WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal by Ghislaine Maxwell, the accomplice of notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, of her sex trafficking conviction. The top court rejected Maxwell&#39;s appeal without comment. Maxwell, 63, was sentenced in 2022 to 20 years in prison for recruiting underage girls for Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking. The authorities ruled the wealthy financier&#39;s death a suicide, but it has fueled countless conspiracy theories among President Donald Trump&#39;s voter base. Many of Trump&#39;s supporters have been obsessed with the Epstein case for years and have held as an article of faith that &quot;deep state&quot; elites were protecting Epstein associates in the Democratic Party and Hollywood. Trump, a one-time close friend of Epstein, has sought to dampen the continuing political furor over the Epstein case, calling it a &quot;Democrat hoax.&quot; Maxwell had appealed her sex trafficking conviction in New York on the grounds that she should have been protected from prosecution by an agreement secured by Epstein in a 2007 case. Maxwell&#39;s lawyer, David Oscar Markus, said he was &quot;deeply disappointed&quot; that the Supreme Court had declined to hear the case. &quot;But this fight isn&#39;t over,&quot; Markus said in a statement. &quot;Serious legal and factual issues remain, and we will continue to pursue every avenue available to ensure that justice is done.&quot; The Supreme Court&#39;s rejection of Maxwell&#39;s appeal appears to leave a pardon or clemency from Trump as the former British socialite&#39;s only potential avenue for release. Trump was asked by reporters on Monday if he would consider a pardon for Maxwell. &quot;I wouldn&#39;t consider it or not consider it. I don&#39;t know anything about it,&quot; he said, adding that he would have to speak to the Department of Justice. Maxwell, the only former Epstein associate criminally convicted in connection with his activities, was recently interviewed by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump&#39;s former personal lawyer. Following that interview, Maxwell was moved from a prison in Florida to a minimum security facility in Texas.

Americas

Trump says "don't know anything about it," will have to speak to the Department of Justice.

US Supreme Court declines to hear Ghislaine Maxwell appeal

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Britain on Tuesday for an unprecedented second state visit, White House announced in a statement on Tuesday.&quot;A lot of things here warm my heart,&quot; the 79-year-old Republican told reporters after he arrived with First Lady Melania Trump. &quot;It&#39;s a very special place.&quot;<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1968052852708016509&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=985cdc273bab42a0e2e6d62bc4e8095c5a4116fd&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 755px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>King Charles III will host Trump at Windsor Castle for a lavish banquet and carriage ride on Wednesday, before Trump meets Prime Minister Keir Starmer at his country residence on Thursday, AFP reported.In a sign of the pomp and pageantry to come, a guard of honor greeted the Trumps as they stepped off Air Force One at Stansted Airport near London.Trump then expressed his admiration for the British monarch.&lsquo;A very big day&rsquo;&quot;He&#39;s been a friend of mine for a long time, and everyone respects him, and they love him,&quot; Trump said as he arrived by helicopter at Winfield House, the U.S. ambassador&#39;s residence in London, where he will spend the night.&quot;Tomorrow&#39;s going to be a very big day.&quot;Trump is the first U.S. president to be invited for two state visits, after previously being hosted by Queen Elizabeth II during his last term in office in 2019 -- as Britain tries to keep the so-called special relationship alive.The British government has been unapologetic about its efforts to get on the right side of Trump, whose mother was Scottish and who owns a number of golf courses in the UK.But the British public will be kept far away from Trump, with the visit taking place entirely behind closed doors and heavy security.Shadow of Epstein scandalA large anti-Trump demonstration has been called in London on Wednesday, while protesters projected images of Trump and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein onto the towers of Windsor Castle late Tuesday.The shadow of the Epstein scandal has hung over Trump for weeks after his administration declined to release files on the issue.It has also embroiled British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who sacked his ambassador to Washington Peter Mandelson on the eve of the visit over the envoy&#39;s emails to Epstein.Starmer&#39;s government is however counting on the sheer scale of the state visit to keep Trump onside.Largest military showIn Windsor on Wednesday, Trump will get a ceremonial carriage ride and a flypast by both UK and U.S. jets in what officials call the largest military show for a state visit in living memory, AFP reported.In the evening King Charles will host Trump for a lavish state dinner where both men will give speeches.Trump may also relish the royal part of the visit as a chance to escape a turbulent period at home, where the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk has caused turmoil.$30B over four yearsPolitics will take over again on Thursday when Starmer hosts Trump at his country residence Chequers for talks focusing on trade and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.The visit has been timed to line up with announcements of several investments in Britain -- the latest being a pledge by Microsoft to spend $30 billion over four years.Starmer needs the visit to go well after a miserable few days in which some in his Labour party have openly questioned whether he can remain as leader over the Mandelson resignation.Downing Street has said Trump&#39;s visit would see the &quot;unbreakable friendship&quot; between the countries &quot;reach new heights&quot;, AFP reported.Trade tops agendaStarmer will host Trump at Chequers, his country residence, on Thursday to discuss various matters, including security in Ukraine. Starmer&rsquo;s ultimate aim, however, is to ensure that Trump makes good on his promise to lower tariffs on steel and aluminum, Al Jazeera reported on Tuesday.The UK was the first country to sign a bilateral trade agreement with the Trump administration in May. Under that deal, the U.S. planned to reduce tariffs on aluminum and steel from 25% to zero, but that has not happened yet.The two countries are also expected to sign a multibillion-dollar deal to develop small nuclear projects, which could, in some cases, help to power new artificial intelligence data centres. On Monday, Starmer announced a joint U.S.-UK project to build a fleet of small modular reactors.Potential technology partnership&nbsp;A major talking point will be a new potential technology partnership, involving enhanced U.S. investment in the UK and greater British cooperation with Silicon Valley on artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing, Al Jazeera reported.Nvidia, OpenAI and Google are expected to announce investment deals as part of the partnership, according to the Reuters news agency. Meanwhile, the British government recently secured 1.25 billion pounds ($1.7bn) in private investment pledges from PayPal and Bank of America.Elsewhere, private equity firm Blackstone plans to invest 100 billion pounds ($136bn) into British assets over the next decade, with a focus on physical infrastructure. The investment will be part of a previously announced $500bn package of investment into Europe.

United Kingdom

U.S. President Donald Trump has arrived in the UK for an unprecedented second state visit, marked by royal pageantry and talks on trade and Ukraine and Gaza wars.

Articles tagged with "Epstein Scandal"

US Supreme Court declines to hear Ghislaine Maxwell appeal

U.S. President Trump arrives in UK for historic second state visit