Who is the real Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s Pervert Woman or His Soulless Girlfriend?

When Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking test opened up, one of her defense attorneys stated, “This case is about memory, manipulation, and money.”

And when the criminal proceedings ended, Manhattan federal prosecutors took the phrase and adopted it as their own. “Let me be clear,” assistant U.S. Attorney Alison Moe said during a roughly two-hour review on Monday. “Maxwell made his own choice. She is a mature woman and knows exactly what she is doing. ”

Moe told jurors that Maxwell manipulated underage girls to make them feel special before handing them over to a middle-aged man: her ex-boyfriend and “criminal partner,” at the end. together. multi-millionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The British social media site also received huge sums of money from Epstein – at least $30 million – as she allegedly groomed and shopped girls for him, while the victims themselves receive up to $300 in cash after having sex with a money manager who sexually assaulted or even raped them.

As for memory, the women Epstein and Maxwell tapped with brought disturbing images of themselves of the pair allegedly abusing them, decades later. “She caused deep and lasting harm to young girls,” Moe said. “It’s time to hold her accountable.”

The prosecution also highlights Maxwell’s longtime romance and friendship with Epstein. “When you’ve been with someone for 11 years, you know what they like. Epstein liked younger girls… Maxwell knew that,” said Moe.

Maxwell was charged with six counts: soliciting a minor to travel to perform illegal sexual acts; Conspiracy to entice a minor to travel to commit illegal sexual acts; transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity; conspiracy to transport a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sex activity; sex trafficking conspiracy; and child sex trafficking. If convicted, she could be sentenced to a maximum of 80 years behind bars.

She also has to face a separate test years later on two counts of perjury related to a 2016 lawsuit filed by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, a victim of Epstein, who claimed the money manager and Maxwell kept her as their “sex slave.”

Transparent opening argument, the prosecution described Maxwell as a predator of young girls and Epstein’s accomplice. “She put them at ease and made them feel safe so they could be sexually harassed by a middle-aged man,” said assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Pomerantz. “She knew what would happen to those girls.” Throughout the trial, the government presented evidence including flight records, financial transactions, emails, FedEx bills, text message boards, massage tables — including one set up in the courtroom. — a “family guide” and nude photos collected in the Epstein mansion. The Feds also call ex-employees including butler Juan Alessi, who testified that he knew the two underage victims.

But Maxwell’s team argued that the heir was a “scapegoat” for Epstein, who committed suicide in prison in August 2019, just weeks after being arrested for trafficking in girls. In his own preface, defense attorney Bobbi Sternheim said the case “involves memory, manipulation and money,” and suggested that the four accusers in the indictment had an incentive to testify: it helped them secure millions of dollars from the Epstein victims compensation fund. Maxwell was “filling an empty chair” following Epstein’s death, Sternheim argued, and was a “convenient prop.”

On Monday, two of Maxwell’s siblings, Ian and Christine, appeared in court to support her. They sat next to Isabel and Kevin, who were stationed in the front row every day. As Moe spoke, Maxwell flipped through papers on the defense desk, scribbled in a notebook, and sometimes stared at the jury. She remained when her own attorney took the podium.

Defense attorney Laura Menninger worked meticulously to cast doubt on the reliability of some witnesses and the victim’s motives for coming out, telling jurors, “Jeffrey Epstein is dead and everyone is dead. All ready.” She also has changes in government and all but one major plot to tie Maxwell into Epstein’s sex crimes.

“Every final government interview with these accusers was unrecorded… and that was by design,” Menninger said, adding that the Feds have no audio or transcripts of the conversations. talk to the victim.

“So we were given tough questions to these witnesses on the stand,” Menninger said, referring to the four accusers who testified at the trial: “Jane,” “Kate,” Carolyn and Annie. Farmer.

Menninger’s arguments primarily centered on Jane, who testified that Maxwell and Epstein had sexually abused her for years but could not recall specific memories of when Maxwell was in the room for the sessions. massage” of the tycoon.

“Her amnesia was rampant in this case,” Menninger added of Jane. Lawyers say Jane claimed to fly on Epstein’s plane with Prince Andrew, Epstein’s brother and mother but could not find flight records backing up this allegation.

Menninger also warned jurors that Jane shared conflicting memories of the first time Epstein abused her, at one point saying it was at Epstein’s Florida pool house and another saying the abuse The sex happened during a trip to New York.

“Is that proof they want you to convict Ghislaine Maxwell — ‘I don’t know’? “I do not remember”? ‘ Angry Menninger, referring to the brutal cross-examination of Jane on the third day of the trial.

According to Menninger, each victim exaggerated their story by submitting an application to the Epstein Victims Compensation Program to collect millions of dollars in settlement funds. “There are many reasons to hesitate and many reasons to doubt,” Menninger told jurors.

“She is on trial here for being with Jeffrey Epstein,” Menninger said of Maxwell. “Perhaps it was the biggest mistake of her life, but it wasn’t a crime.”

Prosecutor Maureen Comey later issued a cryptic rebuttal, targeting the defense’s claims that the government lacked evidence to support its case, before Judge Alison Nathan give instructions to the jury on charges.

“The victims are the evidence,” Comey said, adding that the child hunters did not leave behind memos recording what they did.

“Some things you never forget because they are etched into your brain forever, like Jane remembering the defendant touching her breasts, Annie remembering the defendant touching her breasts…” Comey said.

“If these women are lying, then all of the witnesses supporting them are lying,” Comey continued, referring to government witnesses such as former Epstein butler Juan Alessi, who testified that he knew underage Jane and the ex-boyfriends of the victims. said the women had confided in them about being abused decades ago.

The prosecutor added: “There is no grand plot here to frame Ghislaine Maxwell.

Maxwell never imagined the underage girls she abused would be adult women testifying against her, Comey said. “In her eyes, they were just trash,” the prosecutor told jurors. “Below her.”