The People v. Ghislaine Maxwell: What’s really in the test?

Since her arrest in July 2020, Ghislaine MaxwellHer circumstances haven’t changed much, but news of her comes easily. In a federal prison in Brooklyn, she was held without bail on charges including aiding Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of a minor. As she waited for the trial, it emerged that she get married quietly Technology CEO in 2016; Donald Trump many times and openly wish her well; and her family and attorney conduct a campaign to raise awareness of the abuse they allege the Metropolitan Detention Center has perpetrated on her, culminating in a complaint to the United Nations this week.

During the same period, Epstein’s crimes and his death in 2019 pending his own federal trial continued to reverberate. The new owners of his Palm Beach and Manhattan properties sought to justify their purchase; at seemingly regular intervals, one CFO after another was marred by new revelations about their relationship with him; and new records report via NS New York Times on Tuesday showed how he deceived correctional officers at a federal prison in Manhattan until he died there, which authorities ruled a suicide.

On Monday, the colorful story is meant to come to a head. Nearly 17 months after his arrest and more than two years since Epstein’s death, Maxwell, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, will face trial in a federal courtroom in the Southern District of New York. York. The proceedings seem prepared to stir up the mix of drab detail and extreme wealth that has sustained such interest in her case. What’s harder to say is how all of the conspiracies will intersect with the narrow legal issues at stake.

When Maxwell indicted Last year, prosecutors claimed that she and Epstein exploited 14-year-old girls and transported them between Epstein’s properties in Manhattan, Palm Beach and New Mexico to facilitate sexual abuse. sex. “To make the victim feel indebted to Epstein,” the indictment said, “Maxwell would encourage the victim to accept offers of financial assistance from Epstein, including offers to pay for travel or education expenses.”

The social media site’s status and influence could influence prosecutors’ central claim about how Maxwell seduced and groomed girls. At the request of Maxwell’s attorneys, Bloomberg report last week, the US district judge Alison Nathan asked candidates during the jury selection process, “Do you have any opinion about people who are rich or have lavish lifestyles that might make it difficult for you to be fair and objective? ” According to The Outlet, a man who works in private equity told Nathan thinks his work can be an obstacle: “My main concern is, given the number of prominent individuals in the professional and financial circles involved, due to my proximity to these individuals. this individual, that is my biggest fear.”

On the other hand, the big questions that still surround Epstein and Maxwell seem unlikely to be resolved in the rigors of trial. In a recent pre-trial hearing, prosecutors said the government never offered a plea deal to Maxwell and that she never sought one, eliminating any speculation. There is no guessing that she may soon provide information on the many powerful men believed to have played some role in Epstein’s sex trafficking ring. As my colleague Gabriel Sherman Written this week, “I hope the Maxwell trial will finally solve the Epstein mystery. But for now, I’m not optimistic.”

As for Maxwell, her lawyers tried to go public in her favor. “Based on widespread coverage of her unusual and miserable detention conditions prior to trial, unanswered ‘jumpers’ may believe that the sentence has been applied,” they said. wrote last month in an unsuccessful petition for private questioning of potential jurors, adding, “The reality is that the woman is now in court on charges that almost exclusively the defendant forced against men increased the interest and intrigue of this case. “

In recent days in court, Maxwell hasn’t shown any particular concern, once kissing her family in the courtroom. Over the past year or so, that’s often been the extent of what can be gleaned from her sporadic appearances, often broadcast live to journalists and observers in a different room of the court by the court. restrictions on coronavirus. But nonetheless, a gradual revelation of erratic behavior revealed itself. In arguing against Maxwell’s bail, prosecutors pointed out that she tried to “avoid detection” before her arrest by wrapping her phone in tinfoil. Her former chief of security recently said that his group hired a doppelgänger Maxwell to tour around Paris in an attempt to deceive the media.

If Maxwell’s trial doesn’t resolve a story, it could provide a more forensic account of her MO’s “You did nothing wrong and I would urge you to start doing so, “Epstein wrote in a 2015 email to Maxwell that was sealed late July last year. “Get out, hold your head high, not like a criminal on the run. Go to a party. Deal with it.” (Maxwell had previously declare that she had no contact with Epstein in more than a decade before his death.)