The US Senate unanimously approved a resolution on Wednesday opposing any presidential pardon or other form of executive clemency for Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted associate of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking offences, according to The New York Post.The non-binding resolution, introduced by Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen of Nevada, states that Maxwell should not receive “a pardon, commutation, or any other form of executive clemency.” While it does not carry legal force, it signals bipartisan opposition in the Senate to any move to reduce or overturn her sentence.Maxwell, 64, was convicted by a federal jury in December 2021 on charges including conspiracy to entice and transport minors for illegal sexual activity and sex trafficking of a minor. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2022 for helping Jeffrey Epstein recruit and abuse underage girls.The Senate vote comes amid renewed public attention on Maxwell’s case and continued questions over whether President Donald Trump could consider granting her clemency.Trump has previously declined to rule out the possibility. Asked about the issue in November, he said, “I haven’t even thought about it. I haven’t thought about it for months. Maybe I haven’t thought about it at all. But I don’t talk about that. I don’t rule it in or out.”A month earlier, Trump said he would speak with the Department of Justice but added, “I wouldn’t consider it or not consider it. I don’t know anything about it.”However, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has said he would not recommend a pardon for Maxwell, while White House officials have repeatedly stated that executive clemency is not under consideration.The US Supreme Court rejected Maxwell’s appeal against her conviction in October, leaving her 20-year sentence in place.Earlier this year, Maxwell appeared by video before the House Oversight Committee from a minimum-security federal prison camp in Texas, where she had been transferred after an interview with Blanche. During the deposition, she invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and declined to answer questions.A British former socialite, Maxwell was a longtime associate of Epstein, who died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
