Explosive Ghislaine Maxwell documents set to be released today
Documents that Ghislaine Maxwell fought to keep secret relating to her relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are set to be released today after the British socialite lost a court appeal.
Maxwell has denied all charges of playing a role in the “sexual exploitation and abuse of multiple minor girls” under Epstein’s watch.
She has also pleaded not guilty to perjury for having denied involvement in any such scheme when she gave her deposition under oath.
Documents set to be unsealed today relate to a now-settled civil defamation lawsuit against Maxwell by Virginia Giuffre, who has accused Epstein of keeping her as a “sex slave” with Maxwell’s assistance.
US District Judge Loretta Preska yesterday ordered that a transcript of Maxwell’s testimony and other documents relating to her close relationship with Epstein be released by 1pm GMT today.
The judge ignored claims by Maxwell’s lawyers that releasing the documents would violate Maxwell’s constitutional right against self-incrimination and her right to a fair trial.
“If the unsealing order goes into effect, it will forever let the cat out of the bag,” and “intimate, sensitive, and personal information” about Maxwell might “spread like wildfire across the Internet,” her lawyers said in August.
Maxwell, who is behind bars in a Brooklyn jail as she awaits trial in July 2021, had her appeal to be released on bail rejected after being labelled “an unacceptable flight risk”.
It comes after Epstein killed himself aged 66 in August last year at a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
The disgraced financier, who had previously escaped federal prosecution by pleading guilty in 2008 to Florida state prostitution charges, is accused of rape, sex trafficking and sexual assault on minors by a slew of women.
Epstein’s downfall flung some of the most high-profile figures in the world, such as President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew, into the spotlight.
Giuffre has said she was trafficked by Epstein and forced to have sex with multiple associates of the former financier, including Prince Andrew when she was 17 years old.
Prince Andrew has repeatedly denied all allegations.
Sigrid McCawley, Giuffre’s lawyer, described this week’s court ruling as an “important step towards vindicating the public interest in understanding the scope and scale of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring and the efforts made to conceal it”.