Ghislaine Maxwell: court unseals documents
related to dealings with Epstein
Cache of papers unsealed on Thursday night
Maxwell has been charged with involvement in Epstein
crimes
Victoria
Bekiempis
Fri 31 Jul
2020 03.39 BSTFirst published on Fri 31 Jul 2020 02.39 BST
A cache of
documents in civil litigation against the British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell
was unsealed on Thursday night, including early 2015 correspondence with her
longtime confidant Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex
offender.
The
documents stem from a 2015 civil action brought against Maxwell by Epstein
accuser Virginia Giuffre, who has claimed that Maxwell lured her into Epstein’s
orbit at 15 years old, under the guise of offering work as a masseuse. They
include personal emails between Epstein and Maxwell as well as information from
a discussion between Giuffre and her lawyer.
Many
documents in this case have been subject to an intense legal battle. Maxwell’s
attorneys in the civil suit had argued to keep many records under seal,
maintaining previously that “this series of pleadings concerns [attempts] to
compel Ms Maxwell to answer intrusive questions about her sex life”. The
documents, they argued, are “extremely personal, confidential and subject to
considerable abuse by the media”.
Manhattan
federal court judge Loretta Preska ruled on 23 July to unseal them, however,
saying: “The court finds that the countervailing interests identified fail to
rebut the presumption of public access.”
Documents
involving Maxwell’s deposition have not been released yet, as her lawyers are
appealing their unsealing.
Federal
authorities arrested Maxwell on 2 July and charged her for allegedly
participating in Epstein’s sex trafficking. Maxwell, daughter of the late
publishing baron Robert Maxwell, pleaded not guilty on 14 July. Maxwell has
repeatedly denied wrongdoing. Her lawyers have said she “vigorously denies the
charges” and is “entitled to the presumption of innocence”.
The
documents released on Thursday help shed light on Maxwell and Epstein’s
personal relations. In one of the personal emails between Epstein and Maxwell,
Epstein wrote on 25 January 2015: “You have done nothing wrong and i woudl
[sic] urge you to start acting like it. “Go outside, head high, not as an
esacping[sic] convict. go to parties. deal with it.”
The
exchange followed a request from Maxwell, who was romantically linked to
Epstein, to be distanced from his dating life.
Some of
them also relate to previous claims of Giuffre, such as former US President
Bill Clinton riding on Epstein’s plane, and allegations about lawyer Alan
Dershowitz. Dershowitz, who had worked as Epstein’s attorney, has repeatedly
denied misconduct. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
During
brief questioning about Bill Clinton, the documents show Giuffre said she saw
the former president on Epstein’s island. Representatives for Clinton did not
immediately respond to a request for comment. Clinton has distanced himself
from Epstein, and in a 2019 statement a spokesperson said “President Clinton
knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in
Florida some years ago, or those with which he has been recently charged in New
York.”
The
documents also show that Giuffre was asked in an interview whether Epstein ever
bragged about the age of any girls with whom he had sexual relations. “Yes, he
did. He did all the time,” she said. “The worst one that I heard from his own
mouth was this pretty 12 year old girls he had flown in for his birthday. It
was a surprise birthday gift from one of his friends and they were from
France,” she alleged.
Epstein
told her powerful people owed him favors, Giuffre claimed, according to the
documents. “Lots of people owed him favors from what he told me… That’s why I
believe he does so many favors in the first place.”
Giuffre was
also asked whether Britain’s Prince Andrew – whom she has claimed she had sex
with as a teenager at Epstein’s behest - would have information about the
financier.
“He would
know a lot of the truth,” she said.
Prince
Andrew has vehemently denied allegations of misconduct.
Maxwell met
Giuffre at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in south Florida, where the then teen
was working as a locker-room attendant.
In the
civil lawsuit, which has since been settled, Giuffre claimed that Maxwell had
defamed her, by stating that she was a liar for accusing Epstein and Maxwell of
sexual impropriety.
An
extensive collection of documents in this suit was also unsealed last August.
They featured both bombshell claims, and denials that world leaders
participated in Epstein’s alleged sex ring. These filings were disclosed
shortly after Epstein’s arrest last July. Epstein killed himself in jail last
August.
Maxwell is
being held in jail pending trial, which is scheduled for next July.
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