Prince Andrew under pressure after arrest of
Ghislaine Maxwell
Royal ‘bewildered’ after US attorney asks him to come
forward following arrest of his friend over alleged sex crimes
Victoria
Bekiempis in New York
Fri 3 Jul
2020 05.59 BSTLast modified on Fri 3 Jul 2020 08.18 BST
Pressure on
Prince Andrew to speak to FBI investigators was mounting after his friend
Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested on charges of sex trafficking and perjury as
part of its ongoing inquiry into the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
At a press
conference in New York in which prosecutors detailed the allegations facing
Maxwell, they urged the Prince to come forward.
“We would
welcome Prince Andrew coming in to talk with us, we would like to have the
benefit of his statement,” said Audrey Strauss, acting US attorney for the
southern district of New York.
“I have no
further comment beyond what I just said, which is that our doors remain open,
as we previously said, and we would welcome him coming in and giving us an
opportunity to hear his statement.”
A source
close to the prince’s working group said that his lawyers have twice
communicated with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in the past month. “The
duke’s team remains bewildered given that we have twice communicated with the
DOJ in the last month and to date we have had no response,” the source said.
Strauss’s
remarks came following the arrest of Maxwell, the British socialite and close
friend of the convicted sex offender Epstein was seized at a luxury hideaway in
a small town in New Hampshire early on Thursday.
The prince
has made no secret of his longstanding friendship with Maxwell, or that she
introduced him to Epstein, who killed himself in his jail cell last August
facing charges of sex trafficking minors, which he denied.
Prosecutors
have continued their investigation and sought testimony from Prince Andrew. He
faces accusations from Virginia Giuffre, who has claimed she was forced to have
sex with him at Maxwell’s home in London when she was 17. Her claims have been
categorically denied by the prince.
On
Thursday, investigators accused Maxwell of “slithering away” into hiding. They
claimed she had previously lied repeatedly about her direct and indirect
involvement in the abuse of underage girls, because, they alleged, the truth
was “almost unspeakable”.
“Maxwell
played a critical role in helping Epstein to identify, befriend and groom minor
victims for abuse,” the federal prosecutor Strauss told the press conference in
Manhattan. “In some cases, Maxwell participated in the abuse.”
“She set
the trap. She pretended to be a woman they [alleged victims] could trust.”
Maxwell has
long been accused by many women of recruiting them to give Epstein massages,
during which they were pressured into sex. Those accusations, until now, never
resulted in criminal charges against her.
She has
always denied wrongdoing in of her dealings with Epstein or females associated
with him.
Maxwell had
kept a low profile, and her location was unknown since Epstein’s arrest last
July on charges that he abused and trafficked in women and girls in Manhattan
and Florida between 2002 and 2005. The search for Maxwell has been the subject
of intense speculation, with reported sightings and rumours of her whereabouts
popping up across the US and even abroad.
She was
arrested in Bradford, New Hampshire, at 8.30am. At a press conference in New
York, William Sweeney, assistant director-in-charge of the New York FBI Office,
said: “We have been discreetly keeping tabs on Maxwell’s whereabouts.”
He added
that authorities had recently learned that Maxwell, “slithered away to a
gorgeous property in New Hampshire”, continuing to live a “life of privilege”.
Sweeney
continued: “We moved when we were ready.”
The
17-page, six-count indictment filed by the Manhattan US attorney charges
Maxwell with a host of crimes, including conspiracy to entice minors to travel
to engage in illegal sex acts, enticement of a minor to travel to engage in
illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in
criminal sexual activity, transportation of a minor with intent to engage in
criminal sexual activity, and perjury.
The
indictment described Maxwell’s relationship to Epstein as “personal and
professional” – and that she was “in an intimate relationship” with him from
about 1994 to 1997. Epstein paid Maxwell “to manage their various properties”,
the document says.
The court
paperwork provides detail into how Maxwell allegedly lured minors into
Epstein’s orbit.
According
to charging documents, Maxwell “befriended” some of these victims, “including
by asking the victims about their lives, their schools, and their families”.
She and Epstein forged relationships with these girls, taking them shopping and
to the movies. The alleged grooming happened, according to the documents, at
Epstein’s mansion on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, his estate in Palm
Beach, Florida, his ranch in Sante Fe, New Mexico, as well as Maxwell’s
residence in London.
After
developing a rapport, the documents allege, “Maxwell would try to normalise
sexual abuse for a minor victim by, among other things, discussing sexual
topics, undressing in front of the victim, being present when a minor victim
was undressed, and/or being present for sex acts involving the minor victim and
Epstein”.
The
indictment claims that Maxwell would sometimes give Epstein massages in front
of victims whereas other times, she urged them to give him massages, “including
sexualized massage during which a minor victim would be fully or partially
nude.” These would often involve Epstein sexually abusing the minors.
On some
occasions, it is alleged Maxwell was “present for and participated in the
abuse”.
To hide her
involvement with Epstein’s abuse, Maxwell gave false information “under oath”
in civil litigation, the indictment claims.
Several of
Maxwell’s attorneys could not immediately be reached for comment.
Maxwell’s
father was the British media baron Robert Maxwell. She was a one-time
girlfriend of Epstein’s and key presence at his side in his glittering social
life, which often included rich, influential and powerful people from around
the world in politics, the arts and science.
Giuffre,
one of Epstein’s alleged victims, has said in a civil lawsuit that Maxwell
recruited her into Epstein’s circle, where she claims Epstein forced her to
have sex with him and friends including Andrew – who has consistently denied
the allegations.
His lawyers
insist the US Department of Justice has rejected three offers of help
volunteered by the prince this year.
Maxwell has
said Giuffre’s allegations are untrue. Giuffre in response filed a defamation
suit against Maxwell in 2015.
 |
Andrew (second left) has said he became friends
with Jeffrey Epstein (right) in 1999, after being introduced to him through
Ghislaine Maxwell. Pictured: Melania Trump, Andrew, Epstein's friend Gwendolyn
Beck and Epstein at a party at the Mar-a-Lago in Florida in 2000
|
Prince Andrew is 'bewildered' over lack of
response from US justice officials as he and Royal Family brace for new
revelations after arrest of Jeffrey Epstein 'pimp' Maxwell
Ghislaine Maxwell, 58, arrested in US for allegedly
helping to lure underage girls
Girls were allegedly abused by paedophile Jeffrey
Epstein, who died last August
Arrest will now intensify calls for Andrew to be
questioned over any involvement
Andrew has previously claimed he has offered three
times to be a witness in case
But US prosecutors say he has declined their request
to schedule an interview
By MARK
DUELL FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED:
16:54, 2 July 2020 | UPDATED: 04:01, 3 July 2020
Prince
Andrew is said to be 'bewildered' over the lack of response from US justice
officials as the Royal Family brace themselves for new revelations after the
arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell.
Andrew's
six-month standoff with the FBI deepened after Maxwell was detained for
allegedly helping to lure underage girls who were then sexually abused by
Epstein.
Her arrest
in Bradford, New Hampshire, will now intensify calls for Andrew to be quizzed
about any involvement he may have had, despite him denying wrongdoing.
Andrew has
previously claimed he has offered three times to be a witness in the case, but
US prosecutors say he has declined their request to schedule an interview.
A source
close to the Duke's working group said: 'The Duke's team remains bewildered
given that we have twice communicated with the DOJ in the last month and
to-date, we have had no response.'
Royal
author Robert Jobson has suggested Andrew must now be living in fear that
Maxwell will implicate him in the 'gruesome' activities of paedophile Epstein.
Mr Jobson
who has written several books about the Royal family said that the arrest of
Maxwell had to be a ‘cause for concern’ and an ‘embarrassment’ for the Queen’s
60-year-old son.
‘He keeps
protesting his innocence, but her arrest has brought everything more sharply
into focus. It is certainly a very worrying development for him,' Mr Jobson
said.
‘It is
obviously a cause concern for him as nobody knows what she is going to say. She
could strike a deal with prosecutors for a lesser sentence in return for
implicating others.
‘I would
have thought that in order to open up the case, she is going to be asked to
name other names. That is where it could become even more difficult for Andrew.
‘If she
says anything about him, and she is bound to be asked about him, it could
implicate him or cause trouble for him. Whatever happens, it is an
embarrassment because she was clearly close to him and there are some pretty
gruesome charges against her.
‘If nothing
else, it will bring into question his judgment when it comes to friendships as
these are pretty unsavoury charges that she faces.’
Maxwell
lived for years with Epstein, whose victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre claimed she
arranged for her to have sex with the Duke of York at her London townhouse.
Andrew
denied her story and claimed last month he was being treated as a second-class
citizen by the US justice system, and it was untrue that he had not
co-operated.
Gloria
Allred, who is based in Los Angeles and represents 16 accusers of paedophile
Jeffrey Epstein, said the Queen's 60-year-old son must 'contact the FBI
immediately'.
She said
today: 'The arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell is a major development and demonstrates
that the criminal investigation is serious and that it continues.
'It is long
overdue for Prince Andrew to stop making excuses and to stop playing the
victim. He should contact the FBI immediately and agree to appear for an
interview.'
Asked what
58-year-old Maxwell's arrest could now mean for the Duke, a spokesman for his
legal team told MailOnline this afternoon: 'We won't be commenting.'
Today,
Audrey Strauss, acting US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said
she would 'welcome Prince Andrew coming in to talk with us to have the benefit
of his statement' but would not comment further on him in relation to the
probe.
Ms Strauss
said the FBI would be 'seeking detention' for Maxwell and that her team would
be 'in dialogue with the Bureau of Prisons about it'.
When asked
if she would be willing to hear evidence from Maxwell concerning others
involved despite the perjury charges against her, Ms Strauss said: 'This
sometimes happens when there are perjury charges and people can go on from
there and become co-operators if that is what you are asking, so I'm not
concerned about that.
'In the
event that she were to become a co-operator, I think that we can deal with
that.'
Andrew has
previously said he became friends in 1999 with Epstein - who killed himself in
jail last August - after being introduced to him through Maxwell.
The Duke,
who stayed at Epstein's house in 2010 after the financier's conviction, said in
a disastrous BBC interview last November that he did not regret their
friendship.
Epstein and
Maxwell were at a party hosted by the Queen at Windsor Castle in June 2000, and
also attended a party for Maxwell at Sandringham in December that year.
Royal
author Mr Jobson said he believed that the Duchess of York had first introduced
Andrew to Ghislaine, the daughter of crooked newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell
who plunged to his death from his yacht in mysterious circumstances in 1991.
Ghislaine
in turn introduced Andrew to billionaire Epstein who jumped at the chance of
ingratiating himself with a member of the Royal family.
Mr Jobson
said: ‘Andrew was clearly close to them both. He invited them to Royal
enclosure at Ascot and a party hosted by the Queen at Windsor Castle in 2000 as
well as a shooting weekend in Sandringham later in the same year.
‘It is the
case that Ghislaine has also associated with other members of the Royal family,
so people are going to become quite concerned.
‘She has
ben in the Royal circle so it becomes more and more embarrassing because it is
all getting closer and closer to the Queen.
‘Andrew has
tried to distance himself a bit from Epstein and can say that more was made of
their friendship than what there actually was, but it was clear that he was
still friends with Ghislaine after his friendship with Epstein ended.
‘He was in
touch with her long after he severed his ties with Epstein.’
Mr Jobson
said Andrew’s closeness to Ghislaine was illustrated by the infamous photograph
of him with his arm around 17-year-old Virginia Roberts which was said to have
been taken in Ghislaine’s flat in London in 2000.
He said:
‘While some close to Andrew have said the photograph was fabricated, the key
problem is that it was allegedly taken at Ghislaine’s home and she is there in
the picture lurking in the background.
‘The
photograph is being used all the time, so now that she has been charged with
procuring under age girls, it has become even more of an embarrassment and
potentially damaging for him.’
The US
Department of Justice has formally asked the Home Office for help to question
the Duke, which could see him grilled in court about his links to Epstein.
But
Andrew's lawyers said it was a cynical publicity stunt, accusing US officials
of breaking their own rules, telling untruths and trying to mislead the global
public.
Today, an
indictment claimed Maxwell 'assisted, facilitated and contributed to Jeffrey
Epstein's abuse of minor girls by, among other things, helping Epstein to
recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse' girls under the age of 18.
Mr Jobson
who has written books on Prince Charles and Princess Diana also said that
Maxwell’s arrest made it an even more distant prospect that Andrew would ever
be able to return to public life as a working Royal.
He said:
‘At this moment in time, until this matter is completely cleared up and people
are satisfied that he is telling the truth and is completely innocent, as he
says he is, there is no way back for him because there is so much hanging over
him.
‘It would
be impossible for him to carry out his duties. The fact that the whole Epstein
saga is now on Netflix and there is a new book about it doesn’t help his case.
‘But I
don’t think he is going to put himself in a position where he could be charged.
I don’t see him going to America.
‘The only
way he can start to clear his name is to present himself for questioning to the
FBI. I don’t think his lawyers will want him to do that because it could leave
him exposed.
‘It means
he is between the devil and the deep blue sea because he can’t expose himself
and risk becoming the next central focus of the Epstein inquiry.’
Epstein
killed himself in a federal prison in New York last summer while awaiting trial
on sex trafficking charges. Maxwell was accused by women of recruiting them to
give Epstein massages, during which they were pressured into sex.
The
indictment included counts of conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage
in illegal sex acts, enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex
acts, conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual
activity, transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual
activity and two counts of perjury.
Maxwell has
previously repeatedly denied wrongdoing and called some of the claims against
her 'absolute rubbish'.
She was
described in a lawsuit by another Epstein victim, Sarah Ransome, as the
'highest-ranking employee' of Epstein's alleged sex trafficking ring. The
lawsuit claimed she oversaw and trained recruiters, developed recruiting plans
and helped conceal activity from police.
The US
Attorney for the Southern District of New York will announce charges later
today against Maxwell 'for her role in the sexual exploitation and abuse of
multiple minor girls by Jeffrey Epstein'.
Federal
prosecutors said in court papers she had 'enticed and caused minor victims to
travel to Epstein's residence in different states' and that Maxwell would
assist in their 'grooming for and subjection to sexual abuse.'
Prosecutors
charged that Maxwell was well aware of Epstein's preference for minor girls, and
that he intended to sexually abuse them.
Maxwell has
kept a low profile since the death of Epstein, a financier who was accused of
raping and trafficking underage girls over nearly two decades.
Some of
Epstein's alleged victims have said Maxwell lured them into his circle, where
they were sexually abused by him and powerful friends. Maxwell was an
ex-girlfriend of Epstein who became a longtime member of his inner circle.
Andrew had
promised last year, after a disastrous Newsnight interview, to 'help any
appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations' into Epstein.
According
to Andrew, the first he heard from the FBI in their 16-year investigation into
Epstein was on January 2.
And he was
just beginning the process of suggesting how he might answer their questions
when, according to his friends, the Americans 'went nuclear'.
On January
27, Geoffrey Berman, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, stood outside
Epstein's New York mansion and publicly accused the prince of reneging on his
pledge by offering 'zero assistance' to the FBI.
On March 9
he claimed the royal had 'completely shut the door' on cooperating.
But on June
8, as Epstein's victims demanded he 'end the cat and mouse game', Andrew's City
law firm Blackfords issued a 604-word statement effectively calling the
Americans liars.
It called
Mr Berman's claims 'inaccurate' and said it had agreed to cooperate with the
Department of Justice on the basis 'our discussions and the interview process
would remain confidential', insisting it was given an unequivocal assurance on
this point.
Blackfords
said: 'The Duke of York has on at least three occasions this year offered his
assistance as a witness to the DoJ.
'Unfortunately,
the DoJ has reacted to the first two offers by breaching their own
confidentiality rules and claiming that the Duke has offered zero cooperation.
In doing so, they are perhaps seeking publicity rather than accepting the assistance
proffered.'
The
statement by Andrew's lawyers continued: 'It is a matter of regret that the DoJ
has seen fit to breach its own rules of confidentiality, not least as they are
designed to encourage witness cooperation.
'He is
being treated by a lower standard than might reasonably be expected for any
other citizen. Those same breaches of confidentiality by the DoJ have given the
global media - and, therefore, the worldwide audience - an entirely misleading
account of our discussions with them.'
But Mr
Berman hit back by saying: 'Prince Andrew yet again sought to falsely portray
himself to the public as eager and willing to cooperate with an ongoing federal
criminal investigation into sex trafficking and related offences committed by
Jeffrey Epstein and his associates, even though the prince has not given an
interview to federal authorities, has repeatedly declined our request to
schedule such an interview, and nearly four months ago informed us
unequivocally - through the very same counsel who issued today's release - that
he would not come in for such an interview.
'If Prince
Andrew is, in fact, serious about cooperating with the ongoing federal
investigation, our doors remain open, and we await word of when we should expect
him.'
Andrew is
being represented by Clare Montgomery, a leading QC in extradition cases. She
represented the Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet and also the Swedish
state in its 2012 attempt to extradite Julian Assange.
Last month
it was also revealed that the DoJ formally applied to the Home Office in May
under a 1994 treaty between the two countries to provide Mutual Legal
Assistance.
The request
from the Americans - a 'diplomatic nightmare' which has yet to be granted,
according to Whitehall sources - means Andrew could be forced to answer FBI
questions in a British court.
He would in
theory be entitled to 'plead the 5th' Amendment, remain silent to avoid
incriminating himself.
Asked
previously during a Fox News interview whether the US had asked Britain to hand
over Andrew, attorney general William Barr said: 'I think it's just a question
of having him provide some evidence.' Asked if he would be extradited, Barr
replied 'No'.
Gloria
Allred, who represents two women treated as sex slaves by the late Epstein,
previously said: 'By refusing to voluntarily answer questions posed by law
enforcement, Prince Andrew has demonstrated disrespect for the victims and
their need to know the truth.
'It is time
for the prince to stop this cat and mouse game and stand before the bar of
justice'.
Miss
Roberts, 36, who claims she was forced to have sex with Andrew three times when
she was 17, previously retweeted a comment calling on the Home Office to
extradite him to America.
Andrew
vehemently denies any wrongdoing and says he does not even recall Miss Roberts.
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