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Jeffrey Epstein accuser says she doesn't believe Ghislaine Maxwell is actually in prison and thinks she 'very well may be in Trump Tower'

Jun 25, 2021, 02:01 IST
Insider
Maria Farmer said she has doubts about whether Ghislaine Maxwell is actually in jail. Peacock/NBC/Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images
  • Epstein accuser Maria Farmer doesn't think alleged co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell is in jail.
  • Farmer says she wants "proof" and thinks Maxwell "may very well be in Trump Tower."
  • Farmer has accused Epstein and Maxwell of sexually assaulting her in 1996.
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Maria Farmer, one of the over 20 women who have accused Jeffrey Epstein of sexual assault, doesn't believe that Epstein's confidante and alleged co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell is actually in jail.

Maxwell, a former socialite, is being held in a Brooklyn, New York, prison without bail while awaiting trial in connection with accusations that she recruited minor girls for the disgraced financier to sexually abuse.

Farmer, however, voiced doubts about Maxwell's whereabouts in a newly-released three-part docuseries, titled "Epstein's Shadow: Ghislaine Maxwell," which premiered on Peacock on Thursday.

"Forgive me, after this 'giant conspiracy theory' I've lived that I don't believe anything," Farmer said in the documentary. "I want proof. I'd like to see her."

"She may very well be in Trump Tower," she added.

While there is no evidence to suggest that Maxwell is indeed living at Trump Tower, Epstein and the man behind the Manhattan skyscraper, former president Donald Trump, had a well-documented friendship that began in the late 1980s, according to Trump.

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Although the politician said in 2019 that he "wasn't a fan" of Epstein, Trump and Epstein were photographed alongside Maxwell and Trump's wife, Melania, on at least one occasion in 2000. "Epstein's Shadow: Ghislaine Maxwell" also features a clip of Trump and Epstein laughing together at a party in Palm Beach, Florida, in 1992.

The producers for "Epstein's Shadow: Ghislaine Maxwell" noted in the documentary that Maxwell didn't respond to their request for an interview. Farmer's statements in the documentary were provided in a sworn affidavit.

Insider separately reached out to Maxwell's legal representatives for comment on Farmer's allegations, but had not heard back at the time of publishing. Insider also reached out to representatives for Trump, but didn't immediately hear back.

Ghislaine Maxwell appears via video link in Manhattan Federal Court, in New York City on July 14, 2020. Reuters/Jane Rosenberg TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

"Epstein's Shadow: Ghislaine Maxwell," which focuses on Maxwell, investigates her close ties to Epstein while providing a deeper look into her family background and social life. The series features over a dozen interviews with accusers, journalists, lawyers, and former friends of Maxwell.

It also includes Farmer's account of getting to know Epstein and Maxwell, a former couple, in the 1990s. Farmer said in the docuseries that Epstein initially offered her, then a recent college graduate artist, a job acquiring art pieces on his behalf before tasking Farmer with supervising the front desk at his Manhattan townhouse.

However, the relationship between Farmer and the older pair turned sour when, Farmer alleges, Maxwell and Epstein sexually abused her in 1996.

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Farmer first publicly opened up about her experience with Maxwell and Epstein in a 2019 New York Times report in which Farmer's younger sister, Annie, also recounted accusations of Maxwell giving a then-minor Annie an inappropriate massage while Epstein watched.

Annie's separate encounter with Maxwell and Epstein, combined with her own sexual assault, prompted Farmer to report the former couple to the FBI in 1996, but Farmer alleges that the federal authorities didn't seriously investigate her claims.

In response to the 2019 report, the FBI declined to reveal to the Times whether the federal agency had records of any calls from Farmer in 1996.

Maxwell previously complained about the conditions inside her jail cell

While Farmer may have her doubts about whether Maxwell is actually in prison, Maxwell has repeatedly tried to get out of jail before her trial later this year, citing poor living conditions.

Insider previously reported that in a bail application filed in April, Maxwell's lawyers said that the conditions inside her Brooklyn jail are "fitting for Hannibal Lecter but not a 59-year old woman who poses no threat to anyone."

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Bobbi Sternheim, Maxwell's lawyer, added in the same letter that Maxwell was being given "often cloudy" water to drink and improperly microwaved food to eat. Maxwell was also not able to sleep properly because of facility staff shining a flashlight into her cell every 15 minutes, Sternheim said.

Ghislaine Maxwell. Laura Cavanaugh/Getty Images

Sternheim said in another letter to US District Judge Alison J. Nathan filed to the court on June 15 and viewed by Insider that "raw sewage permeated" the walls of Maxwell's cell and that vermin droppings fell from air vents.

Maxwell's older brother, Ian, echoed Sternheim's statement's about Ghislaine's poor living conditions in an ABC News interview clip included in "Epstein's Shadow: Ghislaine Maxwell."

"Why is Ghislaine Maxwell being treated differently?" he continued in the ABC News interview. "She's a patsy for Epstein, is the answer, who they lost on their watch and they're taking it out on my sister."

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