Ghislaine Maxwell judge is to be recommended to Biden for promotion to higher court

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Ghislaine Maxwell judge is to be recommended to Biden for promotion to higher court

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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... court.html

Ghislaine Maxwell judge is to be recommended to Biden for promotion to higher court - sparking speculation defense could demand she recuse herself because of conflict of interest
New York Senator Chuck Schumer announced on Tuesday he is going to recommend President Biden nominate Alison J. Nathan for the Court of Appeals
Nathan, 49, is currently presiding over socialite Ghislaine Maxwell's sex-trafficking case
If nominated to the US Court of Appeals for the Second District she could continue to oversee Maxwell's high-profile case
That could pose potential ethics problems for the judge, who has served on the US District Court for the Southern District of New York for the past decade
A law professor told the New York Times Maxwell's lawyers could ask for her to be recused from the trial
They could claim that the Biden administration would be in a position to derail her promotion if she did not rule in favor of the federal government
By MELISSA KOENIG and DANIEL BATES FOR DAILYMIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 03:38 GMT, 17 November 2021
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If nominated, Nathan would have to be confirmed by the Senate.

But during the process, she will be able to remain on Maxwell's high-profile case - sparking fears she could be swayed into being less critical of Biden's government during the case.

Stephen Gillers, a professor at New York University School of Law, said Maxwell's lawyers might ask the judge to recuse herself from the trial, claiming that the Biden administration would be in a position to derail her promotion if she did not favor the government in the trial.

But he admitted that a promotion like Nathan's would not provide a basis for such a request.

'This does not even come close to the sort of interest that leads to recusal,' he said.

He also noted that Nathan would be just the second openly gay woman to serve on the Second Circuit.
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Nathan is also known for her independence, the Times reports, and in at least two cases, she issued 'blistering criticism' of the US Attorney's Office in Manhattan, after it was accused of failing to turn over potentially favorable evidence to the defense before a trial.

Nathan is a graduate of Cornell Law School and served as a law clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens in the Supreme Court's 2001 - 2002 term.

She later became an associate White House counsel, a special counsel to the solicitor general's office and a special assistant to former President Barack Obama.

In 2011, Obama appointed her to the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

In his statement announcing his recommendation, Schumer said her 'experience, legal brilliance, love of the rule of law and perspective would be invaluable in ensuring the federal judiciary fulfills its obligation to ensure equal justice for all.'

Rebecca Roiphe, a professor at New York Law School, meanwhile said the only theoretical issue she could foresee is if Nathan were confirmed quickly and her new duties pulled her away 'from a very time-consuming trial.

'But I think that's unlikely given the timeline here,' she noted.
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When asked on Tuesday whether Nathan would stay on the case if she got the nomination, Edward Friedland, a spokesman for the district court, said he could 'neither confirm nor deny that she is under consideration.

'But I have every reason to believe that if she is recommended or nominated, she would - as is customary for lower court judges who are nominated to higher courts- continue to do her day job and preside over the trial to its conclusion.'

The announcement came as Nathan oversaw jury selection in Maxwell's trial, which defense and prosecution attorneys argue could last up to six weeks.

She questioned dozens of potential members of the jury who will decide her fate later this month in an effort to narrow down the potential jury pool to 50 to 60 members.

Once that is completed, the prosecution and defense will be able to strike 10 jurors, to narrow down the 12 jurors as well as six alternates that will hear the case.

Maxwell, 59, is charged with sex trafficking, with prosecutors claiming she helped pedophile Jeffrey Epstein recruit, groom and ultimately sexually abuse young girls.

She has pleaded not guilty, and the trial is expected to begin on November 29.

On Tuesday each prospective juror sat alone in a jury box for 10 to 15 minutes while Judge Nathan posed questions from about 10 feet away. Hundreds were previously dismissed after filling out a written questionnaire, according to AP.

At one point they were asked if they had a 'specific familiarity' with Donald Trump's Palm Beach property, Mar-a-Lago, which was known as the 'Winter White House' when he was president.

The inclusion of the question suggests that prosecutors plan to mention it during Maxwell's trial as a venue for allegedly recruiting and trafficking underage girls for Epstein.

Of note in today's proceedings was the presence of Renato Stabile, jury consultant for Harvey Weinstein, who has apparently been hired by Maxwell's team.

Stabile, who advised the disgraced film producer on how to pick a jury, was seen flipping through binders of jury profiles as he sat next to Maxwell's lawyers.

Wearing a black suit, Maxwell hugged her lawyers when she entered the courtroom and briefly sketched a courtroom artist who was drawing her.

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During the hearing each juror was given a list of witnesses, companies, and locations and asked if they had any 'specific familiarity.'

While they were supposed to only say the letter corresponding to each entry, four jurors blurted out 'Mar-a-Lago' as a place they recognized from the news - none had a personal connection.

Epstein and former President Trump had known each other for years until they reportedly fell out over a property dispute.

The two could also be seen in a 1992 video shot at Mar-a-Lago while a group of cheerleaders dance in front of them as Epstein doubles over in laughter.

At one point in the video Maxwell can be seen walking in the background.

During the Tuesday morning session of voir dire, some 14 jurors were cleared to be considered as members of the final panel.
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They were asked if they had any biases against law enforcement, the criminal justice system, and whether they had prejudice against people who lived 'luxurious lifestyles' - a question insisted upon by the defense.

A 72-year-old white male juror laughed at this question and said that wealthy people had 'provided my livelihood' while working for a high-end catering company that worked at events at the UN, the Met Opera, and the Met Museum.

A 24-year-old white woman said that a friend of hers was 'coerced' into having a relationship with her professor and 'blackmailed into it'.

The friend was supposedly 'paid off by the school to keep her quiet'. Even though the juror was the one to report the incident, she insisted she could still give Maxwell a fair trial.

Both were allowed into the final jury pool from which the panel of 12 will be chosen.

A black woman in her 40s was excused from serving on the case because she said that the reports she had seen about Maxwell had made her feel 'very uncomfortable'.
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A 28-year-old woman who works as a special education teacher said she thought Epstein was 'famous, I think he's an actor'.

She was allowed to proceed to the final pool.

Last month Maxwell's lawyers won their first battle after successfully convincing the judge to keep the proposed juror questionnaire under seal to avoid tainting the jury pool.

Federal prosecutors had agreed to the request, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Alison Moe writing in a two-page memo: 'The defense respectfully requests that the joint proposed juror questionnaire and joint proposed voir dire be filed under seal to avoid media coverage that may prejudice the jury selection.

'The government consents to the defense's request.'
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