The release of documents in the ongoing case against Ghislaine Maxwell, who faces multiple charges related to Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged criminal activities, has flared up the accusations against some very big names once again.
A federal judge has unsealed hundreds of pages of transcripts and other documents related to a now-settled defamation suit brought against Ghislaine Maxwell, who is accused of helping the late Jeffrey Epstein run a sex trafficking operation that catered to rich and powerful men.
The documents include a deposition given by Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre, the draft of a memoir she was writing about her experiences inside the sex-trafficking ring, and email exchanges between Maxwell and Epstein.
Maxwell, Epstein’s ex-girlfriend, was charged earlier this month on several counts related to sex trafficking of minors and perjury. She has pleaded not guilty in that case. The 2015 defamation suit was brought by Giuffre after the British socialite accused her of lying when she alleged Epstein and Maxwell had sexually abused and exploited her.
Among other things, the documents included an email exchange in which Epstein protested his innocence and appeared to provide Maxwell with a statement to the media or set of talking points that she might use in defending herself against the allegations.
Maxwell had been the “target of outright lies, innuendo, slander, defamation and salacious gossip and harassment,” the email said in language that pushed back against “false allegations of impropriety and offensive behavior that I abhor and have never ever been party to.”
A few days later, responding to an email from Maxwell, Epstein wrote: “You have done nothing wrong and I (would) urge you to start acting like it.” He urged her to “go outside, head high, not as an (escaping) convict. go to parties. deal with it.”
U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska ordered the documents unsealed last week after Maxwell’s lawyer Laura Menninger made a last-minute appeal to keep them from going public, arguing that they could damage her defense.
Important note on all this from Adam Klasfeld:
Virginia Giuffre's interview with her lawyers from 2011, however, has been unsealed for the first time.
The screenshots are flowing freely tonight, but the hard work of contextualizing and following up on leads will emerge with time from reporters closely eyeing the case.
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) July 31, 2020
Two minutes between “this is all stuff we’ve seen before” and “golly, this is a new document!”Report
I keep wondering “is this going to get weird yet?” and it keeps getting closer, but it’s asymptotic.
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And, perhaps, a final capstone on the “Epstein Belonged To Intelligence” story:
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