https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8553717/Epstein-flood-gates-open-judge-rules-explosive-Ghislaine-Maxwell-docs-unsealed.html A judge today has ordered the unsealing of a vast tranche of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, which could shed light on his friendship with powerful men accused of having sex with his victims.
The documents will include depositions from Ghislaine Maxwell, which could explain her alleged role in Epstein’s sex trafficking operation.
They could include details about Maxwell’s sex life that her lawyers have previously tried to stop from being released, relating to a seven-hour, 418-page deposition Maxwell gave which her legal team said was ‘extremely personal, confidential’.
In filings Maxwell’s lawyers have called the depositions a ‘series of (efforts) to compel Maxwell to answer intrusive questions about her sex life'.
The documents will also include communications between Maxwell and Epstein from January 2015 when Virginia Roberts made explosive allegations about them in court papers.
In the papers Roberts claimed she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew three times when she was just 17 at Epstein’s command.
The case is separate from the criminal proceedings against Maxwell, 58, who is accused by federal prosecutors of procuring girls as young as 14 for Epstein to abuse. She has pleaded not guilty and is due to stand trial next year.
The case ruled on Thursday was originally brought by Roberts, now a 36-year-old mother-of-three who lives in Australia and goes by her married name Virginia Giuffre.
She sued Maxwell in 2015 for defamation because Maxwell accused her of lying.
Roberts said in court filings that Maxwell recruited her and other girls into a sex trafficking ring for ‘politically connected and financially powerful people’.
The case was settled in 2017 for an undisclosed sum but media organizations sued for documents in the case to be made public.
During the hearing at Manhattan’s federal court, Judge Preska said Maxwell’s right to privacy was outweighed by the need for the documents to become public.
She went through the dozens of documents, which included Giuffre's depositions and various dull-sounding legal papers.
The contents however could be explosive and may contain fresh evidence against the wealthy elite who socialized with Epstein.
After the ruling Maxwell’s lawyer Laura Menninger asked for a two week delay in the unsealing so they could file an appeal in the Second Circuit in New York.
Menninger said: ‘There have been some significant changes with respect to my client’s positions and perhaps known to everyone listening to this, while we were speaking about a potential ongoing criminal investigation (before), since that time Miss Maxwell has been indicted and a trial has been scheduled.
‘Now we are in a vastly different position and have grave concerns about our clients ability to receive a fair trial given the intense media scrutiny around anything that is unsealed’.
Giuffre’s lawyer Sigrid McCawley said she wanted the documents made public ‘as swiftly as possible’.
Judge Preska said if the Second Circuit had not ruled within a week then the files should be made public.
