Epstein Fallout: Will Federal Prosecutors Now Target Ghislaine Maxwell?

Who is British socialite and heiress Ghislaine Maxwell? Many believe that she played a key role in Jeffrey Epstein’s international sex trafficking ring, if not his main accomplice during the period in question. Epstein’s untimely death over the weekend has drawn new attention on to the woman who is credited with ‘organizing Epstein’s life.’ Before the weekend, Maxwell was implicated as being part of a criminal conspiracy to procure underage girls for sex, as detailed in newly released unsealed civil court documents.

As a result of this and Epstein’s death in custody, victims and other interested parties looking for justice are inquiring about a federal investigation and possible indictment of Ghislaine Maxwell.

According to the Washington Post, Geoff Berman, the U.S. attorney in New York, has already acknowledged the “brave young women who have already come forward and . . . the many others who have yet to do so” that “our investigation of the conduct charged in the indictment — which included a conspiracy count — remains ongoing.”

Should U.S. federal investigators seek an indictment, there is certainly a case to be made against Maxwell, but this would almost certainly be an unmitigated disaster for the establishment . Within the recent cache of unsealed documents included some incredible and lurid details of Maxwell’s role in Epstein’s notorious activities, as well as specifics about Maxwell’s relationship with British royal family member Prince Andrew the Duke of York, and the Duke’s own alleged abuse of then underage victim Virginia Giuffre.

Recent reports in the Washington Post indicate that Maxwell has recently withdrawn from public view, and has sold her Manhattan townhouse, but she retains her homes in London and Salisbury, England. The Post cited persons ‘familiar with the investigation’ who say that authorities “have had trouble locating” her. Whether that is actually the case is still unclear. Certainly, Maxwell would want to be away from any press and media at the moment.

The Guardian’s bureau in New York reports…

Maxwell, 57, the daughter of the late press baron Robert Maxwell, has repeatedly and vehemently denied allegations of involvement in a sex-trafficking network run by Epstein, who was awaiting trial in a New York prison when he died.

(…) A number of Epstein’s accusers have frequently identified Maxwell as playing a central role in arranging the abuse of his victims. The most recent accusations were contained in more than 2,000 pages of court documents unsealed last week in connection to a civil case that one of Epstein’s accusers, Virginia Giuffre, filed against Maxwell back in 2015.

Giuffre has previously accused Maxwell of recruiting her to work as Epstein’s masseuse at age 15, when the teenager was a locker-room attendant at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in south Florida. When Maxwell accused her of being a liar, Giuffre brought the defamation suit, which was settled shortly before trial in 2017.

In documents unsealed on Friday, just a few hours before Epstein was found dead in his cell, Giuffre’s lawyers accused Maxwell of “acting as a madam” for the financier, alleging that “multiple witnesses” had testified that Maxwell was responsible for “recruiting, maintaining, harbouring and trafficking girls for Epstein”. Maxwell has never been criminally charged, and has always denied wrongdoing. Maxwell’s lawyers have not been responding to requests for comment.

(…) However according to Giuffre, now 35, and other women who claim they were abused by Epstein when they were underage in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Maxwell’s responsibilities included finding and grooming girls to provide the financier – and his wealthy friends – with massages and sexual acts.

Giuffre has alleged that one of the figures she was coerced into sexual encounters with was Prince Andrew. Buckingham Palace has repeatedly denied the claims, saying “any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue”.

Maxwell initially appeared to weather the accusations against her associate, following a much-criticised plea deal in 2008, in which Epstein pleaded guilty to a single count of soliciting prostitution from an underage girl under Florida state law but escaped federal charges. He served only 13 months of an 18 month jail sentence…

Read the full report at The Guardian

READ MORE EPSTEIN NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Epstein Files

SUPPORT OUR MEDIA PLATFORM – BECOME A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV

21st Century Wire is an alternative news agency designed to enlighten, inform and educate readers about world events which are not always covered in the mainstream media.