Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite and alleged madam of millionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, is trying to keep what Reuters called a “damaging deposition” out of the current case against her.
Reuters reported that Maxwell’s attorneys are appealing to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a ruling that would “unseal sworn testimony related to Epstein, including a April 2016 deposition from Maxwell and a deposition by an Epstein accuser.” Maxwell claims the ruling hurts her ability to defend herself against the criminal charges she faces as a result of her association with Epstein. Maxwell is currently charged with procuring underage girls for Epstein as well as perjury for denying the allegations under oath.
“Maxwell, 58, has said negative publicity from the disclosure of ‘intimate, sensitive, and personal’ information from her deposition would violate her right against self-incrimination, and imperil a fair trial because jurors might hold it against her,” Reuters reported.
Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to the charges against her.
Virginia Giuffre, the most prominent Epstein accuser, is opposing the motion from Maxwell’s attorneys. Giuffre alleges Epstein made her his “sex slave” and that Maxwell helped facilitate his crimes. Giuffre’s attorneys added that Maxwell chose to forgo her right to remain silent when she was deposed in 2016.
The deposition in question came during Giuffre’s civil defamation lawsuit against Maxwell.
“That case settled in 2017, and U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska ordered the deposition unsealed in July,” Reuters reported. “Tuesday’s hearing will also address a second Maxwell appeal, from [U.S. District Judge Alison] Nathan’s refusal to modify a protective order and let her access confidential materials produced by the government.”
Maxwell wants to access those materials to use in her attempt to block Judge Preska from unsealing the previous deposition. Maxwell’s attorneys alleged the judge needs to know “just how prosecutors obtained the deposition material and who turned it over to them.”
“Prosecutors countered that Maxwell has shown no need for the materials, and that her appeal was a ‘thinly veiled attempt’ to have the appeals court declare they gathered evidence illegally,” Reuters reported.
As The Daily Wire previously reported, photos were recently released showing Maxwell attending an event in 2013 to stop sex trafficking. The event took place several years after Maxwell was first accused of procuring young girls for Epstein and after articles linked her to Epstein and Prince Andrew.
“She’s got some nerve,” event host Celhia de Lavarene told British tabloid The Sun. “But I am not surprised. I’ve come to realize that these people need to appear to be doing good and make people believe it.”
In August, federal prosecutors said the cases against Maxwell and Epstein were still open and that additional charges may be coming.
“Federal prosecutors in Maxwell’s criminal case revealed the ongoing investigation in a letter urging a judge to block her from filing newly obtained information in civil cases against her,” the New York Post reported at the time. “The documents, which Maxwell’s attorneys have called ‘critical new information,’ could jeopardize their ongoing investigation if it is allowed to be filed in the civil cases.”