NEW YORK (AP) — Just days after Ghislaine Maxwell asked a judge to release her immediately from a 20-year prison sentence, the public release of transcripts from the grand jury proceedings in her sex trafficking case has refocused attention on the victims whose testimony helped put her behind bars.
Transcripts that are part of the ongoing release of the Justice Department's investigation into Maxwell and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein revealed how an FBI agent described to jurors Maxwell's key role in Epstein's long-standing sexual abuse of girls and young women. Maxwell, a British socialite and publishing heiress, was convicted in December 2021 of sex trafficking after four women testified before a federal grand jury in New York about how she and Epstein abused them in the 1990s and early 2000s. Epstein never appeared in court. In July 2019, he was arrested on charges of sex trafficking and committed suicide a month later in his cell at a federal prison in Manhattan.
Two weeks ago, as the Justice Department prepared to release the so-called Epstein files, Maxwell filed a habeas petition asking a federal judge to release her on the grounds that „substantial new evidence“ had emerged proving that constitutional violations had undermined her trial. Maxwell claimed that exculpatory information had been withheld from her and that witnesses had lied in their testimony. She filed the petition herself, without the assistance of a lawyer. This week, Judge Paul A. Engelmayer scolded Maxwell for failing to redact the names of victims and other identifying information from her court documents. He said future filings must be sealed and kept out of public view until they are reviewed and redacted to protect the identities of victims.
Victims fear Maxwell will be pardoned
Epstein's plaintiff Danielle Bensky said that the release of the records only intensified the victims„ focus on Maxwell's crimes. Bensky said she participated in daily discussions with about two dozen other victims, which clearly show that Maxwell “is a criminal who engaged in sexual practices on 1000 %.„ “I've heard things that would make your blood run cold. Just last night, I spoke to one survivor who said she was a puppet," Bensky said. Bensky said Epstein sexually abused her two decades ago. She said Maxwell never abused her personally.
Delayed and heavily edited writings
Transcripts of the grand jury proceedings that led to Maxwell's indictment were released this week in accordance with the Epstein Transparency Act, which was passed last month after months of public and political pressure. The Justice Department is releasing the records in instalments after acknowledging last Friday that it would miss a congressional deadline to release all the records. It blamed the delay on the time-consuming process of redacting victims„ names and other identifying information. On Wednesday, the department said that after the sudden discovery of more than a million potentially relevant documents, it may need “several more weeks„ before it releases the entire trove. It was a stunning development after department officials indicated a month ago that they had already documented a vast amount of material related to Epstein. Some records from the Epstein and Maxwell grand jury were initially released with extensive redactions — a 119-page document labelled “Grand Jury-NY" was completely blacked out. Updated versions were released over the weekend.
An FBI agent tests a manipulated young girl.
The FBI agent's testimony before the grand jury, describing interviews with Epstein's victims, foreshadowed the court testimony of four women a year later who described Maxwell's role in their sexual abuse between 1994 and 2004. The agent recounted a woman who described meeting Maxwell and Epstein as a 14-year-old girl attending a summer arts camp in Michigan in 1994. Flight records showed that Epstein and Maxwell attended the school that sponsored the camp because Epstein was a donor. According to the agent, whose name was redacted from the transcript, the girl happened to meet Epstein and Maxwell one day. After learning that the girl was from Palm Beach, Florida, Epstein mentioned that he sometimes gave scholarships to students, and they asked for her phone number, the agent said. Once the girl was home, she visited Epstein's estate with her mother for tea, and her mother was so impressed when Epstein said he provided scholarships that she said Epstein was like a „godfather“ to her, the agent said.
The agent said that the girl began visiting the estate regularly because Epstein and Maxwell „gifted“ her with presents and trips to the cinema, and Epstein began paying for singing lessons and giving her money, which he said she should give to her mother, who was struggling. The agent said the girl thought her relationship with Epstein and Maxwell was strange, „but Maxwell normalised it for her. She was like a cool older sister and made comments like, ‚This is what adults do.‘“ The agent eventually testified that the girl saw Maxwell topless by the pool. After she revealed that she hoped to become an actress and model, Epstein told her that he was best friends with the owner of Victoria's Secret and that she would have to learn to feel comfortable in her underwear and not be a prude, the agent said. Then, as the agent stated, the girl asked Epstein what he meant, and the financier pulled her onto his lap and masturbated. After that, the agent added, the girl's encounters with Epstein began to involve sexual contact, particularly in his massage room.
Maxwell was there sometimes with other girls, the agent said. One of the girls began massaging Epstein, and Maxwell teased the girls, the agent said. „She grabbed the girl's breasts and directed them what to do,“ the agent said, recounting the girl's testimony. Maxwell behaved „very casually“ during the encounter; she acted as if it were normal, the agent said. The published testimony appeared to mirror the testimony of a woman who testified in court in 2021 under the pseudonym „Jane“ against Maxwell. Jane testified in court that Maxwell also participated in group sessions between multiple women and Epstein, which usually began with Epstein or Maxwell leading them all to a bedroom or massage room at the Palm Beach residence.
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