This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/22/nyregion/ghislaine-maxwell-epstein-deposition.html

The article has changed 9 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Deposition of Ghislaine Maxwell, Charged in Epstein Case, Is Revealed Deposition of Ghislaine Maxwell, Charged in Epstein Case, Is Revealed
(about 2 hours later)
[Reporters for The New York Times are reading the deposition now. This article will be updated.]
For years, Ghislaine Maxwell has been a central but silent figure in a scandal involving Jeffrey Epstein’s long history of abusing teenage girls.For years, Ghislaine Maxwell has been a central but silent figure in a scandal involving Jeffrey Epstein’s long history of abusing teenage girls.
On Thursday, however, Ms. Maxwell’s voice was heard for the first time as a four-year-old deposition was released containing her response to the swirl of claims surrounding Mr. Epstein: a series of evasions and denials.On Thursday, however, Ms. Maxwell’s voice was heard for the first time as a four-year-old deposition was released containing her response to the swirl of claims surrounding Mr. Epstein: a series of evasions and denials.
Stubborn and elusive by turns, Ms. Maxwell rejected almost every allegation of wrongdoing in the 465-page document, denying that she helped Mr. Epstein recruit, groom and ultimately sexually mistreat dozens of young women and teenage girls. Stubborn and elusive by turns, Ms. Maxwell, 58, rejected almost every allegation of wrongdoing in the 465-page document, denying that she helped Mr. Epstein recruit, groom and ultimately sexually mistreat dozens of teenage girls and young women.
At one point, she was asked 10 times in a row if she believed Mr. Epstein had abused any children — and each time ducked the question. At one point, she was asked 10 times in a row if she believed Mr. Epstein had abused any minors — and each time ducked the question.
She also denied that she herself had ever had any form of inappropriate sex.She also denied that she herself had ever had any form of inappropriate sex.
“I just testified,” she said, “I never had nonconsensual sex with anybody ever, at any time, at anyplace, at any time, with anybody.”“I just testified,” she said, “I never had nonconsensual sex with anybody ever, at any time, at anyplace, at any time, with anybody.”
Ms. Maxwell, Mr. Epstein’s former romantic partner, became the focus of a federal investigation into his sex-trafficking network after his suicide in jail last year. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have charged her with conspiring with Mr. Epstein, a financier, in his abuse of minors. As his closest associate, she is believed to have extensive information about him and others who might have been involved.Ms. Maxwell, Mr. Epstein’s former romantic partner, became the focus of a federal investigation into his sex-trafficking network after his suicide in jail last year. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have charged her with conspiring with Mr. Epstein, a financier, in his abuse of minors. As his closest associate, she is believed to have extensive information about him and others who might have been involved.
But her deposition left unanswered the question of who that might be: Nearly all of the names contained within it — except her own and Mr. Epstein's — were redacted.But her deposition left unanswered the question of who that might be: Nearly all of the names contained within it — except her own and Mr. Epstein's — were redacted.
Ms. Maxwell’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Ms. Maxwell’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The daughter of a publishing magnate and a onetime fixture on New York’s social scene, Ms. Maxwell had fought for months to keep her two depositions in a 2015 civil case brought by one of her and Mr. Epstein’s accusers secret, arguing that they contained sensitive personal information. But on Monday, a federal appeals court in Manhattan upheld a lower court’s ruling that one of them could be made public. After a flurry of motions by her lawyers, the deposition was released on Thursday morning. While the deposition is rife with denials about various forms of sexual activity — including one involving a laundry basket of sex toys — Ms. Maxwell does explain that she performed several jobs for Mr. Epstein at his properties in New York and Florida. She said she was in charge of hiring his pool attendants, gardeners, chefs, butlers, housekeepers and chauffeurs. All of them, she added, were “age appropriate adult people.”
Ms. Maxwell, 58, was arrested on July 2 on charges that from 1994 to 1997, she contributed to the abuse of multiple teenage girls by Mr. Epstein — one as young as 14 — and in some cases participated in the abuse. She also was charged with lying under oath in the two depositions, which occurred in 2016. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges. The deposition also provides a glimpse into how Mr. Epstein financially supported Ms. Maxwell over the years. She said he lent her money to buy a townhouse and bought a car for her — though she acknowledged that she could not recall the make or model. She also said Mr. Epstein donated $50,000 to TerraMar, an ocean conservation charity she founded.
Ms. Maxwell’s arrest came almost exactly one year after Mr. Epstein was taken into custody and charged in New York with sexually exploiting and abusing dozens of girls and young women at his mansion in Manhattan, his estate in Palm Beach, Fla., and other locations. Ms. Maxwell further noted that Mr. Epstein liked to have at least one massage a day and that more than one masseuse would be on call to perform them. But she refused to answer questions about whether the word “massage” was a code word for sex, saying only that they involved “private adult sexual relationships.”
The Maxwell depositions were part of the 2015 defamation lawsuit filed in Manhattan against her by Virginia Giuffre, who had earlier accused Ms. Maxwell of recruiting her as a teenager to become a victim in Mr. Epstein’s sex-trafficking scheme. Ms. Maxwell, the daughter of a publishing magnate and a onetime fixture on New York’s social scene, had fought for months to bar the release of the deposition, as well as a second one — both of which emerged from a 2015 civil case brought by Virginia Giuffre, one of her and Mr. Epstein’s accusers.
Though she had argued that the documents contained sensitive personal information, a federal appeals court in Manhattan upheld on Monday a lower court’s decision that one of them could be made public. After a flurry of motions by her lawyers, the deposition was released on Thursday morning.
Ms. Giuffre has accused Ms. Maxwell in a defamation lawsuit of recruiting her as a teenager to become a victim in Mr. Epstein’s sex-trafficking scheme. She claims that she met Ms. Maxwell, when she was 17, at Mar-a-Lago, President Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, Fla., where Mr. Epstein also kept a home.
Mr. Trump’s name does not appear to be in the deposition, though it is hard to tell if he was mentioned or not because of the heavy redactions.
In a statement issued Thursday, Ms. Giuffre’s lawyers, David Boies and Sigrid McCawley, hailed the release of Ms. Maxwell’s deposition, calling it “a small part of the total evidence.”
“As the evidence comes out,” the lawyers said, “it will be clear why Ms. Maxwell and others who enabled Jeffrey Epstein are fighting so hard to keep it concealed.”
When Ms. Maxwell was arrested on July 2, prosecutors said that from 1994 to 1997, she contributed to the abuse of multiple teenage girls by Mr. Epstein — one as young as 14 — and in some cases participated in the abuse. She also was charged with lying under oath in her depositions, which were taken in 2016. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Her arrest came almost exactly one year after Mr. Epstein himself was taken into custody and charged in New York with sexually exploiting and abusing dozens of girls and young women at his mansion in Manhattan, his estate in Palm Beach and other locations. He died in jail of apparent suicide in August 2019 while his criminal case was still being prosecuted.
Ms. Maxwell’s long association with Mr. Epstein has now led to both criminal charges and a lawsuit being filed against her, but at the time of her deposition, she admitted she was loyal to him.
“Why did you continue to maintain contact with Jeffrey Epstein after he pled guilty?” Ms. McCawley asked her.
“I believe that you need to be a good friend in people’s hour of need,” Ms. Maxwell said, “and I felt that it was a very thoughtful, nice thing for me to do to help in very limited fashion.”