Ghislaine Maxwell's brother says she is 'patsy' being used by US government as scapegoat after Epstein's suicide

He claims his socialite sister wished she had never met Epstein

Ghislaine Maxwell's brother says she is a patsy for Jeffrey Epstein and that she is being used by the US government as a scapegoat.

Ian Maxwell made the comments during an appearance on Good Morning America and in an interview with the Times of London.

"She's a patsy for Jeffrey Epstein who they lost on their watch and they are taking it out on my sister and dammit, that's wrong," he said. "She is not Epstein. Epstein was guilty. He did time. And he was gonna do a hell of a lot more time. But she is not him."

He said his sister deserves the same presumption of innocence afforded to any other criminal on trial in the US.

"And I don't know how many times I have to say it. She's deserves to be treated as Ghislaine, presumed innocent, get on with the defense, tell us what you've got to tell us, put it up, and then let the jury decide," he said.

Mr Maxwell claimed his sister is the victim of a "media lynch mob", and that she is not being given the benefit of the presumption of innocence in the court of public opinion.

"The real problem is that the media frenzy about her, which had shifted from Epstein onto her, drove her absolutely mad. I'm not minimising the seriousness of the allegations but my sister is fighting for her life ... that's pretty serious too," he said.

Epstein's public connection to extremely powerful individuals – including Bill and Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump – caused many to question the nature of his death in prison, which was ruled a suicide. Some individuals who followed the story hoped that Epstein's trial would reveal other powerful individuals that had engaged in sexual abuse of minors.

After Epstein died, attention shifted from him to Ms Maxwell.

"Suddenly he dies and they've got this really serious problem ... it seems to me inescapable that the authorities decided they had to do something about it," he said.

According to Mr Maxwell, his sister believes she will be cleared of the charges brought against her.

"Ghislaine wants to confront the accusers head-on and deal with this and get on with her life," he said. "She is as convinced as she can be that she will be exonerated. We as a family are behind her, solidly behind her."

He said that after his sister's arrest, she told him she would take the heat by herself and that she wanted to spare the rest of her family the trouble and attention generated by her trial.

Mr Maxwell claimed that she frequently tried to protect her family, and claimed that is why she disappeared after Epstein died in prison.

"I think Ghislaine has just determined with [Scott Borgerson, her husband] that they want to keep a very low level of public knowledge about their lives," he said. "She was not running from law enforcement."

Ms Maxwell evaded police for a year before she was arrested in New Hampshire. She has been held in a Manhattan prison jail ever since.

Mr Maxwell likened Ms Maxwell's jail conditions to "torture", and claimed she has lost 20 pounds and is losing her hair while incarcerated.

Her attorneys have tried to secure her release on bonds, offering to pay as much as $28.5m for her release. Those offers were denied after judges deemed Ms Maxwell a flight risk.

"Ghislaine is an American. She's never been a flight risk. In the year or so between when Epstein died and when she was arrested, she was in the United States all the time," Mr Maxwell said.

According to Mr Maxwell, his sister reportedly has said she wished she never met Epstein.

"He has ruined her life," he said.