High & mighty low
The first alleged victim to testify against Ghislaine Maxwell at her sex-trafficking trial told the court Wednesday of being introduced to Donald Trump by Jeffrey Epstein and said she flew with Britain’s Prince Andrew on one of the financier’s private planes.
The accuser, who testified in Manhattan federal court under the pseudonym “Jane,” recalled the two encounters while being quizzed by Maxwell’s defense attorney, Laura Menninger.
Jane responded affirmatively when asked if Epstein drove her to Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida club, in a “dark green car” when she was 14 years old in the 1990s.
Jane said she was introduced to the future president while at the Palm Beach estate.
She also was asked about flying on Epstein’s private planes and said she had flown with Prince Andrew.
On Tuesday, Jane testified in detail that she was abused as a teenager by Epstein and Maxwell after meeting the pair while eating ice cream on a bench at a Michigan art camp when she was 14.
She claimed there were “orgies” that included Epstein, Maxwell and other girls, as well as a time when she was abused by just the duo.
“They started to sort of like fondle each other,” she said of the 1994 encounter, adding that they were “casually giggling” as she stood there.
“He asked me to take my top off,” Jane added. “Then there were hands everywhere and Jeffrey proceeded to masturbate again. And Ghislaine was like rubbing on him, kissing on him.”
On Wednesday, she cried on the stand when she was asked by prosecutors about receiving some $2.9 million from an Epstein-victim compensation fund.
The accuser paused for about 30 seconds and wiped tears from her eyes with a tissue after being asked to describe what the cash meant to her.
“I wish I would have never received that money in the first place because of what happened,” she said, her voice breaking.
“In this country, compensation is the only thing you could get when you try to move on with your life and the pain and abuse and suffering I received . . . and try to fix myself,” she added.
Assistant US Attorney Alison Moe then asked her if she had any financial stake in the outcome of Ghislaine’s criminal trial. “No,” she replied.
The accuser’s payout from the fund came up as she was questioned by the defense in an attempt to undercut her credibility.
She had to agree to settle a civil suit she brought against Maxwell and the late financier’s estate to receive the payout in 2020.
Before she cried on the stand, Jane testified that she agreed to work with federal prosecutors because she wanted to get “closure.”