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.

‘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.