Leah Saffian, an attorney for convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, said that staff at Federal Prison Camp Bryan were fired after details about special treatment for her client were leaked to Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MA).
In a letter to President Donald Trump, Raskin said whistleblowers had revealed that Maxwell was receiving special privileges, including hand-delivered meals, guests sending emails on her behalf, and a service dog in training to play with.
"What information is Ms. Maxwell agreeing to suppress in order to receive such outlandishly favorable treatment as a federal prisoner and convicted sex offender?" Raskin asked in his letter to Trump.
In a statement on Friday, Saffian revealed that prison staff had been fired for providing "whistleblower information" to Raskin.
"It is clear that no effort to fact check the credibility or veracity of the so called 'whistleblower' was made by the Representative or his offices," the attorney insisted. "For Rep. Raskin to seek to make political capital from such publication and from the content of personal emails between Ms. Maxwell and a family member is both shocking and reprehensible."
Saffian also suggested that Maxwell did not need to seek a pardon or commutation of her sentence from Trump because she would be filing a Habeas petition that related to "prisoners' rights and conviction challenges."
"In the four years since the verdict new evidence has indeed come to light - and is continuing to do so," Saffian insisted. "The Habeas petition demonstrates that had this evidence been available it would have had a material impact on the trial's outcome."
"It shows that Ms. Maxwell has every right to expect rapid and meaningful relief from the court, thus potentially obviating the need for any further action relating to her imprisonment."
According to Raskin, emails showed that Maxwell was preparing an application for pardon or commutation.
"I am struggling to keep it all together as it is big and there are so many attachments," Maxwell allegedly wrote Saffian in an email titled, "RE: Commutation Application."
The email suggested that Maxwell would send application materials through the prison's warden.