Even as Maxwell documents are unsealed, many of her secrets remain buried
In July 2016, lawyer David Boies forced Ghislaine Maxwell to sit for a sworn deposition in New York as part of a civil defamation lawsuit that had grown increasingly contentious in the year since it was filed.
Maxwell, who was accused of helping financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually exploit and rape countless girls, had managed to evade subpoenas and, in a prior deposition, was so combative that she refused to answer even the simplest of questions. The federal judge overseeing the case ordered her to sit for another round of questions, this time in front of Boies, one of the country’s most-formidable attorneys.
The questioning promised to be more direct and explicit, forcing Maxwell to discuss her sex life, particularly with Epstein. This line of questioning by Boies was part of an effort to show how the couple weaponized their sexual proclivities to pressure young victims to participate in deviant behavior with them and others.
Boies, and his partner, Sigrid McCawley, were representing Virginia Giuffre, who alleged that Maxwell and Epstein had sexually abused her when she was underage. She also claimed that they instructed her how to pleasure a number of their friends in the same way that they taught her to perform for them.
“This was to show the nature of her relationship with Epstein, and the kind of sexual conduct that they were orchestrating,’’ Boies explained.
“The fact that someone is 18 or 19 — as opposed to 15 or 16 — is relevant from a legal standpoint, but to describe this as ‘consensual’ is a mischaracterization. While it’s true it was not a situation where someone was putting a gun to someone’s head, the way they groomed, exploited and intimidated participants is what is relevant,’’ he said.
Five years later, the bulk of Maxwell’s testimony, as well as other witness testimony taken in the case, is still being kept from the public — in spite of a federal appeals court decision unsealing the case in 2019.
A trove of new documents was released overnight Wednesday, the latest in a series of slow drips in the case. Wednesday’s drop was perhaps even more redacted than previous ones, as most of the relevant portions of Maxwell’s deposition were blacked out.
U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska, who is now overseeing the case, ruled that Maxwell had a right to keep her sexual experiences with consensual adults private — even those that she had with Epstein, an accused child sex trafficker.
Epstein was found hanging in his Manhattan jail cell in August 2019, one month after his arrest on new sex trafficking charges in New York. His death has been ruled a suicide.
Maxwell, 59, is in a federal jail in New York awaiting trial on sex trafficking and perjury charges. She was arrested in July.
The latest effort to unseal the case was filed by The Miami Herald in 2018, in conjunction with its publication of “Perversion of Justice,” an explanatory investigative series that detailed how Epstein used his wealth and connections to obtain federal immunity on sex trafficking charges in South Florida.
Despite the heavy redactions in Wednesday’s release, there were a few new tidbits in the documents: a reference to an unidentified witness who testified that he watched Maxwell direct a room full of underage girls to kiss, dance and touch one another “in a sexual way” for Epstein to watch; and another witness who allegedly testified that Maxwell would call him and ask him to bring her girls that she could provide to Epstein.
The contents of Maxwell’s depositions are significant because she faces criminal perjury charges related to her responses in those sworn statements.
The earlier appeals court ruling permitted the unsealing of documents that contained the names of powerful men that Giuffre accused of abuse, but Preska is now redacting all those names previously made public, including Prince Andrew, former President Bill Clinton, Alan Dershowitz and others.
The 73-page transcript of the July 2016 deposition reflects testimony Maxwell was forced to give after an earlier judge determined that she had been evasive in an April 2016 deposition when asked the same questions..
Included in the dozens of documents released late Wednesday are excerpts from testimony given by Epstein’s former house manager Juan Alessi; and by Rinaldo Rizzo, a houseman employed by billionaire hedge fund mogul Glenn Dubin, a friend of Epstein’s. Dubin, whom Giuffre has also accused of sexual abuse, was issued a subpoena last year by Denise George, the attorney general of the U.S. Virgin Islands, who is bringing a civil racketeering case against the Epstein estate. Dubin has denied Giuffre’s allegations.
One of the few people named in Maxwell’s deposition aside from Maxwell, Epstein and Giuffre is Dershowitz, who has publicly maintained that he is happy for his name to be unsealed in the documents. But he is mentioned only briefly, when Maxwell is asked about a visit by Dershowitz and his wife and daughter to Epstein’s private island in the Virgin Islands. The only conversation she can recall with Dershowitz was a discussion about using a metal detector on the beach.
Maxwell’s memories are similarly limited about interactions in Columbus, Ohio, with a woman who appears to be Maria Farmer. Farmer has said publicly that Epstein and Maxwell fondled her in Ohio, and her younger sister Annie is one of three victims in a criminal trial who have accused Maxwell of facilitating Epstein’s sexual abuse of them as girls. Maxwell recalls only that she said hello to Maria Farmer during a business trip during which she accompanied Epstein to Columbus, the home of Les Wexner, the retail magnate who employed Epstein to manage his finances.
Maxwell is asked why she stopped working with Epstein and says that her relationship with him had soured. “I ceased to be happy in the job and I ceased to be happy spending time with Mr. Epstein,” she says. “He became more difficult to work with.”
Maxwell claims that her last contact with Epstein came “a very long time ago.” An earlier release of documents from the lawsuit revealed that Maxwell and Epstein had been in touch over email in early 2015, with Epstein writing to Maxwell, “You have done nothing wrong and I would urge you to start acting like it.”
Lawyers for the Miami Herald and Giuffre both filed motions Wednesday opposing Maxwell’s attempt to keep more of the deposition secret, each arguing there was no new compelling evidence to warrant it.
“While Ms. Maxwell begins her letter by expressing privacy concerns over the soon-to-be released portion of her transcript, it is clear her real concern, expressed on the second page, is concealing potential evidence of perjury,” wrote Christine N. Walz, an attorney with Holland & Knight LLP representing the Herald. “This is not a recognized countervailing interest to overcome the presumption of public access.”
Meanwhile, before a different federal judge, Maxwell’s lawyers filed 12 motions Monday night objecting to Maxwell’s criminal charges. While many of the motions are currently under seal because they contain sensitive information, the motions released tackle a variety of issues.