Ghislaine Maxwell’s deposition detailing her sex life will be made public next week – BUT judge rules that any sordid details of ‘private intimate contact’ between consenting adults must be redacted
- Ghislaine Maxwell’s deposition in which she spoke about her sex life will be made public next week along with dozens of other documents
- But Judge Loretta Preska said that anything in the documents about ‘consensual adult behavior’ should stay private
- The deposition due to be released was taken in July 2016 in a defamation case brought against Maxwell by Virginia Roberts Giuffre that led to her perjury charges
- The hearing at federal court in New York was temporarily disrupted by QAnon conspiracy theorists
- Maxwell’s case has become an obsession for those who believe the world is controlled by a conspiracy of pedophile Democrats and Hollywood stars
- Maxwell’s attempt to get free from jail on a $28.5m bail package backfired spectacularly after a judge said it ‘only solidifies’ the risk of her fleeing
- Maxwell, 58, has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since July when she was arrested for allegedly procuring girls as young as 14 for Jeffrey Epstein to abus
Ghislaine Maxwell’s second deposition in which she spoke about her sex life will be made public next Tuesday along with dozens of other documents.
But the alleged madam for Jeffrey Epstein got a break when the judge in the case ruled that anything relating to ‘private intimate conduct’ should be redacted.
Judge Loretta Preska said that anything in the documents about ‘consensual adult behavior’ should stay private too.
The hearing at federal court in New York was temporarily disrupted by QAnon conspiracy theorists who were livestreaming the dial-in audio hearing on YouTube.
The phone line to listen in had already hit 500 people by the time the stream posted by a YouTube personality went up and attracted 14,000 viewers.
Judge Preska ordered him to stop and said he was ‘operating against the law’ and the stream went down a few minutes later.
Maxwell’s case has become an obsession for conspiracy theorists who believe the world is controlled by a group of pedophile Democrats and Hollywood stars.
The 58-year-old British socialite is accused of procuring girls as young as 14 for Epstein to abuse and in some cases taking part in the assaults.
Ghislaine Maxwell’s deposition in which she spoke about her sex life will be made public next week along with dozens of other documents. But Judge Loretta Preska said that anything in the documents about ‘consensual adult behavior’ should stay private
Maxwell’s attempt to get free from jail on a $28.5m bail package backfired spectacularly after a judge said it ‘only solidifies’ the risk of her fleeing
Maxwell is also accused of perjury and has pleaded not guilty.
The deposition due to be released was taken in July 2016 in a defamation case brought against Maxwell by Virginia Roberts Giuffre that led to her perjury charges.
Giuffre claims that Maxwell recruited her and that she and Epstein loaned her out to Britain’s Prince Andrew for sex three times.
In her ruling Judge Preska rejected claims from Maxwell’s lawyers that unsealing this set of documents would cause a ‘media frenzy’. Nor would it jeopardize her right to a fair trial as Maxwell had claimed.
Judge Preska said that in a previously unsealed deposition from Maxwell, which she submitted to in April 2016, Maxwell did not answer when asked about her sex life.
But in her July 2016 deposition she did answer such questions and so was entitled to privacy. The judge said: ‘Public access to certain parts of the transcript is outweighed by Ms. Maxwell’s countervailing interests in resisting disclosure of the details of her private, intimate relationships with consenting adults.
‘This testimony is, in any case, far afield from the sex trafficking and sexual abuse allegations that were central to the dispute in (the defamation case).
‘Although the prurient interest of some may be left unsatiated as a result, Ms. Maxwell’s interest in keeping private the details of her sexual relationships with consenting adults warrants the sealing of those portions of her testimony (and any materials that reference them)’.
Referring to one document the judge said: ‘Objections to questions nine, 10 and 11 will remain sealed because it relates to Miss Maxwell’s intimate conduct. Material on pages 17 to 19 shall remain sealed, same reason.
On another document Judge Preska said: ‘In the introduction, the sentence beginning ‘Miss Maxwell never admitted’ shall remain sealed. It relates to private intimate conduct. Pages 1-2, the material relating to Miss Maxwell’s adult conduct shall remain sealed’.
In the same document, Judge Preska said one sentence with ‘material relating to adult consensual behavior should be redacted’.
The names and testimony of people who did not object to their identities being made public will be unsealed in the next batch of documents, as will all references to Alan Dershowtiz, the lawyer who has represented Epstein.
Giuffre claims she was forced to have sex with Dershowitz too, claims he strongly denis.
Judge Preska initially wanted the documents unsealed by Tuesday next week but Maxwell’s lawyers asked for another day because they have a deadline to file court documents in her criminal case on Monday, and the judge agreed.
The April 2016 deposition which has already been made public ran to 418 pages and Maxwell fought tooth and nail to keep it private.
Over seven hours Maxwell was questioned about everything from her sex life to her relationship with Andrew and Epstein.
Maxwell was defiant, dismissive and refused to answer some questions 20 times.
At one point she denied keeping a ‘laundry basket of sex toys’ at Epstein’s mansion in Palm Beach, Florida.
Judge Alison Nathan said the vast sum, including $22.5m from Maxwell and her husband, was so much higher than the $3.5m she claimed to be worth after her arrest in July that it was suspicious.
Maxwell was asked about having three-way sexual massages with Epstein and his sexual ‘idiosyncrasies’ such as nipple pinching.
When asked if she ever provided Guiffre with ‘schoolgirl outfits’ for her to wear with a massage Maxwell responded: ‘I have no idea what you are talking about’.
Maxwell did admit that in 2015 she and Prince Andrew talked on the phone about allegations made by Giuffre.
Andrew said of Giuffre that ‘everything she said is a lie’, according to Maxwell.
Elsewhere in the deposition Maxwell called Giuffre an ‘awful fantasist’ and at one point she became so angry she banged her hand on the table.
Maxwell’s attempt to get free from jail on a $28.5m bail package backfired spectacularly after a judge said it ‘only solidifies’ the risk of her fleeing.
Judge Alison Nathan said the vast sum, including $22.5m from Maxwell and her husband, was so much higher than the $3.5m she claimed to be worth after her arrest in July that it was suspicious.
Judge Nathan wrote that Maxwell was guilty of ‘misdirection’ to the court by failing to disclose her true worth the first time around.
Maxwell’s ‘lack of candor is, if anything, stronger now than in July’ and her representations back then were ‘woefully incomplete’, the judge said.
The scathing assessment was part of a 22-page filing to federal court in New York which set out Judge Nathan’s reasons for denying Maxwell bail for a second time.
The ruling means that Maxwell will remain in the grim Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn until at least July next year when her trial is due to take place.
Judge Nathan wrote that Maxwell was guilty of ‘misdirection’ to the court by failing to disclose her true worth the first time around
Maxwell, 58, has been held there since July when she was arrested for allegedly procuring girls as young as 14 for Jeffrey Epstein to abuse.
The British socialite is also accused of perjuring herself in a civil case and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Maxwell’s second bail application had included more than a dozen letters from family and friends in support.
The $22.5m in cash and assets from her and husband Scott Borgerson, 44, a tech entrepreneur, was on top of $5m in property from her family and a $1m bond from a private security company.
Judge Loretta Preska said that anything in the documents about ‘consensual adult behavior’ should stay private, thus siding with Maxwell
But in the filing Judge Nathan said that Maxwell’s new bail application showed she had ‘extraordinary financial resources’ she could use to ‘flee the country undetected’.
The judge wrote: ‘The new information provided in the renewed application only solidifies the court’s view that the defendant plainly poses a risk of flight and that no combination of conditions can ensure her appearance’.
Judge Nathan said that Maxwell ‘providing incomplete or erroneous information to the court or pretrial services’ was a ‘significant’ factor in her decision.
After her arrest in July Maxwell claimed she had no access to her financial records and was piecing her assets together from memory.
But Judge Nathan said that the difference between $3.5m and $22.5m was so big that Maxwell’s explanation stretched credibility.
Maxwell is accused of procuring girls as young as 14 for Epstein between 1994 and 1997
The judge wrote: ‘Even if the defendant was unable to provide an exact number, however, the difference between the number she originally reported to pretrial services and the number now presented to the court makes it unlikely that the misrepresentation was the result of the defendant’s mis-estimation rather than misdirection.
‘In sum, the evidence of a lack of candor is, if anything, stronger now than in July 2020, as it is clear to the court that the defendant’s representations to pretrial services were woefully incomplete.
‘That lack of candor raises significant concerns as to whether the court has now been provided a full and accurate picture of her finances and as to the defendant’s willingness to abide by any set of conditions of release’.
Judge Nathan noted that Maxwell had leaned heavily on a letter from Mr Borgerson – who she acknowledged as her husband for the first time in the bail application – saying that she would never leave the US and abandon him.
Borgerson wrote that Maxwell was a ‘wonderful and loving’ person and he believed in her innocence.
Judge Nathan wrote: ‘The defendant now argues that her newly revealed relationship with her spouse signals her deep effective ties in the country, but at the time she was arrested, she was not living with him and claimed to be getting divorced.
‘Indeed, she does not propose to live with him were she to be released on bail, undercutting her argument that that relationship would create an insurmountable burden to her fleeing’.
Elsewhere in the ruling Judge Nathan said that, contrary to Maxwell’s claims, the case against her remained ‘strong’.
The allegations from the three accusers would be backed up by flight records and other witnesses’ corroborating testimony, the judge said.
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