Ghislaine Maxwell fought long and hard to keep her 2016 deposition sealed, with her lawyers claiming it would violate her right against self-incrimination and make it impossible for her to receive a fair trial. But a judge ruled that the transcript be made public, and it was finally issued this morning. Reporters are scrambling to cover the nearly 500-page document.
Early analysis suggests that she simply denies all knowledge of any abuse committed by her former boss and boyfriend, Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender who killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial on new charges.
However, it also shows that she made claims in the deposition that seem unlikely to be true, such as having never visited the private island where Epstein committed many of his offenses.
In the transcripts, Ms Maxwell repeatedly denies hiring anyone under the age of 18 for Epstein.
"I never saw any inappropriate underage activities with Jeffrey ever," she said. "All the time that I have been in the house I have never seen, heard, nor witnessed, nor have reported to me that any activities took place, that people were in distress, either reported to me by the staff or anyone else," she said.
Ms Giuffre alleges that Ms Maxwell recruited her, and says Epstein kept her as a "sex slave" with Maxwell's assistance. Referring directly to Ms Giuffre, Ms Maxwell said: "I never ever at any single time at any point ever at all participated in anything with Virginia and Jeffrey. And for the record, she is an absolute total liar."
