Epstein Partner on Trial
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The trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, the woman federal prosecutors allege helped Jeffrey Epstein to find, recruit and groom young girls for his repeated abuse, began on Monday with opening statements from both sides. The prosecution focused on the systematic way in which Maxwell — the daughter of a British media mogul and a longtime player in the New York social scene — enticed often impoverished underaged girls so that Epstein could sexually abuse them. The defense attorney for Maxwell maintained her innocence while urging jurors not to make her the scapegoat for Epstein.
Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy financier and, registered sex offender, was arrested in 2019 on charges of sex trafficking and remanded to a Manhattan prison. His indictment alleged that Epstein lured dozens of girls to his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and his mansion in Manhattan, with the intent of paying them to engage in sex acts.
Epstein had previously pleaded guilty to Florida State charges of procuring for prostitution a girl below age 18 and was sentenced to 18 months in prison, where he was allowed to leave the jail on "work release" for up to 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. This rare deal was put in place by Alex Acosta, a Florida prosecutor at the time, who also served as former President Donald Trump’s Labor Secretary from 2017-19, and who resigned from the scandal.
Epstein died in prison, under extremely suspicious circumstances, in August of 2019 and Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested roughly one year later at an upscale vacation retreat in Bedford, New Hampshire. She is currently on trial for sex trafficking of a minor, enticing and transporting minors to engage in illegal sex acts, and three counts of conspiracy. Maxwell could face up to 70 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
Assistant US Attorney Lara Pomerantz, who gave the prosecutors' opening statement yesterday, explained to the jury exactly how Ghislaine Maxwell would locate and procure vulnerable young women with the intention of delivering them to her boyfriend, Jeffrey Epstein. “She put them at ease and made them feel safe, all so that they could be sexually abused by a middle-aged man,” Pomerantz said. “There were times when she was in the room when it happened.”
Pomerantz made a point to distinguish Maxwell from Epstein’s other many employees, calling her "the lady of the house" and revealing that Maxwell and Epstein even "had a playbook” to procure girls, to “manipulate” them and then “serve them up” to Epstein. “First they got access to young girls," Pomerantz said. "Then they gained their trust.”
Pomerantz detailed the next stages of the “pyramid scheme of abuse,” by explaining that both Maxwell and Epstein groomed the girls for the impending abuse by getting them comfortable with sexual contact with Epstein. “The defendant massaged Epstein in front of the girls and then encouraged them to massage Epstein,” Pomerantz explained to the jury. “What was happening in those massage rooms was not a massage — it was sexual abuse.”
Bobbi Sternheim, defense attorney for Ghislaine Maxwell, made a point in her opening statement to accuse prosecutors of using Maxwell to settle their legal score with Epstein, who will never be prosecuted for these crimes. Sternheim told the jury that “Ghislaine Maxwell is on trial as a scapegoat for Epstein.”
“Ever since Eve has been blamed for tempting Adam with an apple, women have been blamed for things men have done,” Sternheim said. “{Ghislaine] is not Jeffrey Epstein. She is not anything like Jeffrey Epstein.”
Sternheim also made a point to regale the jury with what she believed were Jeffrey' Epstein’s many “positive traits,” saying, “he was also a mysterious man without attachment…he attracted all these rich and powerful people before and after his fall from grace back around 2008.” Sternheim said, “In many regards, [Epstein] was like a 21st-century James Bond. His mystery has stirred interest.”
Sternheim also argued that the motivation for Maxwell’s four accusers coming forward now is for "personal monetary gain" and stressed that there are no independent “eyewitnesses to their accounts.”
It appears as if the age-old legal tactic of thwarting allegations with the adage “he said, she said,” has now oddly morphed into an even stranger dismissal of “she said, she said.” It is also interesting that the defense made a point to separate the actions of Ghislaine Maxwell from Jeffrey Epstein so sharply, only to then attempt to rehabilitate Epstein’s reputation with the jury.
Lawrence Visoski, the longtime personal pilot for Jeffrey Epstein, was the first witness for the prosecution yesterday, and he is expected to continue testifying today. Visoski said that Ghislaine Maxwell would often contact him to schedule flights for Epstein, describing her as an office assistant of Epstein’s who frequently flew on his private planes. Epstein’s pilot also told the jury that their relationship also appeared to be “more personal than business.”
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) accidentally disclosed more than 2,000 flight records associated with four private jets of Jeffrey Epstein by reportedly mailing Business Insider 2,300 flight records from four private jets registered by the former billionaire between 1998 and 2020. Included in this data was proof of at least 704 previously unknown flights, including hundreds of flights made by Epstein’s planes between 2013 and 2016, that were previously unaccounted for — Ghislaine Maxwell was a frequent passenger aboard many of those flights.
The second day of trial begins today, with prosecutors expected to continue their line of questioning for Visoski, and his experiences with flying Epstein and his famous friends all over the world on a plane that has been nicknamed “The Lolita Express.” Larry Visoski flew Epstein’s Boeing 727 on multiple trips according to Florida law enforcement files, and those records also show that he was at the controls for several flights when Maxwell and others were on board.
Another Epstein pilot, David Rodgers, who had been cooperating with multiple investigations into Epstein can apparently place several high-profile guests on Epstein’s plane, including Prince Andrew. A 2016 deposition from Rodgers was one of the first to lay out evidence that Andrew was with Epstein more frequently than was originally understood. It is not likely that Rodgers will testify in the case against Ghislaine Maxwell, however, because he is adamant that he didn’t see any wrongdoing as he flew Epstein, his guests, and the girls around.
Four of the accusers are also expected to testify against Ghislaine Maxwell, and one of the victims, Sarah Ransome, who will not testify, has made her identity public. Ransome, who appeared in court for the first day of the trial yesterday, has accused Epstein and Maxwell of sexually abusing her in the 1990s and told reporters: “I never thought this day would come.”
Ms. Ransome revealed in 2019 that she attempted to escape from Epstein’s private island, which was surrounded by shark-infested waters, and that Epstein would have “full erotic sex” on his private jet, likening the brazen abuse to “making a cup of tea.”
Federal prosecutors say that other witnesses will include family members of the accusers and former employees of Jeffrey Epstein. The trial is expected to last well into January of next year, so stay tuned to SHERO, where we will be covering all of the major events of this trial, including the verdict. You can watch the trial as it proceeds daily live, online here.
Amee Vanderpool writes the SHERO Newsletter and is an attorney, published author, contributor to newspapers and magazines, and analyst for BBC radio. She can be reached at avanderpool@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter @girlsreallyrule.
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Considering the faces/places and pasts of both Epstein, Maxwell and her family. High societal friends, physiological, religious and magic interests coupled with the little black book, the missing video’set al, this trial is destined to be one heavily followed.
Thanks for all you do!!