视。” 声明同时透露，麦克斯韦打算继续推进法律申诉。
“我们在此明确表态：我们的妹妹不会接受这一结果。地区法院的裁决存在多处确凿错误，她准备全面提出抗辩。”
64 岁的麦克斯韦于 2021 年被裁定五项重罪成立。罪名源于十余年间，她协同杰弗里・爱泼斯坦对未成年女孩实施性侵害，最终获刑 20 年监禁。联邦上诉法院维持原判，美国最高法院也拒绝受理她的案件。
今年早些时候提交的法庭文件中，麦克斯韦曾请求恩格尔迈尔：倘若驳回她的申诉，就出具许可文件，方便她向上一级法院上诉。
但在周二的裁决文书里，恩格尔迈尔写道，麦克斯韦 “未能拿出充分证据证明自身宪法权利遭到侵害，因此没有必要启动上诉复审程序”。
家属周四表示：“尽管地区法院作出该结论，我们仍鼓励妹妹继续争取公正审理，向法院申请必要司法许可，包括上诉许可证书，从而向美国第二巡回上诉法院提交上诉，让相关争议得到正式审查。”
恩格尔迈尔这份长达 67 页的裁决，逐一驳回麦克斯韦提出的十项主要诉求。法官称她自行提交的申诉文书冗长杂乱，补充附件同样逻辑涣散，并且拒绝了麦克斯韦所要求的证据听证会。
麦克斯韦在 4 月提交的修正申诉书中提出，依据《爱泼斯坦档案公开法案》对外披露的文件，暴露出多处违宪与程序违法问题，足以证明对她的定罪 “无效、存疑、站不住脚”。她引用司法部公开的爱泼斯坦档案，主张政府隐匿关键证据、存在证人作伪证，受害者代理律师在本案当中实际上充当了公诉人的角色。
恩格尔迈尔认为麦克斯韦的申诉完全站不住脚，称其主张 “明显缺乏事实支撑，建立在猜测、曲解甚至彻头彻尾的虚假陈述之上”。
法官还驳斥了麦克斯韦的说法。麦克斯韦辩称，2019 年爱泼斯坦在联邦拘留期间自杀身亡之后，检方刻意针对自己，把她当成爱泼斯坦的替代追责对象。
“庭审证据充分证实，麦克斯韦明知故犯，协助臭名昭著的儿童性犯罪者实施性质极其恶劣的罪行。” 恩格尔迈尔写道，“本案不存在歧视与不公，恰恰是一次正当的公诉。政府与陪审团依法追究了麦克斯韦重大联邦罪行的刑事责任。”
2025 年 7 月，麦克斯韦与时任司法部副部长托德・布兰奇会面长达 9 小时。一周之后，她被转至得克萨斯州一处监管宽松的联邦监狱营区。司法部否认两次事件之间存在关联。
麦克斯韦 1961 年圣诞节出生于法国，家中九个孩子里年纪最小。她的父亲罗伯特・麦克斯韦是上世纪七八十年代英国极具传奇色彩的亿万传媒大亨。她早年混迹英国上流圈层，生活奢靡。父亲离世后商业帝国崩塌，她逃往纽约谋求新出路，此后便经常与神秘富豪爱泼斯坦一同现身。
曼哈顿刑事审判开庭期间，麦克斯韦的多名兄弟姐妹经常到庭旁听。
家属周四的声明表示：“我们始终坚定支持吉斯莱恩。她会穷尽一切法律途径，让本案涉及的宪法权利与正当程序问题得到应有的严肃、中立审理。”
Ghislaine Maxwell＇s family says she will continue to fight charges she aided Epstein
Two days after a federal judge rejected Ghislaine Maxwell＇s challenge to her conviction on five counts of aidingJeffrey Epsteinin his abuse of underage girls， her family said Thursday that she will continue to fight the verdict．
Family members， in a statement released Thursday， criticized the judge＇s ruling as ＂disappointing and shocking＂ after U．S． District Judge Engelmayerrejected Maxwell＇s argumentsas ＂frivolous＂ and ＂meritless．＂
＂The court＇s opinion， as published， is marked by a tone of sarcasm and disdain that， in our view， undermines the appearance of impartiality and invites scrutiny of the judge＇s conduct，＂ the family＇s statement said， while indicating that Maxwell intends to continue to press her case．
＂［W］e are stating clearly： our sister is not going to let the matter rest． The District Court＇s ruling contains multiple， concrete errors that she intends to challenge fully，＂ the family said．
Maxwell， 64， wasconvicted in 2021on five felony counts arising from her participation with Epstein in the sexual abuse of young girls over the course of a decade． She was sentenced to 20 years in prison． A federal appeals court upheld her conviction and the U．S． Supreme Court declined to take up her case．
In court filings earlier this year， Maxwell had asked Engelmayer -- should he decide to reject her petition -- to certify her case for an appeal to a higher court．
But in his ruling Tuesday， Engelmayer wrote that Maxwell had not ＂made a substantial showing of a denial of a constitutional right， and appellate review is therefore not warranted．＂
＂Notwithstanding the District Court＇s conclusion， we have encouraged our sister to maintain her fight for a fair hearing and to apply to the court for the necessary relief -- including， if required， a certificate of appealability -- so that she may lodge an appeal and have these issues properly reviewed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit，＂ the family said Thursday．
Judge Engelmayer， in a 67-page decision， rejected each of the ＂10 principal claims＂ Maxwell raised in what he referred to as her ＂lengthy and meandering＂ pro se petition and supplemental filings containing ＂similarly discursive addenda．＂ Engelmayer denied her petition without the evidentiary hearing Maxwell sought．
Maxwell had argued -- in anamended petition filed in April-- that documents released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act had exposed constitutional and legal violations that rendered her conviction ＂invalid， unsafe， and infirm．＂ She cited DOJ documents from theEpstein filesthat she contended offered new support to her arguments that the government withheld relevant evidence， that witnesses testified falsely， and that attorneys for Epstein＇s victims acted as de facto prosecutors in her criminal case．
Maxwell＇s petition ＂falls very far from the mark，＂ Engelmayer wrote， describing her claims as ＂demonstrably meritless＂ and ＂based on speculation， distortions， and／or outright falsehoods．＂
The judge also rebuked Maxwell＇s contention that federal prosecutors selectively targeted her as a substitute for Epstein， after hedied by suicidewhile in federal custody in 2019．
＂As the trial showed， the case against Maxwell was based on abundant admissible evidence establishing her knowing participation in enabling a notorious child sex abuser to carry out historically heinous crimes，＂ Engelmayer wrote． ＂Far from being discriminatory or unjust， this was the epitome of a virtuous prosecution． The Government and the jury justly held Maxwell accountable for gravely serious federal offenses．＂
Maxwellmet for nine hourswith then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in July 2025， about a week beforeshe was movedto a more relaxed federal prison camp in Texas． The Justice Department denied there was any connection between the two occurrences．
Maxwell， born in France on Christmas Day， 1961， is the youngest of nine children． Her father， Robert Maxwell， was a flamboyant billionaire and larger-than-life British icon and media tycoon in the 1970s and 1980s． She lived an extravagant life among the British elite until her father＇s business empire collapsed in the wake of his death． She fled to New York looking for a fresh start and was soon seen in the company of the mysterious multimillionaire Epstein．
During her criminal trial in Manhattan， several of her siblings were in regular attendance in the courtroom．
＂We remain steadfast in our support of Ghislaine who will continue to pursue every available legal avenue to ensure that the constitutional and due process questions in this case receive the serious， neutral consideration they deserve，＂ the family＇s statement said Thursday．
