Ghislaine Maxwell is seeking release on $5million bail, claiming she is 'not Jeffrey Epstein', hadn't contacted the pedophile for more than a decade before he killed himself and is the victim of a smear campaign by the press.
Lawyers for Maxwell, 58, argued Friday for her release as Epstein's former girlfriend and close associate 'vigorously denies' all charges brought against her.
Her request, filed in the US District Court in Manhattan, claims she was not 'hiding' from authorities, has not left the US once since Epstein's 2019 arrest and is not a flight risk.
It also argues she is at risk of contracting COVID-19 if she continues to be held in the Brooklyn jail.
They claim in the filing that Maxwell had not been in contact with the pedophile for more than 10 years before his apparent suicide.
These claims come despite filings in a separate lawsuit brought by one of Epstein's accusers which show evidence of Maxwell and Epstein emailing each other as recently as 2015.
The bail motion also claims Maxwell has been the victim of a smear campaign by the media and that it was the media - and not the authorities - that the suspect had been hiding out from over the last year.
They claim she received threats and was hounded by the press after it became 'open season' on her after Epstein died.
They argue she has no criminal record, strongly denies all allegations made against her by the multiple women who have come forward and is no danger of being a flight risk.
'Epstein died in federal custody, and the media focus quickly shifted to our client - wrongly trying to substitute her for Epstein - even though she'd had no contact with Epstein for more than a decade, had never been charged with a crime or been found liable in any civil litigation, and has always denied any allegations of claimed misconduct,' her attorney Mark Cohen wrote.
Cohen continued: 'Ever since Epstein's arrest, Ms. Maxwell has been at the center of a crushing onslaught of press articles, television specials, and social media posts painting her in the most damning light possible and prejudging her guilt. The sheer volume of media reporting mentioning Ms. Maxwell is staggering.
'She has seen helicopters flying over her home and reporters hiding in the bushes.'
The filing denies Maxwell was in hiding and says she has 'maintained regular contact' with the federal government since the day after Epstein's arrest.
Ghislaine Maxwell should be released on $5m bail say lawyers | Daily Mail Online
