Ghislaine Maxwell says she’s prepared to expose 25 wealthy and influential men she claims were involved in Jeffrey Epstein’s underage s33x trafficking operation
Ghislaine Maxwell says she’s prepared to expose 25 wealthy and influential men she claims were involved in Jeffrey Epstein’s underage sex trafficking operation. According to Maxwell, each of them quietly reached financial settlements with their alleged victims, while their identities were blacked out in more than 3.5 million pages of evidence released by the US Department of Justice.
Now 64, Maxwell makes the claims in fresh court papers lodged on 24 June with the federal court for the Southern District of New York. District Judge Paul Engelmeyer is expected to decide this month whether the former British socialite, who became known as Epstein’s “fixer”, should be released from the 20-year prison sentence she is serving for child sex trafficking and conspiracy.
In an amended habeas corpus petition, Maxwell argues not only that the jury which convicted her was biased, but also that she was “scapegoated” while 25 “high profile” men escaped public scrutiny and criminal charges by paying substantial settlements.
They “could equally be considered as being co-conspirators,” she claims in her petition to Judge Engelmeyer. “If the jury had heard of the new evidence of the plaintiffs’ lawyers and the government to conceal evidence, they would not have convicted (me).”
Whatever the judge decides, members of the US House Oversight Committee investigating the Epstein case are continuing to press the Department of Justice to remove redactions from documents that they believe identify more of the late paedophile’s powerful associates
Republican Representative Thomas Massie said the Department of Justice had maintained it was only removing the names of victims, but added: “Simple data cross-referencing has showed that several heavily redacted individuals are, in fact, adult men born before 1970.”
Maxwell also frustrated committee members earlier this year when she appeared by video link from her federal prison in Texas for a closed-door deposition. She refused to answer every question, repeatedly invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Committee chairman James Comer described the hearing as “very disturbing”. He said: “We sincerely want to get to the truth for the American people and justice for the survivors.”
Comer also said he believes Maxwell “should not be granted any type of immunity or clemency in return for her testimony.”
