418 pages of Ghislaine Maxwell testimony shows her dodging loads of questions about Jeffrey Epstein, Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, and more. Here are the highlights.
- An appeals court in New York released a previously sealed 2016 deposition from Ghislaine Maxwell on Thursday.
- During much of the interview, Maxwell was asked questions about her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
- Maxwell also dodged questions about former President Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew in the interview.
- The deposition was taken as part of a 2015 civil case brought on by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who has accused Maxwell and Epstein of sex trafficking.
An appeals court in New York released 418 pages of deposition from Ghislaine Maxwell on Thursday, and during the seven hours of interviews she dodged multiple questions about Jeffrey Epstein, Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton.
The 2016 deposition was originally taken as part of a 2015 civil case brought by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who accused Maxwell and Epstein of underage sex trafficking.
Maxwell, who is currently in jail awaiting trial on criminal charges accusing her of trafficking girls as young as 14 for Epstein, avoided dozens of questions throughout the deposition, answering with "I don't recall" and "I refuse to answer" or asked to "move on."
The deposition features mentions of Chelsea Clinton's wedding, Epstein's flight log, a puppet Prince Andrew has been accused of groping victims with, and more.
Here are some of the highlights:
When asked if Epstein had a "scheme to recruit underage girls for sexual massages," Maxwell responded, "I don't know what you are talking about."
When asked about police statements from 30 different alleged victims, Maxwell challenged the truthfulness of their claims. She was asked if she believed the women were lying in their police statements, Maxwell responded: "I'm not testifying to their lies. I'm testifying to Virginia's lies."
Upon being asked when she had "first recruit(ed) a female to work for Mr. Epstein," Maxwell's lawyer responded: "The subject matter of this question is confidential and I am designating it as confidential."
Maxwell denied being on Epstein's island with former President Bill Clinton and Giuffre, saying: "Absolutely 1000 percent that is a flat out total fabrication and lie."
Maxwell denied gifting Prince Andrew with a puppet that an alleged victim said he used to grope girls and women. She did say, however, that the puppet, which she called a "caricature," was at Jeffrey Epstein's New York home.
Elsewhere in the deposition, Maxwell said she considered herself to be Epstein's girlfriend in the early 1990s, but said by 2004 they were no longer boyfriend and girlfriend.
Maxwell said Epstein never met her father, late media mogul Robert Maxwell.
A court document released with the deposition revealed that Prince Andrew refused a certified letter requesting him to answer investigator's questions in 2015.
In the same court document, it was revealed that Maxwell avoided being deposed in 2009 by saying her mother was sick and that she had to attend Chelsea Clinton's wedding.
Maxwell was arrested in July and is being held without bail at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center.
Ahead of the release of the deposition, Maxwell's lawyers had argued would "lead to a violation" of their client's "due process right to a fair trial." An appeals judge said Maxwell's lawyers' argument lacked merit and that the public had the right to read her deposition.'
Giuffre's lawyers filed a response to Maxwell's deposition less than a month after the testimony was taken, in which they argued that Maxwell should be interviewed again.
"Contrary to Defendant's assertions, Ms. Giuffre is not engaged in a 'fishing expedition' but rather seeks to ask highly-focused questions specifically relevant to this case," her lawyers said. At trial, Ms. Giuffre intends to strongly disprove Defendant's false assertions and to demonstrate that Defendant recruited Ms. Giuffre to be involved in massages of a sexual nature with Epstein."
Read the full deposition here:
- Read more:
- Ghislaine Maxwell evaded a question about Jeffrey Epstein's relationship with Bill Clinton in a newly unsealed deposition
- 418 pages of testimony from Ghislaine Maxwell about Jeffrey Epstein were just made public — here's the full document
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