Testimony of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell released to public

A 465-page deposition transcript of Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell being interviewed for a defamation suit filed by Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre was released on Thursday.

Maxwell had requested to keep the documents sealed, but a Manhattan court ruled that the public had a right to see what was said.

Maxwell was arrested by the FBI on July 2 after about a year in hiding. She has been charged with assisting Epstein in setting up a trafficking ring of underage girls and for perjury. She has pleaded not guilty.

In the April 2016 depositions, Maxwell was made to answer questions regarding her relationship and history with convicted sex offender Epstein and the multiple women who claim to be victims of a sex trafficking ring run that was operated by Epstein and Maxwell. 

Near the beginning of her testimony, Maxwell appears to have some confusion over the definition of “female” when asked when the first instance was that she would “recruit a female to work for Mr. Epstein.”

“I don’t understand what you mean by female, I don’t understand what you mean by recruit,” said Maxwell. When pressed further by the interviewer, Maxwell replies, “Again, I was somebody who hired a number of people to work for Mr. Epstein and hiring is one of my functions.”

At another point in the deposition, Maxwell appears to directly refute herself saying, “I don’t hire people.” Instead she claimed she was only in charge of interviewing and evaluating potential employees of Epstein.

Throughout the questioning, Maxwell claims to have no knowledge of various parts of Epstein’s life including the people he employed and claims she cannot recall when she first met Giuffre.

When repeatedly asked by Sigrid McCawley, the attorney representing Giuffre, when she first met her, Maxwell replied, “Like I said, I don’t recall meeting her the first time. I do remember her mother bringing her to the house.”

She also claims, “I never saw any inappropriate underage activities with Jeffrey ever.”

Giuffre, then known as Virginia Roberts, has said that she was recruited by Maxwell while she was working as a spa attendant at President Trump’s private resort Mar-a-Largo at 17 years old. Giuffre’s age at the time of her interaction with Epstein and the ages of several women who were near Epstein is a topic Maxwell continually claims to have never broached with them or had prior knowledge of in her testimony.

Maxwell says she stood outside the house and spoke with Giuffre’s mother the entire duration of the interaction Giuffre had with Jeffrey Epstein.

Ghislaine is currently being held in a federal detention center in Brooklyn. Her request for bail was denied in July with Judge Alison Nathan saying, ”Ms. Maxwell poses a substantial actual risk of flight.” Items found in her home at the time of her arrest led prosecutors to state, “As these facts make plain, there should be no question that the defendant is skilled at living in hiding.”

-Updated 2:40 p.m.