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Prosecutors slam Ghislaine Maxwell in closing arguments of her sex trafficking trial  

Prosecutors slam Ghislaine Maxwell in closing arguments of her sex trafficking trial   2

Prosecutors have labeled Ghislaine Maxwell a ‘sophisticated predator’ in their closing arguments this morning. 

‘She was a sophisticated predator who knew exactly what she was doing,’ Assistant US Attorney Alison Moe told the jury Monday. ‘She ran the same play book again and again and again.’ 

‘She was a grown woman who preyed on vulnerable kids,’ she added. ‘Maxwell was the key to the whole operation.’ 

Prosecutors reiterated the allegations made during the weeks-long trial that Maxwell acted as Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘right hand’ who caused ‘deep’ and ‘lasting harm’ to young girls. 

Prosecutors slam Ghislaine Maxwell in closing arguments of her sex trafficking trial   3

Prosecutors have labeled Ghislaine Maxwell a ‘sophisticated predator’ in their closing arguments this morning

Prosecutors slam Ghislaine Maxwell in closing arguments of her sex trafficking trial   5

‘She was a sophisticated predator who knew exactly what she was doing,’ Assistant US Attorney Alison Moe told the jury Monday. ‘She ran the same play book again and again and again’ 

Four of Maxwell's siblings - Kevin, Isabel, Ian and Christine - arrived to court to support their sister Monday

Four of Maxwell’s siblings – Kevin, Isabel, Ian and Christine – arrived to court to support their sister Monday

Four of Maxwell’s siblings –  Kevin, Isabel, Ian and Christine – arrived to court to support their sister Monday. 

Isabel and Kevin Maxwell have shown up daily to support Ghislaine. 

Epstein accuser Sarah Ransome was also seen arriving with the hopes for a conviction. 

Ahead of closing arguments, federal prosecutors released photos and videos into evidence, including video of a raid of Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion in 2005.  

There were several images of Maxwell accuser Annie Farmer, who testified last week that she was abused on Epstein’s New Mexico ranch when she was 16. 

Also submitted was a photo of two boxes of the Twin Torpedo sex toy that was recovered by the FBI at Epstein’s home.  

Prosecutor Moe said that the evidence included testimony from housekeepers, victims and bank receipts which showed Epstein wiring $30m to Maxwell.

She said that the evidence was ‘clear and consistent and it shows only one conclusion: Maxwell is guilty’.

Moe said she wanted to talk the jury through eight different reasons why they should convict Maxwell.

The first was that she and Epstein were ‘partners in crime’, the crime in question being the ‘sexual exploitation of young girls’.

Moe said: ‘Maxwell was Epstein’s right hand and for many years they were in a romantic relationship. They were partners’.

Moe told the jury about an essay that Maxwell had written in which she talked about how she had been with Epstein for 11 years and that they were ‘great partners and best friends’.

Moe told the jury: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, when you are with someone for 11 years you know what they like. Epstein liked underage girls. He liked to touch underage girls. Maxwell knew it. Make no mistake, Maxwell was crucial to the whole scheme. Epstein could not have done this alone’.

Moe said that a single, middle aged man showing an interest in teenage girls would come off as ‘creepy’.

She said: ‘That sets off alarm bells. But when that man is accompanied by a posh, smiling, respectable, age appropriate woman, that’s when everything starts to seem legitimate’.

When that woman asks the girls to give that man a massage, it ‘lures them into a trap’.

Moe said: ‘It allows that man to get away with molesting these girls. Maxwell was key to the whole operation’.

Moe told the jury about photos that had been introduced into evidence including one of Maxwell and Epstein swimming naked in a pool.

Another, which had been made public, showed Maxwell massaging Epstein’s foot with her breasts.

Moe said: ‘What you are looking at are two people in a sexual relationship. They were partners’.

Further evidence they were partners came from the 58-page household manual from Epstein’s Palm Beach home which Moe said Maxwell wrote.

She said: ‘These were the rules that Maxwell put in place…this makes clear she was the lady of the house’.

Moe said that the idea put forward by the defense that Maxwell was ‘just an employee’ was nonsense.

She said: ‘Of course Maxwell knew what was going on in that house. She had an iron grip on what was happening there’.

Moe told the jury about testimony from Juan Alessi, the former Palm Beach house manager, who said that after Epstein’s massages with young girls, he had to clean off the sex toys and put them in a basket in Maxwell’s bathroom.

Maxwell wrote a list of 13 different kinds of oils and lotions to be used during the massages.

'She was a sophisticated predator who knew exactly what she was doing,' Assistant US Attorney Alison Moe (pictured) told the jury Monday

‘She was a sophisticated predator who knew exactly what she was doing,’ Assistant US Attorney Alison Moe (pictured) told the jury Monday

Epstein accuser Sarah Ransome was also seen arriving with the hopes for a conviction

Epstein accuser Sarah Ransome was also seen arriving with the hopes for a conviction

Moe said: ‘Again and again the evidence shows you how closely Maxwell was involved in Epstein’s so called massages.

‘She managed all the details right down to the lotions and oils. She was in on the whole thing’.

Among the instructions in the household manual was the command to staff to ‘hear nothing, see nothing and say nothing.’

Moe said that the jury knew ‘exactly why’ Maxwell wanted such rules in place: ‘It’s because she was Epstein’s partner in crime. In that house behind closed doors Maxwell and Epstein were committing horrifying crimes’.

 

The second reason why the jury should find Maxwell guilty is that she ‘ran the same playbook’ with all of her victims, Moe said.

She said that the similarities between the four accusers in the case were ‘incredibly powerful evidence of the defendant’s guilty’.

Maxwell helped to select victims who were ‘vulnerable’ and struggling, Ms Moe said.

Jane was 14 years old and her father had just died. Annie was 16 and wanted to go to college. Kate was 17 and was ‘dazzled’ by Maxwell. Carolyn was living with an alcoholic mother and had been abused when she was four.

Maxwell and Epstein would invite them to his house in New York, his ranch in New Mexico or his home in Palm Beach to ‘isolate’ them. 

Moe said: ‘That was by design. It was Maxwell’s design. Maxwell was hanging out with these girls and isolating them and befriending them’.

Once the girls were alone Maxwell began to ‘normalize’ talk about sex and then sexual contact, Moe said, citing the massage that Maxwell gave to Annie Farmer.

In fact Maxwell touched the breasts of three of the accusers, Moe said.

She told the jury: ‘They were kids in massage rooms on massage tables…it’s powerful evidence of the defendant’s guilt’

All the girls described interacting with the ‘same woman,’ Moe said.

She said: ‘They knew her as charming, sophisticated….a woman who moved in social circles that were intimidating.

‘The relationships Maxwell cultivated with these girls were essential to the scheme….Maxwell helped established a close relationship that became the cover for sexual abuse.’

Moe said that reason number three for a conviction was Jane’s story.

She claimed that Maxwell and Epstein recruited her at the age of 14 at and arts camp in Michigan and flew her around his homes where she was repeatedly abuse.

One of the first instances of normalizing sex was Maxwell being topless by the pool at Epstein’s Palm Beach home.

Moe told the jury: ‘By the way, you know that’s true because you have seen Maxwell topless by the pool too’, referring to the photo they had been shown

Moe said that such behavior had a ‘purpose’ which was ‘setting the stage for what came next’.

Maxwell became Jane’s ‘big sister’ and made it seem like this was all ‘casual’ and ‘normal’, Moe said.

She said: ‘None of it was normal. It was not OK. It was deeply disturbing. They were molesting an underage girl. That’s what Maxwell did’.

Moe said that Maxwell played an ‘essential role’ in the massages and, as Jane testified, she was the person who was ‘most frequently in the room when Epstein molested her’

The abuse went on for years and Maxwell and Epstein saw Jane ‘literally growing up in front of their eyes’, Moe said.

She said: ‘She turned 15, 16 and 17. They maintained a coercive relationship that went on until her early 20s’.

As she wrapped up her two hour and ten minute closing statement, Moe mocked the defense opening that Maxwell was being blamed for something a man did.

In fact Maxwell ‘made her own choices’,  Moe said.

Moe agreed with the defense claim that the case was about ‘memory, money and manipulation’ only ‘not in the way’ they described.

In particular she urged the jury to think about the $300 that Carolyn was paid for massages with Epstein and compare it to the $30m that Epstein gave to Maxwell.

Moe dismissed the evidence of ‘false memory’ expert Elizabeth Loftus, a defense expert witness, as a ‘total distraction’

Maxwell’s lawyers had to discredit the victims because the truth was that their testimony was ‘devastating’ against her.

She said: ‘You common sense tells you that the witnesses are not lying and cannot be all misremembering the same thing.’

After a lunch break, the jury came back into the courtroom Monday afternoon to hear the defense’s closing arguments. 

Defense attorney Laura Menninger told the jury that Maxwell ‘is an innocent woman wrongfully accused of crimes she did not commit.’

‘Ghislaine Maxwell is not Jeffrey Epstein,’ she added. 

The defense again attempted to discredit the accounts of the four accusers.  

‘Memories have been manipulated in aid of the money,’ Menninger said. 

The couple appear in one photo in what appears to be a European city. Ghislaine is seen kissing Jeffrey on the cheek

The couple appear in one photo in what appears to be a European city. Ghislaine is seen kissing Jeffrey on the cheek

One photo shows Maxwell kissing the pedophile's cheek with her arms wrapped around him. Many have testified that they believed Epstein and Ghislaine were boyfriend and girlfriend

One photo shows Maxwell kissing the pedophile’s cheek with her arms wrapped around him. Many have testified that they believed Epstein and Ghislaine were boyfriend and girlfriend

Maxwell confirmed that she would not be testifying in a dramatic moment on the final day of her defense Friday.

Maxwell stood up with her hands held together as her lawyer Bobbi Sternheim put her arm around her.

Judge Alison Nathan asked Maxwell if she would be testifying as she had the right to do so.

Speaking confidently in a cut glass English accent, Maxwell said: ‘Your honor, the government has not proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt so there is no need for me to testify.’

And after just two days and nine witnesses, Maxwell’s defense rested.

As Maxwell was led away back to prison at the end of the day, her sister Isabel, who was standing in the public gallery, made a prayer sign for her.

Maxwell hugged all of her lawyers one by one before walking out of the court. 

Maxwell’s second day of defense got off to a rocky start Friday when it emerged that one witness refused to respond to a subpoena, another said they would take the fifth and a third was not being called.

The defense was able to call witness Dr. Eva Andersson, 60, an internist and former girlfriend of Epstein who is now married to hedge fund billionaire Glenn Dubin. Glenn, 64, was previously accused of having sex with Virginia Roberts when she was an underage teen – allegations he’s denied. 

The former Miss Sweden wore a black blazer, black pants and a gray and black dress, her blonde hair being shoulder length as she denied taking part in orgies.  

In her testimony earlier in the trial, Maxwell accuser under the pseudonym Jane claimed that an ‘Eva’ had taken part in orgies with her and other women at Epstein’s home in Palm Beach, Florida, during the 1990s when she was a teenager.

Maxwell’s lawyer Jeff Pagliuca said to Dubin: ‘I apologize for asking these questions. Have ever been in a group sexualized encounter with the person we are calling Jane?’

Dubin said: ‘Absolutely not.’

Pagliuca said: ‘Were you ever in a group sexualized massage with Jane?’

Dubin said: ‘I have not’. 

Dubin said that she dated Epstein ‘off and on’ from around 1983 to 1990 or 1991, the time he began dating Maxwell.

In 1994 she married Glenn Dubin but said that she stayed friendly with Epstein and socialized with him and flew on his private plane, including with her three children.

Pagliuca asked Andersson if she was ‘comfortable’ with Epstein’s relationship with her children, and she said she was.

Pagliuca asked if Epstein was ‘fond’ of her three children, one of whom was his goddaughter. Dubin said: ‘Yes he was’.

Asked if her children were fond of Epstein, Dubin said: ‘They were’.

Pagliuca asked if the children had an ‘uncle-like relationship’ with Epstein and gave him the nickname ‘F’, apparently short for Jeff, and Andersson said that was correct.

Dubin was shown a number of flight log entries from Epstein’s private planes including one where she is listed as flying with Jane.

Asked if she remembered ever meeting Jane, Dubin said: ‘I don’t recall ever meeting this person’.

Dubin (seen leaving court Friday) dated Epstein for 11 years in the 80s. Dubin's husband is hedge fund manager Glenn Dubin, who has been accused of having sex with Virginia Roberts when she was a teen

Dubin (seen leaving court Friday) dated Epstein for 11 years in the 80s. Dubin’s husband is hedge fund manager Glenn Dubin, who has been accused of having sex with Virginia Roberts when she was a teen

The defense was able to call two witnesses Friday, including Eva Dubin, Epstein's former longtime girlfriend and former miss Sweden

The defense was able to call two witnesses Friday, including Eva Dubin, Epstein’s former longtime girlfriend and former miss Sweden

Pagliuca showed Dubin a photo that was found inside Epstein’s house which she said showed her youngest daughter, his goddaughter.

Dubin said she had ‘never seen this picture before’ in a moment that appeared to surprise the defense.

The defense was able to call witness Dr. Eva Andersson, 60, an internist and former girlfriend of Epstein who is now married to hedge fund billionaire Glenn Dubin (pictured together)

The defense was able to call witness Dr. Eva Andersson, 60, an internist and former girlfriend of Epstein who is now married to hedge fund billionaire Glenn Dubin (pictured together) 

During her testimony, Pagliuca asked Dubin: ‘Did you observe any inappropriate conduct between Mr. Epstein and any teenage females?’

She replied: ‘I did not’.

During cross examination prosecutor Alison Moe asked Dubin if she knew if, between 1994 and 2000 Epstein and Maxwell were in an ‘open relationship.’

She replied: ‘I couldn’t really say whether they did or did not’.

Dubin confirmed that she was having issues with her memory due to a medical condition which she did not specify, although she has publicly described a battle with breast cancer.

She said: ‘It’s very hard for me to remember anything far back. Sometimes I can’t even remember things from last month.

‘My family notices and I notice it. It’s been an issue’.

As Dubin walked into the court, Maxwell turned her head around and looked to the door and followed her with her eyes as she walked in and up to the witness box.

During Dubin’s evidence Maxwell stared intently at her, sitting up in her chair.

Dubin appeared curt and tense: it was not clear if she was willingly giving evidence or after being subpoenaed.

During a 2016 deposition which was revealed publicly for the first time in 2019,  Rinaldo Rizzo, a butler for the Dubins, tearfully described seeing a 15-year-old girl in his boss’s kitchen in 2005.

Rizzo said he saw a 15-year-old Swedish girl confined to Epstein’s private island and kept there as a sex slave.

Rizzo testified in his deposition that the girl was brought to the home by Maxwell and Epstein, who were visiting the Dubins.  

The six charges against Maxwell: 

THE CHARGES

Conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts (5 years max sentence)  

 Enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts (20 years)

Conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity (20 years)

Transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity (10 years minimum, life maximum)

Sex Trafficking Conspiracy

Sex Trafficking of a Minor 

Ghislaine Maxwell also faces two charges of perjury but those counts are due to be tried after her sex crimes trial. 

The charges relate to testimony she gave in 2016 in a defamation case filed against her by Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre.  

THE ‘FACTS’ 

Prosecutors say Maxwell groomed three girls between 1994 and 1997 for Epstein. 

They are not named in the indictment, but she allegedly targeted them in London, Florida, New York and New Mexico.

Maxwell, it is alleged, would befriend the girls by asking them about their life and their schooling. She would put them at ease by taking them to the movies and taking them shopping, winning their trust to later deliver them to Epstein, it’s alleged.

To ‘normalize’ the abuse that would come later, prosecutors say she undressed in front of the girls herself and asked them sexual questions. 

She then not only facilitated Epstein abusing them, prosecutors say, but took part in some of it herself. 

The alleged sex abuse includes ‘sexualized group massages’. 

The indictment also says Maxwell made the girl feel ‘indebted’ to Epstein by encouraging them to take money from him and let him pay for their education and travel.

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