Kenya Insights

Tag: US Supreme Court

  • Ghislaine Maxwell Ready to Reveal ‘Truth’ About Epstein Client List

    Ghislaine Maxwell Ready to Reveal ‘Truth’ About Epstein Client List

    Ghislaine Maxwell is reportedly prepared to testify before Congress about Jeffrey Epstein’s secret files, amid criticism against US Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice (DOJ), Daily Mail UK has reported.

    Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in Epstein’s sex trafficking network, has appealed her conviction to the US Supreme Court. The DOJ’s response is due by July 14.

    ‘She would welcome the chance to tell her story’

    A source close to Maxwell told Daily Mail that the 63-year-old former socialite is open to testifying before Congress. “She would be more than happy to sit before Congress and tell her story,” the source said. “She remains the only person to be jailed in connection to Epstein and she would welcome the chance to tell the American public the truth.”

    The source added, “Despite the rumours, Ghislaine was never offered any kind of plea deal. No one from the government has ever asked her to share what she knows.”

    “This is a critical moment, a do or die moment. Ghislaine believes she has multiple grounds for appeal,” the unnamed Department of Justice source added.

    Why is Maxwell appealing?

    Maxwell was convicted in 2022 for helping Epstein sexually abuse several underage girls over the span of a decade. She argues her prosecution violated a 2007 non-prosecution agreement granted to Epstein, which she claims should have protected her as well. She maintains that she is innocent and insists she should have never been charged.

    Claims of missing footage, no ‘client list’ raise more questions

    The Epstein scandal continues to cause political fallout. The DOJ recently claimed there is no ‘client list’ and that Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019. But critics have pointed out that video footage from inside the jail is incomplete, with key minutes missing and no view of Epstein’s cell door.

    This has fuelled conspiracy theories and angered Trump’s MAGA base, many of whom now accuse Pam Bondi of failing to keep her promise of transparency over the Epstein files.

    Trump, Elon Musk respond to Epstein ‘cover-up’ claims

    On Truth Social, Donald Trump hit back at Epstein-related allegations, writing, “For years, it’s Epstein, over and over again. Why are we not giving publicity to files written by Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan and the losers and criminals of the Biden administration?”

    Meanwhile, Elon Musk has claimed the cover-up exists because Trump is mentioned in the Epstein files. However, a source close to Maxwell told Daily Mail this was a “false flag”, and that Trump had broken contact with Epstein early on.

    No new prosecutions expected, DOJ says

    The DOJ has also said it is unlikely anyone else will be prosecuted in relation to the Epstein case. That includes Prince Andrew, who settled a civil lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre, who had accused him of having sex with her while she was underage, a claim he has always denied. Giuffre died earlier this year in what has been described as suicide.

    Maxwell’s Supreme Court appeal is still pending, and the DOJ’s official response is expected by July 14. “Congressional hearings have been held into everything from JFK’s assassination to 9/11. The Epstein files rank up there with those cases,” the source told Daily Mail.

  • Missouri Executes Marcellus Williams After Two Decades On Death Row

    Missouri Executes Marcellus Williams After Two Decades On Death Row

    (BBC)-Marcellus Williams was executed on Tuesday night in the US state of Missouri after spending more than two decades on death row.

    Williams, who had two previous executions stayed, maintained he was innocent in the 1998 fatal stabbing of Felicia Gayle in a St Louis suburb, and a wide swath of people had opposed his death sentence.

    An attorney representing Williams argued there was racial discrimination in selecting jurors and that DNA evidence in the case was mishandled.

    Williams was denied a last-minute reprieve from the US Supreme Court, after Missouri’s top court and governor rejected his clemency requests early this week.

    In a rare move, the three liberal justices on the US Supreme Court – Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson – said on Tuesday they disagreed with the conservative majority and would have granted a stay. They did not give a reason.

    Missouri Department of Corrections communications director Karen Pojmann said no witnesses for Ms Gayle’s family attended the execution, CBS, the BBC’s US partner, reported.

    Williams’ son and two of his attorneys were present.

    At his trial, prosecutors said Williams broke into Ms Gayle’s home in August 1998 and stabbed her 43 times with a large butcher knife before stealing her purse and her husband’s laptop.

    Ms Gayle was a social worker and former reporter at the St Louis Post-Dispatch.

    Lawyers for Williams had said there were concerns over the handling of his case, arguing black jurors were wrongly excluded from his trial.

    They also said there was no forensic evidence linking Williams to the crime scene and that the murder weapon had been mishandled, raising questions over DNA evidence.

    The trial prosecutor has said he followed procedure at the time by touching the murder weapon without gloves after it was tested in a crime lab.

    Williams had requested clemency from Missouri’s Republican governor, Mike Parson, which was denied.

    “We hope this gives finality to a case that’s languished for decades, re-victimising Ms Gayle’s family,” Parson said in a statement.

    “No juror, no judge has ever found Williams’ innocence claim to be credible.”

    Many people, including British billionaire Richard Branson, campaigned against the execution, the third in Missouri this year.

    Mr Branson told the BBC earlier on Tuesday that he had spent part of the day focused on the Williams case.

    “He’s an innocent person,” he said.

    “Even the prosecuting council have told the governor they should not, this man is innocent.”

    The victim’s family had supported a life sentence instead of the death penalty, while local prosecutors had pressed to have the conviction overturned.

    His execution had been stayed twice – once in 2017 and once in 2015 – due to the discovery of male DNA on the murder weapon that did not match Williams.

    The state’s then-governor, Eric Greitens, a Republican, formed a panel to examine the case after granting the second stay, but he then left office amid a scandal and the panel never formed a conclusion.

    Also concerned about the DNA, the local prosecuting attorney, Wesley Bell, requested a hearing.

    But at that point it was discovered that the DNA evidence was spoiled from someone in the prosecutor’s office touching the knife without gloves, and the hearing was cancelled.

    “This outcome did not serve the interests of justice,” Mr Bell said in a statement on Tuesday.

    “If there is even the shadow of a doubt of innocence, the death penalty should never be an option.”

    Midwest Innocence Project, a legal group whose attorneys represented Williams, worked to reach an agreement with the prosecutor’s office that Williams would enter a no-contest plea to first-degree murder in exchange for life in prison.

    But the Missouri Supreme Court blocked the agreement and ruled the death sentence would stand.

    “Mr Williams’ story echoes that of too many others caught in our country’s broken criminal legal system,” the Innocence Project said in a statement.

    “A Black man convicted of killing a white woman, Mr Williams maintained his innocence until the very end.”