As Jeffrey Epstein’s most prominent collaborator and former lover seeks to have her criminal conviction overturned, a look into Ghislaine Maxwell’s life behind bars may offer clarity about her goals outside of jail.
Maxwell supposedly reinvented herself while serving a two-decade term for her role in Epstein’s sex crimes.
“I did a double take, because I recognized her face immediately from the news. I was like, ‘Is that who I think it is?’” said Jessica Watkins, a former Oath Keeper who was imprisoned in the same low-security Florida facility as Maxwell.
Watkins was initially sentenced to 8.5 years in jail for her role in the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol building. President Donald Trump commuted her sentence on his first day back in office earlier this year.
“My friend who was with me was like, ‘I don’t know – who is it?’” Watkins said. “I caught her up on the situation. Started asking around and it was definitely her.”
Watkins said that she and Maxwell would talk on a daily basis, frequently while exercising in the open-air jail yard, with Maxwell only bringing up her case occasionally.
“We don’t talk about cases as inmates because people will think you’re a snitch,” Watkins explained. “It’s an unspoken rule among inmates. You don’t ask.”
Watkins reportedly could only remember one time when Maxwell mentioned Epstein.
“She did say that the DOJ had no interest in her until after, her exact words were until after Jeffrey, and then she paused for a second and said ‘died,’” Watkins said. “That was the only time he ever came up.”
Watkins observed that Maxwell “didn’t seem unduly worried” while in prison, adding, “She seemed very at ease, very calm and approachable.”
Her reported “calm demeanor” didn’t make sense to former Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg, who was elected six years after Epstein’s case was resolved.
“The other inmates know who she is and why she’s behind bars,” Aronberg told Fox News Digital. “I’m sure a lot of the other inmates have their hands out. They want the commissary money. They want a free education from her, whatever she can provide.”
According to Watkins, Maxwell provides legal advice and classes to her fellow inmates, frequently assisting individuals in obtaining the required documents for their cases and working in the law library.
“We avoided most of the inmates [because] they were high all the time, and we didn’t want to be around that,” Watkins told The Daily Mail. “[Maxwell] would gravitate towards people who were also sober.”
Aronberg cited Maxwell’s two-day meeting with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche this week, during which President Trump noted he had the authority to pardon the convicted felon.
“This is a convicted sex trafficker,” Aronberg said. “This is someone who committed sexual assault on minors. This is someone who is indicted for perjury. And yet, she got a private audience with the No. 2 person at the DOJ. Had she been less of a model prisoner behind bars, perhaps the administration wouldn’t be rushing to meet with her and believe her in what she’s saying.”
Blanche spent nearly two days at a federal courthouse in Tallahassee interviewing Maxwell, who answered questions “about 100 different people,” according to her attorney.
“She never invoked a privilege,” David Oscar Markus told reporters on Thursday. “She never refused to answer a question, so we’re very proud of her.”
On Monday, Maxwell’s legal team filed a brief requesting the United States Supreme Court to hear her appeal of her federal sex trafficking conviction, claiming the government’s “obligation to honor” an arrangement reached by Epstein that should have insulated Maxwell from any criminal prosecution.
Maxwell is presently serving a 20-year sentence for her involvement in Epstein’s plan to sexually assault countless underage girls.
She is expected to speak under oath on August 11 at or near the federal prison where she is presently serving her term.