Releasing the Epstein files would harm Ghislaine Maxwell's bid for a retrial, her lawyers have claimed. Maxwell , a disgraced British socialite and ex-girlfriend of the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein , is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking . Image: Undated picture of Ghislaine Maxwell with Jeffrey Epstein. File pic: US Department of Justice The US Department of Justice has until mid-December to release thousands of documents linked to civil and criminal cases involving Epstein.