United States v. Ghislaine Maxwell: Opening Statements, Part II

"Ghislaine is not Jeffrey Epstein."

Bobbi Sternheim, who is defending Maxwell along with Laura Menninger, Jeffrey Pagliuca, and Christian Everdell, presented the opening statement for the defense.

She started by going back - WAY back, all the way to the Bible.

“Ever since Eve tempted Adam with the apple,” she said, “women have been blamed for the bad behaviors of men.”

She pointed out that Jeffrey Epstein is not on trial but called the disgraced financier, who took his own life two years ago, as the “elephant in the room.”

She said: “She [Maxwell] is not Jeffrey Epstein. She is not like Jeffrey Epstein.”

“She is not like any of the other powerful men, media moguls, giants, who have abused women.”

She said that the alleged victims, who the prosecution referred to as “children”, were opportunistic young women with faulty memories who had been coerced by greedy civil litigators hoping for a big payday.

And jet the press so memorably dubbed the “Lolita Express”? According to the defense, this was merely a way for Epstein to give his “guy friends, girl friends and celebrities” including “one former astronaut who later became a senator” rides home.

She called the private jets “a Hamptons jitney in the air.”

Instead, Sternheim insisted: “This case is about three things. Memory. Manipulation. And money.”

Sternheim said that there would NOT be “hundreds” of accusers, and said that the trial boiled down to the account of four accusers who would be testifying.

She stated that the the memories of abuse were between 15 and 25 years old and had been “corrupted by things that have happened throughout the years.”

Sternheim added that the young women had been “manipulated by civil attorneys who saw Epstein and Maxwell as easy targets” for big payouts.

She was talking about the Victims Compensation Fund that was created to reimburse Epstein’s victims - and paid out $121 million dollars, according to the BBC.

The BBC reported that “Of the 225 people who stepped forward, 150 were adjudged to have legitimate claims.”

But Sternheim pointed out that to receive compensation, the alleged victims did NOT need to prove anything beyond a reasonable doubt in order to receive “millions of dollars.”

She called Maxwell a “scapegoat” - which raised an objection (which was overruled) by the prosecution.

Sternhein said that there were “no eyewitnesses” and “no documentation” to the alleged abuses.

Maxwell’s attorneys have already indicated that they plan to call in a “false memory expert”, so presumably they will try to call into question every detail of the accusers’ recollection of their time with Maxwell and Epstein.

The entire case will hinge on the testimony of these four women - and the entire world is waiting to hear them speak.