Ghislaine Maxwell appears via video link during her arraignment hearing where she was denied bail for her role aiding Jeffrey Epstein to recruit and eventually abuse of minor girls, in Manhattan Federal Court, in New York, July 14, 2020 in this courtroom sketch.
Jane Rosenberg | Reuters
More than 450 pages of a legal deposition of Ghislaine Maxwell, the accused procurer for late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, were publicly released Thursday after a long court battle.
The question-and-answer session between a lawyer and the wealthy British socialite Maxwell in April 2016 was released as part of a years-old civil case as her criminal case in the same Manhattan federal court heads to trial.
The deposition was taken in a defamation lawsuit brought by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, a woman who has accused Maxwell and Epstein of sexually abusing her.
The lawsuit was previously settled, but the deposition had been sealed until the Miami Herald waged a successful effort to get it released. Maxwell’s lawyers had strongly opposed its release.
Epstein was a former friend of Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, as well as with Britain’s Prince Andrew.
Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell attend de Grisogono Sponsors The 2005 Wall Street Concert Series Benefitting Wall Street Rising, with a Performance by Rod Stewart at Cipriani Wall Street on March 15, 2005 in New York City.
Joe Schildhorn | Patrick McMullan | Getty Images
The wealthy investor died from what has been ruled a suicide by hanging in August 2019 in a Manhattan federal jail cell, a month after being arrested on child sex trafficking charges.
Maxwell, 58, was arrested this past July on charges of abetting Epstein’s sexual abuse of underage girls. One of the alleged victims was just 14 years old at the time she was recruited by Maxwell, prosecutors say.
Maxwell is being held without bail on the charges. Maxwell also is charged with perjury for allegedly falsely denying while under oath her alleged conduct as his procurer during depositions in Giuffre’s civil lawsuit.
Maxwell has pleaded not guilty in the case.
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