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Ghislaine Maxwell 2016 deposition transcripts unsealed

Posted at 8:48 AM, Oct 22, 2020
and last updated 2020-10-22 09:48:58-04

Transcripts from a 2016 deposition in which Ghislaine Maxwell answered questions about the sex-trafficking operation she allegedly ran with the late Jeffrey Epstein were released Thursday by court order.

The more than 400 pages of documents were ordered unsealed earlier this week after a legal battle between Maxwell and Virginia Giuffre, who accuses Maxwell, Epstein and others of sexually abusing her when she was a minor.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL TRANSCRIPT

Maxwell is accused of recruiting young girls for Epstein to have sex with, and of allegedly ordering young girls and women to have sex with rich and powerful men.

The depositions were taken as part of a lawsuit brought against Maxwell by Giuffre. The lawsuit was eventually settled.

There are redactions in the transcript to remove private information of some of the people it mentions.

Lawyers for Maxwell, 58, had argued the transcript, which reflects seven hours of interviews over two days, should remain sealed, in part to protect her right to a fair trial in July on charges that she helped Epstein traffic and sexually abuse teenage girls in the 1990s.

They noted that portions of the transcripts relate to perjury charges in the indictment she currently faces. She has pleaded not guilty.

Maxwell has been incarcerated since her arrest in early July. If convicted, she could face up to 35 years in prison.

Maxwell’s arrest came a year after Epstein, 66, was arrested and charged with sex trafficking. He killed himself in August 2019 at a federal jail in Manhattan where he was awaiting trial without bail.

In 2008 in Florida, Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges of soliciting and procuring a person under age 18 for prostitution. He spent 13 months in jail, paid settlements to victims and remained a registered sex offender.