Audrey Strauss, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, points to a photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell during a July 2 news conference. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File) MANHATTAN (CN) — Accusing the government of scapegoating her to make up for its aborted prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell told a federal judge Wednesday that her relationship with the late pedophile is no reason to deny her bail. The 58-year-old British socialite made her latest demand for freedom today as part of a $28.5 million bail package she proposed earlier this month. “With regard to any other defendant, this record would readily support release on strict bail conditions, perhaps even on consent,” Maxwell’s attorney, Mark Cohen of Cohen & Gresser, wrote in the Wednesday filing. “But this is Ghislaine Maxwell, the apparent substitute for Jeffrey Epstein.”