Merve Gül Aydoğan Ağlarcı
30 July 2026•Update: 30 July 2026
The US Senate unanimously agreed Wednesday to oppose any presidential pardon or clemency for Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in the late Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking crimes.
The Hill reported that Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada introduced the resolution amid concerns that Maxwell could receive clemency from President Donald Trump.
"It’s frankly horrifying that Trump would entertain the idea of clemency for even a second for a convicted sex trafficker," Rosen said on the Senate floor.
The measure is not legally binding but demonstrates bipartisan congressional opposition to any pardon for Maxwell.
Rosen also criticized acting Attorney General Todd Blanche over his handling of the Epstein files. Blanche has said he would not recommend clemency for Maxwell, while Trump has not ruled it out.
Maxwell is a central figure in the abuse case involving Epstein.
In 2022, she was convicted by a US court of crimes including sex trafficking and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The US Justice Department recently released more than 3 million pages, 2,000 videos and 180,000 images related to Epstein under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law in November by Trump.
The materials include photographs, grand jury transcripts and investigative records, though many pages remain heavily redacted.
Epstein was found dead by suicide in a New York City jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges involving underage girls.
