Ghislaine Maxwell trial: jury asks to review transcripts from three accusers

Jurors requested transcripts of testimony on Tuesday morning after deliberations began late on Monday

  • This article contains depictions of sexual abuse

The jury in Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial asked on Tuesday to review transcripts of testimony from three accusers.

Jurors in Manhattan federal court sent the judge a note around 10.10am, saying: “We would like the transcripts, testimony of Jane, Annie and Carolyn.”

Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 802 9999. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

Continue reading...

Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial: jury begins deliberations

Prosecutors say Maxwell, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, manipulated victims and groomed them for sexual abuse

  • This article contains depictions of sexual abuse

The jury began deliberating late on Monday afternoon in Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial in New York.

Closing arguments had wrapped up in federal court in Manhattan earlier on Monday with a simple, chilling message.

Continue reading...

Victim of privilege: how Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers tried to make her seem likable

Maxwell’s attorneys tried to replace her image of a privileged socialite with one of being a kind and generous employer

When Ghislaine Maxwell’s defense case started last Thursday, her team tried pulling off a near-impossible task – making the British socialite accused of sex trafficking seem likable.

Indeed, the first defense witness in Maxwell’s Manhattan federal court sex-trafficking trial, former assistant Cimberly Espinosa, described her ex-boss in glowing terms.

Continue reading...

Miss Sweden and Bugs Bunny add up to a bad day in court for Ghislaine Maxwell

The former socialite had nothing to say after the prosecution in her New York trial dispensed quickly with defence witnesses

Defending a client charged with crimes modern society finds more terrible than murder, who might face the rest of her life in prison, Ghislaine Maxwell’s defence in New York opened with a nice lady who hadn’t seen anything, a travel agent who booked flights years after they mattered and a professor of BugsBunnyology – and none of them cut the mustard.

At the end of the defence’s first day, Maxwell was seen holding her hands up in despair at her fancy attorneys who have cost her, according to her own estimate, some $7m. Juries in US federal trials must be unanimous and there are legal grounds for knocking out some of the charges, but it looks bleak for Maxwell.

Continue reading...

Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers call Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-girlfriend as a witness

Maxwell’s defense team rested their case on Friday, with closing arguments set to begin on Monday

  • This article contains depictions of sexual abuse

Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers called one of Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-girlfriends as a defense witness on Friday in the British socialite’s Manhattan federal court sex-trafficking trial.

Maxwell’s defense team also rested their case on Friday afternoon and she declined to testify. Her trial will enter a new stage Monday when the prosecution and defense will present their closing arguments.

Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 802 9999. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732).

Continue reading...

Ghislaine Maxwell lawyers ask judge to allow witnesses to testify anonymously

Legal team make unusual request, saying witnesses might be leery of testifying unless allowed to give evidence under pseudonyms

Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers have taken the unusual step of asking the judge to allow several defense witnesses to testify anonymously in her sex-trafficking trial, which resumes on Thursday in Manhattan federal court.

Maxwell’s legal team has said that some witnesses might be so leery of testifying that they might not take the stand unless allowed to give evidence under pseudonyms.

Continue reading...

Epstein settlement ‘shielding’ Prince Andrew should be public, judge says

Lawyer says secret 2008 agreement between Virginia Giuffre and Jeffrey Epstein protects prince from lawsuit

A secret 2008 settlement that a lawyer for Britain’s Prince Andrew says would protect him against a lawsuit claiming he sexually abused an American when she was 17 should be made public, a judge said on Tuesday.

The agreement was reached between Virginia Giuffre and Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself in 2019 while awaiting a sex trafficking trial in New York City.

Continue reading...

It’s tough to see Ghislaine Maxwell’s team toy with such sad, broken women | John Sweeney

Justice at work is difficult to watch when big-money lawyers go in hard as they try to discredit witnesses

The slut-shaming – or something very much like it – of the four key witnesses against Ghislaine Maxwell and her late lover, Jeffrey Epstein is, almost, a thing of beauty, a dark wonder to behold. You’ve got to admire the way Maxwell’s multimillion-dollar attorneys break her accusers on the rack of their own human frailty. No one dare call it torture: we’re watching justice at work, the Ghislaine Maxwell defence team way.

In order of appearance witness “Jane” was challenged as a drug user from a wealthy but deeply unhappy home; witness “Kate” was a drug user with a troubled mother; witness Carolyn – to give her some privacy the court accepted her request to use only her real first name – had a single parent mother who was an alcoholic and a drug addict, who became an alcoholic and a drug addict herself, who left school when she was 14, who did not, said her ex-boyfriend Shawn “have the reading ability” to say Ms Maxwell’s first name, Ghislaine. So Carolyn called her Maxwell. Witness Annie Farmer – her full real name, was 16, the child of a divorced single mum but not herself broken, not at all.

Continue reading...

Friend, lover, fixer? Ghislaine Maxwell prosecutors home in on nature of Epstein relationship

Federal sex-trafficking trial has shed more light on pair’s ties, and how their lives seemed intimately interwoven

Ghislaine Maxwell has long been accused of luring teenage girls into Jeffrey Epstein’s orbit for him to sexually abuse, but whatever motive for allegedly doing so has long remained a mystery.

The answer hinges somewhat on the nature of their relationship. Did Maxwell serve as the late financier’s consigliere, or act as his girlfriend and procurer?

Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 802 9999. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

Continue reading...

Ghislaine Maxwell gave me nude massage when I was 16, accuser says

Annie Farmer testifies about encounter at New Mexico ranch in 1996, and recounts how she met Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein

The fourth accuser to testify in Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial said Friday that she was only 16 when the British socialite gave her a nude massage at Jeffrey Epstein’s New Mexico ranch.

This accuser, Annie Farmer, also said that the morning after her encounter with Maxwell, Epstein climbed into bed with her and said he “wanted to cuddle” and she “felt kind of frozen”.

Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 802 9999. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

Continue reading...

Ghislaine Maxwell sex-trafficking trial adjourned after attorney becomes ill

Judge Alison Nathan says she expects proceedings will resume on Friday

Ghislaine Maxwell’s New York sex-trafficking trial was unexpectedly adjourned early Thursday because an “ill” attorney needed medical care. “I’ve been informed there’s an attorney in the case who’s ill, and that attorney has to get care,” the judge, Alison Nathan, told jurors this morning.

Nathan’s disclosure came several moments after attorneys on the case asked to speak with her in private. It’s unclear from proceedings which attorney is ill.

Continue reading...

Ghislaine Maxwell trial: third accuser’s ex-boyfriend corroborates her account

‘Shawn’ says he drove Carolyn to Epstein’s house every few weeks, after she testified Maxwell scheduled sexualized massages with Epstein

  • This article contains depictions of sexual abuse

The former boyfriend of the third accuser to testify in Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial in New York corroborated details of her account during his testimony Wednesday.

This accuser, Carolyn, had testified Tuesday that Maxwell scheduled sexualized massages with Jeffrey Epstein starting when Carloyn was 14, and that Maxwell groped her. Carolyn said that she had told Maxwell about having been sexually abused as a child.

Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 802 9999. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

Continue reading...

Third accuser alleges Ghislaine Maxwell preyed on her when she was a minor

‘Carolyn’ testifies that Maxwell coordinated sexualized massages with Jeffrey Epstein, starting when she was 14

  • This article contains depictions of sexual abuse

Prosecutors in Ghislaine Maxwell’s child sex-trafficking trial in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday introduced a witness who was once the kind of minor teen on whom the Briton is alleged to have preyed.

At 14, Carolyn was vulnerable. She had an alcoholic mother and a 17-year-old boyfriend and had been raped and molested by her grandfather from the age of four. She needed money.

Continue reading...

Andrew Neil threatens to sue Jennifer Arcuri after tweet about Epstein

Businesswoman had made claims about journalist’s inclusion in a contact book owned by Jeffrey Epstein

Andrew Neil says he has launched legal action against Jennifer Arcuri, the US businesswoman and former lover of Boris Johnson, after she made claims about the veteran journalist’s inclusion in a contact book owned by the deceased paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

In a public spat that started with a disagreement over the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines, Arcuri tagged the former BBC presenter in a now-deleted tweet that read: “Citation for @afneil: Not only is he a paid for pharma puppet but here he is on the pedo elite train. Everyone knows what happened on that plane.” Alongside were the hashtags #itsOver and #ticktock, a picture of Neil arm in arm with a woman, and a screengrab from Epstein’s address book purportedly showing Neil’s name.

Continue reading...

Epstein’s dark legend wraps Maxwell trial in web of conspiracy theories

Analysis: The task of Ghislaine Maxwell’s defense may be to tangle her so deeply in Epstein’s shadow that they cannot find her guilty

The graphic testimony presented to jurors in Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal sex abuse trial last week seemed at times to mesh and then detach from broader theories – criminal, conspiratorial or both – about the nature of Jeffrey Epstein’s world.

Whether prosecutors and defense attorneys are successful in separating criminal conspiracy from the conspiracy theories that run through the entire Epstein-Maxwell narrative may determine how the criminal complaint against the 59-year-old former British socialite is ultimately resolved.

Continue reading...

Ghislaine Maxwell accuser says she met Trump at 14 and flew with Prince Andrew

‘Jane’, who did not accuse Trump or duke of misconduct, testifies in court she was introduced to former president by Jeffrey Epstein

  • This article contains depictions of sexual abuse

The first accuser in Ghislaine Maxwell’s child sex trafficking trial testified on Wednesday that Jeffrey Epstein introduced her to Donald Trump when she was 14. This accuser also claimed that she was on a flight with Prince Andrew.

She did not accuse Trump or the Duke of York of any misconduct. The accuser, who used the pseudonym “Jane” in court, said this as she was undergoing cross-examination from one of Maxwell’s attorneys.

Continue reading...

Press, protesters, QAnon: the scene outside Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial

Each morning draws a crowd of onlookers as Maxwell’s own movements remain a mystery

Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial in New York is an early morning affair, reporters, court artists, protesters and onlookers gathering as early as 6am each day to get in the courthouse or, in some cases, simply to get their message out.

When the doors of the court open at 9am – and at lunch and 4pm – a line of black SUVs ferries well-turned parties in and out, a reminder, perhaps, that in some eyes at least this is about a public display of accountability for the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein as well as Maxwell’s trial on a set of criminal charges.

Continue reading...

Ghislaine Maxwell ‘preyed on vulnerable young girls’, prosecutors say

Maxwell ‘was involved in every detail of Epstein’s life’, federal prosecutors say in opening arguments

In Ghislaine Maxwell’s child sex-trafficking trial, Manhattan federal prosecutors shared a simple, chilling message with jurors in their opening statement: “She knew what was going to happen to those girls.”

Maxwell “preyed on vulnerable young girls, manipulated them and served them up to be sexually abused” by Jeffrey Epstein, said prosecutor Lara Pomerantz. “The defendant was trafficking kids for sex.

Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 802 9999. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

Continue reading...

Ghislaine Maxwell sex-trafficking trial ‘over-hyped’, brother insists

British socialite is accused of grooming girls as young as 14 to have sex with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein

Before opening arguments in Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial for allegedly aiding the late financier Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of minor girls, the Briton’s brother protested over what he called “the most over-hyped trial of the century”.

A family member would be in court at all times from Monday to show support, Ian Maxwell told the Associated Press. A woman who identified herself to court staff as a family member has attended all recent proceedings.

Continue reading...

Jeffrey Epstein documents reveal master manipulator who claimed he couldn’t kill himself

Sex trafficker’s final days detailed in more than 2,000 pages of never-before-seen records obtained by the New York Times

The financier and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein told a psychologist he was too much of “a coward” to ever kill himself, two weeks before he was found dead in his jail cell in a death that was ruled a suicide.

The claim was contained in a detailed analysis of Epstein’s final days compiled from more than 2,000 pages of never-before-seen documents and jail records obtained under freedom of information laws and published by the New York Times on Tuesday.

In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 800-273-8255 and online chat is also available. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org

Continue reading...