US District Judge Loretta Preska has moved to unseal court documents from a seven-hour, 418-page deposition Ghislaine Maxwell gave in 2016. The documents are apart of a lawsuit filed against Maxwell in 2015 by Virginia Giuffre.
Virginia Guiffre alleges that Maxwell forced her to have sex with Prince Andrew and referred to herself as having been a “sex slave."
Other documents that are set to be unsealed include emails and depositions from other victims, including Giuffre, who claim to have been abused by Epstein.
“The court finds that any minor embarrassment or annoyance resulting from the disclosure of Miss Maxwell’s mostly non-testimony about behavior that has been widely reported in the press is far outweighed by the presumption of public access,” Preska stated during the hearing.
Preska gave Maxwell’s attorneys one week to appeal the decision before the documents go public. Her lawyer argued that they have “grave concerns about our client's ability to seek and receive an impartial and fair trial and jury due to the intense media scrutiny around anything that is unsealed.”
Maxwell was arrested July 2 on a six-count federal indictment. She is presumed to have aided Jeffrey Epstein in grooming at least three underage girls to be sexually abused.
Maxwell is currently being held in a federal prison in Brooklyn, New York, awaiting her July 2021 trial.
[Via]