GHISLAINE Maxwell could take the stand in her bombshell trial once it resumes on Thursday, and Prince Andrew is asking for accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre's lawsuit to be thrown out.
The Duke of York and his legal team said his accuser has a “tendency to change her story," as they fight to get the case tossed.
Giuffre has alleged that Prince Andrew sexually assaulted her three times when she was 17, and that one of the assaults occurred on Jeffrey Epstein's private island.
Meanwhile, prosecutors in Maxwell's sex-trafficking trial rested on Friday after a number of witnesses were called over 10 days, including four alleged accusers and two of Epstein's former pilots.
Maxwell is being charged with several felony counts, some of which include human trafficking charges.
She has denied all charges against her, and her lawyers argue she is being made a "scapegoat" for Epstein's crimes.
Read our Ghislaine Maxwell live blog for the very latest news and updates…
- Jocelyn Cook
Does Ghislaine Maxwell have kids?
Ghislaine Maxwell does not have any children of her own, but is reportedly the stepmother to her husband’s children from his first marriage.
According to reports, Maxwell secretly wed tech millionaire Scott Borgerson in 2016.
Maxwell’s own family didn’t know about the wedding until her bail hearing, according to her brother, Ian.
- Jocelyn Cook
Where is Ghislaine Maxwell now?
She has been detained since July 2020 at a Brooklyn detention center, where she has complained about her alleged ill-treatment.
Her trial began on November 29, 2021, and is not expected to conclude until after the holiday season.
She has been charged with six counts of sex trafficking and perjury in relation to her relationship with pedophile financier Epstein.
- Jocelyn Cook
Maxwell’s brother claims she’s being ‘tortured’
Kevin alleged in an interview with GMB that “what we’re seeing and witnessing on a daily basis is not care, it’s abuse.”
“She got fed a pack of crisps all day today. I consider this regime imposed on anyone, consecutively for 524 days, is abuse and is torture,” he claimed.
- Jocelyn Cook
Maxwell’s New York socialite history
Ghislaine Maxwell moved to New York in the early 1990s after her father, the media mogul Robert Maxwell, died.
She started dating Jeffrey Epstein in 1992 and remained in a close friendship until his fall from grace.
The court heard during the December 8 and 9 trial that Maxwell and Epstein were in a romantic relationship.
Prosecutors said that Maxwell and Epstein were “partners in crime” in the abuse of the girls.
Maxwell would fly on his private jet, live with him in his mansions and eventually got her own five-story Manhattan townhouse.
After Epstein was arrested for sexually abusing minors, Maxwell claimed he was a “kind generous loving man."
- Jocelyn Cook
Epstein's aircraft fleet
Epstein’s aircraft fleet included a Hawker Siddeley 125, a Gulfstream G2B and a helicopter.
There was also a Boeing 727, which is more than 130ft long, that was dubbed the “Lolita Express” amid claims he used it to fly underage girls around the world.
That plane was fitted with an office dubbed “the red room” because of its furniture, a master bedroom with a queen-sized bed, a lounge area with a huge round sofa, plus a “full decked-out” kitchen.
- Jocelyn Cook
Pilot claims Bill Clinton was on Epstein's plane
Lawrence Paul Visoski Jr, who was Jeffrey Epstein’s pilot from 1991 to 2019, previously testified in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial.
He was asked whether former President Bill Clinton flew on Epstein’s plane and replied yes, adding that he was asked to clean up, according to The Independent.
- Jocelyn Cook
Who flew on the 'Lolita Express?' continued
Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey flew to Africa on the Lolita Express in 2002 as part of a project to raise awareness on the Aids crisis and poverty.
Comedian Chris Tucker was also part of the group, including Clinton and Spacey, who flew to Africa on a five-day humanitarian trip in 2002.
Flight logs reveal that Naomi Campbell also travelled on Epstein’s plane in 2002.
Epstein’s lawyer Alan Dershowitz took trips on the jet in the late 1990s, flight records show.
- Jocelyn Cook
Who flew on the 'Lolita Express?'
Former Epstein pilot Lawrence Visoski testified that former President Donald Trump was aboard Epstein’s distinctive Gulf Stream plane.
The Sun reported in 2019 that Prince Andrew flew on a private jet with Epstein and his alleged 17-year-old sex slave Virginia Roberts.
Brit socialite Ghislaine Maxwell travelled on the Lolita Express on a number of occasions, flight logs show.
According to flight logs obtained by Fox News in 2016, former US president Bill Clinton was a passenger on the jet.
- Jocelyn Cook
What was the 'Lolita Express?'
Jeffrey Epstein was alleged to have used the plane to court underage girls and fly them between his residences across the US.
The luxury Boeing 727 aircraft was owned by Epstein, though what exactly happened on the flights remains a close guarded secret.
Victims of Epstein say he organised orgies on board the three-engine commercial jet.
The luxury aircraft boasted deluxe furnishings, a spacious galley, expansive cabin lounge and a master bedroom.
The pilot of the plane reportedly undertook around 1,000 flights during his time flying Epstein and others.
- Jocelyn Cook
When will the defense begin?
The defense is due to begin its case on Thursday of this week.
That comes after the prosecution rested its case in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial last week.
- Jocelyn Cook
Virginia Giuffre’s shock surrogacy claims
Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who claims she was recruited into Epstein’s sex trafficking ring by Maxwell when she was just a teen, said the two pressured her to help the couple deliver a baby.
New unsealed documents detail the alleged abuse, including Giuffre’s allegations.
By the time she turned 18, Giuffre claims Epstein lost interest in her.
That’s when Epstein allegedly asked Giuffre to be the couple’s surrogate.
She claims to have been offered a mansion in return for the baby, which would’ve been raised by Maxwell.
Giuffre was able to escape instead of having to bear the child, ultimately fleeing to Australia where she now lives with her husband and children.
- Jocelyn Cook
Buckingham Palace denies Prince Andrew allegations
Buckingham Palace denied the allegation in 2015 saying “any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors” by the Duke was “categorically untrue”.
“Any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue."
“It is emphatically denied that the Duke of York had any form of sexual contact with Virginia Roberts. Any claim to the contrary is false and without foundation.”
- Jocelyn Cook
Prince Andrew braces for hearing
Prince Andrew has ordered his legal team to cancel their Christmas plans so they can focus on his sexual assault case, royal sources have claimed.
The Duke of York is said to have told the US team they must leave “no stone unturned” ahead of his hearing due to take place on January 4.
Andrew strongly denies Jeffrey Epstein sex slave Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s claims that the royal abused her three times when she was under 18.
And sources close to him now say the Duke is “totally consumed” by the legal battle and has been staying up late in the night to talk constantly with lawyers in California.
They told The Mirror: “The tension in the camp is palpable."
“No one is really sure what Andrew’s involvement is other than asking a lot of questions, but he spends his days and nights poring over documents."
“He is totally consumed by it, keeping most irregular working hours so he can be in contact with his team.”
- Jocelyn Cook
Virginia Roberts’ claims
Virginia Roberts Giuffre – as she’s now known – has claimed she had sex with Prince Andrew in a toilet when she was 17, after he had allegedly plied her with vodka in a posh London club.
The royal has vehemently denied the accusations against him, branding them “false” and “without foundation."
- Jocelyn Cook
Who is Virginia Giuffre?
Virginia Giuffre is 38-years-old and from Sacramento, California.
She is married to Robert Giuffre and has three children.
She is known for being a public victim of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring, and has allegedly been trafficked to Prince Andrew.
Giuffre is an advocate of justice for sex trafficking survivors, and she created a non-profit organization called Victims Refuse Silence, which is based in the US.
- Jennifer Korn
Ghislaine Maxwell’s romantic history, continued
According to a 2009 deposition, several of Epstein’s household employees testified that Epstein referred to Maxwell as his “main girlfriend.”
It is unclear exactly when or if their relationship went from romantic to platonic before he was jailed for soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008.
Following his initial release, the two were no longer seen in public together.
Maxwell was then linked to the founder of Gateway Computers, Ted Waitt. The two attended Chelsea Clinton‘s wedding together in 2010, and Maxwell reportedly helped Waitt to renovate a luxury yacht, Plan B, before they eventually split.
While the exact time and date of the wedding is unknown, Maxwell and Borgerson have been married since 2016.
- Jennifer Korn
Ghislaine Maxwell’s romantic history
While Maxwell has not been married prior to her nuptials with Scott Borgerson, she has been linked to a series of high-profile men over the years.
In the 1990s, Maxwell dated Count Gianfranco Cicogna, an Italian aristocrat and millionaire. According to reports, the two ended on bad terms.
Following her relationship with Cicogna, Maxwell began dating Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender who killed himself while behind bars in 2019.
- Jennifer Korn
Charges against Maxwell
Prosecutors allege that between 1994 and 1997 she helped Epstein to groom girls as young as 14.
Maxwell has been charged with six counts of perjury and sex trafficking offenses:
- Count one: Conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts
- Count two: Enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts
- Count three: Conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity
- Count four: Transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity
- Count five and six: Perjury – the offence of wilfully telling an untruth or making a misrepresentation under oath.
The 17-page indictment against Maxwell accused her of grooming and befriending victims, normalizing inappropriate behavior, being present during abuse to put victims at ease, encouraging victims to accept Epstein’s help, and encouraging victims to engage in sexual activity and taking part herself.
The prosecution has rested its case
Prosecutors in the case against Gislaine Maxwell rested their case on Thursday, December 9, after more than 20 witnesses took the stand over ten days.
The trial was expected to last six weeks but the prosecution moved quicker than expected.
What happened to Jeffrey Epstein?
Jeffrey Epstein died in his prison cell in August 2019, after being federally charged with exploiting dozens of underage girls in New York and Florida in the early 2000s.
He previously attempted suicide in late July of 2019, before his reported successful suicide attempt in early August.
The guards who were supposed to monitor Epstein are facing federal charges for not properly supervising him prior to his death.
One day before he reportedly killed himself, a federal appeals court released the transcript of a 2016 deposition in which Epstein repeatedly refused to say whether Maxwell had procured young girls for him.
Accuser claimed Epstein taped island visitors
One of Maxwell’s accusers, Sarah Ransome, has said that Jeffrey Epstein had hidden cameras on his island.
Ransome said that Epstein’s high-profile friends, including Prince Andrew, were monitored by hidden cameras.
“I once lit a cigarette and Jeffrey, who hated smoking, came out of nowhere,” she told the Mail on Sunday.
“When I tried to escape I purposely chose a remote spot yet Ghislaine and security guards were there instantly.
“Jeffrey once told me, ‘I have tapes of every person who has ever been on my properties.'”
- Jennifer Korn
What was Jeffrey Epstein accused of?
Jeffrey Epstein was accused of abusing women and underage girls for decades, assembling a network of enablers to help carry out and cover up his crimes.
The serial sex abuser reportedly made a secret plea deal with the government in 2008 to avoid a potential life sentence and continued to abuse women.
- Jennifer Korn
What has Ghislaine Maxwell been accused of?
Maxwell is accused of acting as a “madam” for Jeffrey Epstein, US court documents previously revealed.
Prosecutors allege she had a history of giving powerful men access to women.
A defamation case involving Virginia Giuffre claims Prince Andrew slept with her three times, and that she was recruited by Maxwell in 1999 where she was introduced to Epstein.
- Jennifer Korn
Nude picture of Maxwell shown
Police photos showing what appears to be framed nude picture of Ghislaine Maxwell were shown to the jury at her sex trafficking trial.
Prosecutors released more than 60 images from a police raid at Jeffrey Epstein’s infamous Palm Beach mansion as part of the case.
Photos include images of a room in the property with a desk which appears to have a nude photo of Ghislaine sitting on it.
It appears to be a now-famous photo of her lying on a beach, and above it there is a framed portrait of her hanging on the wall.
The photo of her lying nude on a beach has been widely reported on after it was previously revealed to have been found at the mansion.
- Jennifer Korn
Defense objected to showing photos
Prosecutors claim the interior of Epstein’s mansion is proof of a sexualized atmosphere encouraged by Maxwell to put pressure on the victims.
The evidence was presented over the objection of the defense, with Maxwell’s lawyer saying it was an attempt to unfairly depict the house as a “domicile of debauchery”.
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