Sex case secrecy for celeb contacts
Maxwell trial shock
NEW YORK: Ghislaine Maxwell’s “little black book” of contacts – said to include numbers for Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, among scores of other bigname celebrities – will not be made public in court due to a deal between the defence and prosecution at her New York sex trafficking trial.
Judge Alison Nathan ruled only small parts of the directory would be released under seal. She had previously said she wanted to avoid “needless” namedropping during the trial.
Maxwell’s contact book is said to be a version of Jeffrey Epstein’s infamous 97-page book containing the names and addresses of almost 2000 world leaders, celebrities, film stars and businessmen.
The decision not to include the contact book is a boost for her defence team and comes amid allegations Andrew has claimed his sex assault accuser, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, has a “tendency to change her story” – as he fights to have her lawsuit against him dismissed.
Mr Giuffre, who now lives in Queensland, alleges that Andrew sexually assaulted her three times when she was 17.
Last month, her lawyers accused the embattled royal of “victim shaming” and using her to “gratify his own sexual desires”. In response, Andrew Brettler, the prince’s lead lawyer, said Ms Giuffre’s allegations were “vague” because she had given different versions of what happened to her.
He has asked a judge to in the US to throw out her civil lawsuit against the Queen’s second son.
“Her complaint is ambiguous at best and unintelligible at worst,” Mr Brettler said.
“(Her) refusal to include anything but the most conclusory allegations is puzzling given her pattern of disclosing to the media the purported details of the same allegations.
“Perhaps it is (her) tendency to change her story that prompted her to keep the allegations of the complaint vague so as not to commit to any specific account.”
However, Ms Giuffre stood by her accusations, saying Prince Andrew “was an abuser, he was a participant”.
In September, her legal team confirmed that they had issued the Duke of York with a writ ahead of his pre-trial in New York, which is due to start next month.
Royal sources claim that Prince Andrew is “totally consumed” by the case, and that last week he told his US legal team to cancel their Christmas plans, vowing they must leave “no stone unturned.”
Meanwhile, Ms Giuffre’s lawyers hit out at Prince Andrew’s disastrous UK TV interview in 2019 – claiming that it was evidence of his “guilt”.
He has strenuously denied any wrongdoing and strongly refuted the allegations made.