Ghislaine Maxwell fought to keep her testimony secret (File)
New York:
British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell said under oath in 2016 that she had never witnessed “inappropriate activities of minors” by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, according to a statement released Thursday that she had fought to keep the secret.
Maxwell, 58, pleaded not guilty to helping Epstein recruit and prepare underage girls as young as 14 to engage in illegal sex acts in the mid-1990s, and not guilty of perjury for having denied any involvement in such a scheme when she testified. under oath.
In the April 2016 deposition of a civil libel lawsuit now settled against Maxwell by Virginia Giuffre – who said that Epstein had kept her as a “sex slave” with Maxwell’s help – she did not respond directly if she believed Epstein had sexually abused minors.
Rather, she said the only allegations she knew of came from Giuffre, whom she called a “liar”.
Maxwell, daughter of the late British publisher Robert Maxwell, was questioned about her relationship with Epstein, who employed her to help him manage his properties, and Giuffre’s claims, according to the transcript.
“I have never seen inappropriate activity with minors with Jeffrey,” she says.
“I can’t vouch for what Jeffrey did or didn’t do,” Maxwell said. She later added: “I can only vouch for what I know and that she (Giuffre) lied about me from start to finish and repeatedly made me question everything she can. feel.”
Sigrid McCawley, an attorney for Giuffre, said in a statement that the release of the deposition was “a long time coming and a welcome step towards revealing the evidence of the scope and scale of Jeffrey’s sex trafficking ring. Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell “.
Giuffre and the Miami Herald newspaper had requested the unsealing.
Deny wrongdoing
U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan had ordered that a transcript of Maxwell’s testimony and other documents be released.
Epstein once counted US President Donald Trump, former US President Bill Clinton and British Prince Andrew as friends. They have not been charged with any criminal acts.
Giuffre said she was trafficked by Epstein and forced to have sex with her friends, including Andrew when she was 17. Andrew has denied the allegations.
Maxwell testified that she flew on Epstein’s planes with Clinton but would not call the two men friends or acquaintances and said she was never on one of the private islands of ‘Epstein with Clinton.
“One of the lies she told was that President Clinton was on the island where I was present. Absolutely 1000%, this is an absolute fabrication and lie, ”Maxwell said in a nine-and-a-half-hour deposition.
Maxwell’s lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.
While Maxwell has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, he has been repeatedly asked if any indecent activity is taking place in Epstein’s orbit. His attorneys said the fact that the questions had been asked may suggest to the public that Giuffre’s attorneys believed they could have asked them, even though the behavior had never happened.
Imprisoned while awaiting trial
Maxwell’s lawyers have argued that making the testimony public could jeopardize her ability to get a fair trial, as jurors could withhold the contents against her. A trial is scheduled for July 2021.
Maxwell was arrested on July 2 in Bradford, New Hampshire, where authorities said she was hiding on a property she bought in December as part of an all-cash transaction with her identity protected. She is locked in a Brooklyn jail after the judge in her criminal case called her an unacceptable flight risk.
Maxwell told attorneys she was employed by Epstein and hired assistants, architects, decorators, cooks, cleaners, gardeners, pool folks and pilots as part of the interview of six houses, according to the transcript, which occupies 418 pages.
“… a very small part of my job every now and then was finding professional adult massage therapists for Jeffrey,” the transcript reads.
Maxwell seemed evasive as Giuffre’s lawyer asking if she had hired Giuffre to give Epstein an erotic massage.
“Virginia Roberts [Giuffre] introduced herself as a masseuse and invited herself to come in for a massage, ”Maxwell testified.
The deposition and other documents were allowed to be released after the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan on Monday rejected Maxwell’s “baseless” arguments that his interests outweighed the presumption that the public should see the documents.
Many names in the transcript of the testimony were withheld.
Epstein committed suicide at age 66 in August 2019 in a Manhattan jail pending trial on federal sex trafficking charges announced the previous month.
He had previously escaped federal prosecution by pleading guilty in 2008 to prostitution charges in the state of Florida, a deal now widely seen as too lenient.
When asked why she kept in touch with Epstein after his guilty plea, Maxwell replied that she was “a very loyal person and Jeffrey was very nice to me when my father passed away and I believe you must to be a good friend in the hour of need. and that it was a very thoughtful and enjoyable thing for me to do … “
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
