Six Things We Learned From Ghislaine Maxwell's Previously Unseen Epstein Evidence
Ghislaine Maxwell was dealt a legal blow this week after a court ordered the release of previously unseen evidence she gave almost five years ago.
The British socialite is awaiting trial next year for allegedly procuring teenage girls for Jeffrey Epstein to abuse – charges she denies.
A lawyer for Maxwell had argued that the depositions – a term used in the US to refer to transcripts of interviews given as part of a court case – should not be made public, because they are evidence in the criminal case brought against her.
They were taken in April and July 2016 in a civil case brought by one of Epstein’s accusers, Virginia Giuffre. The 2016 transcript is among more than 2,000 pages of documents that began to be released last year when an appeals court started unsealing papers from Giuffre’s (since settled) defamation case first brought in 2015.
Giuffre has alleged Maxwell recruited her at 17 to be sexually abused from 1999 to 2002.
Maxwel has pleaded not guilty and has been held without bail since her early July arrest. If convicted, the 58-year-old could face up to 35 years in prison.
Epstein killed himself in a federal jail last year as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.
Here are some of the things we learned from the unsealed documents.
1) Maxwell says she never saw Epstein engage in sexual activity with children
Maxwell said: “I never saw any inappropriate under-age activities with Jeffrey ever.” In the transcripts Maxwell also repeatedly denied hiring anyone under the age of 18 for Epstein.
She added: “Just for the record, I have never at any time, at any place, in any moment, ever asked Virginia Roberts, or whatever she is called now, to have sex with anybody.”
2) Prince Andrew is mentioned by name – but it’s redacted
Even though the Duke of York’s name is redacted in the documents, it is surprisingly easy to identify who she was talking about by referencing the documents alphabetical index. Slate reveals other redacted names...
