United States v. Ghislaine Maxwell
Day One
It’s been 17 months since her arrest and almost two years since Jeffrey Epstein, was found dead in his cell.
Today disgraced socialite Ghislaine Maxwell begins the fight for her life in a Southern District of New York federal courtroom - and I’m there, standing out in the bitter New York City cold, so you don’t have to.
As the entire world knows by now, Maxwell faces charges of helping Epstein groom , recruit and sexually traffic and abuse young women.
These charges are the result of four women who say she and Epstein victimized them between the years 1994 to 2004, when they were teenagers and that she acted as his fixer, arranging travel to locations including his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, his Manhattan townhouse, New Mexico and London.
Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The Maxwell case is the biggest story in the world. It’s being circulated among Q-Anon followers in remote backwoods locations, and discussed over dinner at New York high society galas.
I don’t know her, but I have several friends who do - and, since I worked as a journalist in London and New York, I have attended at least two events where she was in the room.
Everyone is attending for their own reasons.
For some, it’s about unraveling the mysteries of Jeffrey Epstein that were left unanswered after his death.
Where did he get his money? Was his “finance” advice really code for operating a high-level international blackmail ring? What was his friendship with Bill Clinton really like?
Gabriel Sherman wrote in Vanity Fair that, after covering Jeffrey Epstein since 2019, he’s “not optimistic” about the trial providing those answers - in part because U.S. District Court Judge Alison Nathan has limited the scope of the investigation to Maxwell’s role in allegedly helping Jeffrey Epstein procure the young women.
Others are criminal psychology students, or conspiracy theorists, or reporters from other countries wondering what the hell is going on with the U.S. legal system.
For the victims, this may represent their last chance to see justice, since Epstein’s death prevented them from having their day in court.
I’m investigating the case from a Red Collar criminal perspective.
I can’t wrap my head around the fact that so many people, even after hearing from so many young women who bravely spoke out about Maxwell allegedly grooming them, and being an active participant in their abuse, can’t see her as a potential sexual predator.
Journalist Vicky Ward, who created the podcast Chasing Ghislaine, wrote in Rolling Stone that “she drew people to her because she was funny, she was witty, she was extraordinarily charming… and, as I was reminded in that courtroom, also supremely confident.”
Ward quotes a source who worked at one of Epstein’s estates as saying: “The idea that Ghislaine was the sort of person who’d be bothered to visit working class areas to pick up vulnerable girls doesn’t gel with the person I knew and worked for,” says a person who worked in Epstein’s Palm Beach home. Ghislaine had far too high regard for herself…That would have been beneath her.”
But as someone who has studied white collar and red collar criminals for almost a decade, Maxwell’s behavior made perfect sense.
Because Jeffrey Epstein was Maxwell’s source of money.
I always say that there are three motives for murder: Money, sex, and money to get more sex.
Once you have tasted that world of riches, private jets and private islands and access to a world that most of us can only dream of, there is nothing that people won’t do to keep it.
I recently spoke to a friend of a friend, someone who comes from a very wealthy, posh, old school British family. She told me that she believed that the reason that so many people who have encountered Maxwell can’t imagine her doing these things is that they haven’t seen that side of her.
“When I was 19, I took a flight on Jeffrey’s plane. She was onboard, and there was definitely some shady sexual stuff going on in the back. I just politely said that I wasn’t into that, and from then on they never mentioned it again.”
My acquaintance said that there were lots of other girls around - girls who she saw once and then never again. She said that even at the time she had the impression that Maxwell was smart enough to never target women who she believed came from “good families” - if they were a boldface name in Tatler or had a family crest, they were safe.
If this was a TV series, it would remind me of the moment when it was revealed that the sexual abuse victims on cruise ships were referred to as “NRPs” - Not Real People.
This trial is going to bring the victims’ stories front and center.
I’m planning to go to court every day and will of course bring you updates as we go on this wild thrill ride together.
(My use of the phrase “wild thrill ride” is ironic in part because, as anyone who has ever attended a trial knows, the moments of heart-stopping conflict are constantly juxtaposed with endless waits). This was definitely the case today.
The scene at the Thurgood Marshall court this morning was bananas.
There were dozens of news reporters outside, and a long line outside.
(Millennial attendees expressed shock at having to check their iPhones, since phones are not allowed inside the courtroom).
People waited hours to be admitted to the courtroom, where Judge Nathan had several “overspill” rooms ready - only six press seats were assigned in the actual courtroom.
Judge Nathan, the 49-year-old Philadelphia native who served as White House Counsel for former President Barack Obama, studied philosophy and Japanese at Cornell University before graduating from Cornell law school and is recorded as the second openly gay jurist on the federal bench, seems to be doing everything that she can to keep the trial on track.
The overspill rooms had large videoscreens where we could see and hear everything going on.
So far, the prosecution has indicated that their opening statement would clock in at “around 25 minutes” while the defense said that they would “try to keep it under an hour.”
The morning’s excitement quickly waned after jurors were selected and the judge announced that there were potential issues with two of them.
She said that one of the jurors told her that their employer only allowed two weeks of paid vacation per year. Everyone agreed that the judge should contact the employer. Judge Nathan stated that she called the HR department but was still waiting on an answer from them.
Judge Nathan also announced that another juror had told her his wife “surprised him with a trip” that was meant to be taken between December 24th and 28th.
This development burned around three hours.
During that time I made my way down to the lower level cafeteria and met Eric Lerner, who represents Epstein accuser Jennifer Araoz.
The New York Post recently reported that Araoz has set up a foundation to help survivors of sexual abuse and sex trafficking.
She spoke to CBS News this morning about her quest for justice and she is seriously inspiring.
Right now, everything is on hold while the judge tries to get an answer from the HR department of the potential juror’s company in order to see if they can work something out to get the required time off.
I’m going to lunch (so that I can get my computer and phone in order to post) and will report back!
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