Senate unanimously passes resolution opposing pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell

The US Senate on Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution declaring its opposition to any presidential pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime Jeffrey Epstein associate who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex-trafficking crimes.Introduced by Senator Jacky Rosen, a Democrat of Nevada, the resolution states that Maxwell “should not be granted a Presidential pardon or any form of clemency for her crimes with Jeffrey Epstein relating to the sexual exploitation and abuse of minors”.Although Senate resolutions like these are non-binding and symbolic, Rosen’s office noted in a news release in February when she introduced the measure that the resolution was “designed to put the Senate on record opposing the prospect” of Donald Trump of granting a pardon or clemency to Maxwell.“It’s frankly horrifying that Trump would entertain the idea of clemency for even a second for a convicted sex trafficker,” Rosen said in a floor speech on Wednesday.The resolution was brought on Wednesday, as the Senate weighed Trump’s nomination of Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, to stay in the role permanently. Rosen said its unanimous passage sent a clear message to the White House and Blanche that “there should be NO special treatment for Ghislaine Maxwell”.A representative for Maxwell did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.By refusing to object, Republicans agreed to the resolution, which states that granting Maxwell “a pardon, commutation, or any other form of executive clemency” would be “inconsistent with the interests of justice and accountability for crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children”. The resolution also states that “the President should not grant a pardon, commutation, or any other form of executive clemency” to Maxwell.“The Senate stands with the victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking and affirms its commitment to justice, accountability, and the protection of children,” it adds.The resolution comes as Maxwell has exhausted a series of appeals of her conviction, with the US supreme court declining to hear her petition last October.Earlier this year, in February, Maxwell appeared via video for a congressional deposition before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform as part of its investigation into Epstein, but refused to answer questions and invoked her fifth amendment right. Her attorney told lawmakers that she would only speak if granted clemency.In April, reports emerged that members of the congressional committee were divided over whether Trump should consider pardoning Maxwell in exchange for her cooperation in the panel’s Epstein investigation.Last year, after the supreme court declined to hear Maxwell’s appeal, Trump was asked directly whether he would consider pardoning her.“You know, I haven’t heard the name in so long,” he said at the time. “I can say this: that I’d have to take a look at it. I would have to take a look.”He added: “I wouldn’t consider it or not consider – I don’t know anything about it. I will speak to the DoJ.”In May of this year Blanche told lawmakers during a hearing that he would not recommend a pardon for Maxwell.During the same hearing, he was questioned about the interview he conducted with Maxwell last summer, as part of the justice department’s Epstein investigation, and the fact that shortly after she was transferred from a federal prison in Florida to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas – a move which experts described at the time as “unprecedented”.During the hearing Blanche denied that Trump personally sent him to interview Maxwell, and also claimed that he didn’t know whether Maxwell was receiving preferential treatment at her new facility.The prospect of clemency for Maxwell has long outraged survivors of Epstein’s abuse.Earlier this year, in May, an attorney who has represented numerous Epstein survivors, told the Guardian that “any talk of clemency for Ghislaine Maxwell in exchange for testimony turns justice on its head – it risks rewarding the very person who helped enable the abuse”.