Authored by Bowden Xiao: Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime associate of deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, confirmed in a newly unsealed 2016 deposition that she had flown together with Epstein and former President Bill Clinton.
The deposition, from a now-settled civil defamation lawsuit against
Maxwell by accuser Virginia Giuffre, contains countless instances of
Maxwell evading lawyers’ questions. Epstein described Maxwell—a longtime
member of Epstein’s inner circle—as his “best friend” in a 2003 Vanity Fair piece.
At one point in the deposition, Maxwell is asked by Guiffre’s lawyer Sigrid McCawley: “You did fly on planes, Jeffrey Epstein’s planes with President Clinton, is that correct?”
Maxwell replied: “I have flown, yes.”
Maxwell has long been accused of helping groom minor girls for
Epstein. Multiple alleged victims of Epstein have accused Maxwell
of luring them into his trafficking circle, where they said they were
sexually abused by him and other powerful people.
In follow up questions, Maxwell was asked: “When you were on
the plane with Jeffrey and President Clinton, did you observe Jeffrey
and [REDACTED] talking?”
“I’m sure they did,” Maxwell replied.
When asked if Epstein and the individual whose name was redacted seemed friendly, Maxwell said “I don’t recollect.”
Laura Menninger, Maxwell’s attorney, didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment from The Epoch Times.
Clinton flew on Epstein’s jet, infamously dubbed the “Lolita Express,” at least 26 times, according to records obtained by Fox News in 2016. In a July, 2019 statement, Clinton denied ever visiting Epstein’s private island and said he had only traveled on the plane four times.
Last year, a day before Epstein was found dead in his cell, nearly 2,000 pages of documents relating
to him were unsealed, including claims from Giuffre that she was
directed by Maxwell to have sex with a number of rich and powerful men,
including Epstein.
In those unsealed
documents, a section titled “New York Presbyterian Hospital Records”
detailed how Giuffre had “provided extensive medical records in this
case, including medical records from the time when Defendant was
sexually abusing and trafficking her.”
According to
the 2016 transcript, which contained countless blacked out redactions,
Maxwell was asked about her relationship with Epstein and of the
allegations by Giuffre.
“I never saw any inappropriate underage activities with Jeffrey ever,” Maxwell said.
“I can’t testify to what Jeffrey did or didn’t do,” Maxwell said. She
later added: “I can only testify to what I know and the fact that she
(Giuffre) has lied about me from the beginning to the end and repeatedly
causes me to question anything that she may feel.”
The deposition and other documents were cleared for release after the
2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan on Oct. 19 rejected
Maxwell’s “meritless” arguments that her interests outweighed the
presumption that the public should see the materials.
Maxwell was arrested on
July 2 in Bradford, New Hampshire. She previously lived for years with
Epstein and was his frequent travel companion on trips around the
world. If convicted, she faces up to 35 years in prison. A trial is
scheduled for July 2021.
During the 2016 deposition, Maxwell was asked how many times she had flown on Jeffrey Epstein’s planes.
“Too many times,” she replied.
Maxwell said she was employed by Epstein and hired assistants,
architects, decorators, cooks, cleaners, gardeners, pool people, and
pilots as part of the upkeep of six homes, according to the transcript,
which takes up 418 pages.
In one instance, Maxwell acknowledged that “a very small part of my
job was from time to time to find adult professional massage therapists
for Jeffrey.”
Maxwell appeared evasive as a lawyers pressed her on whether she hired Giuffre to give Epstein an erotic massage.
“Virginia Roberts [Giuffre] held herself out as a masseuse and invited herself to come and give a massage,” Maxwell testified.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Follow Bowen on Twitter: @BowenXiao_
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