The woman at the center of the rape allegations against deceased multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein told her lawyer that the “final straw” for her was when Epstein and his madam/girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell asked the then 19-year-old to act as a surrogate mother for their child.
The allegation appears in a new book from Bradley Edwards, the attorney for Epstein’s most prominent accuser, Virginia Roberts Giuffre. In an <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8138821/Virginia-Roberts-fled-Epstein-Ghislaine-Maxwell-asked-surrogate-baby.html">excerpt</a> published by The Daily Mail, Edwards explains how Giuffre met Maxwell and Epstein and became a “sex slave” to the rich and powerful. Giuffre was reading a book about massage technique – considering it for a career – while sitting outside President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida where she worked when she was 16. Trump banned Epstein from the resort over his treatment of young girls.
While reading the book, Maxwell approached Giuffre (then Roberts) and offered to teach her how to perform massages and asked her to come work for her billionaire friend, who turned out to be Epstein. Giuffre, who had a troubled childhood, was excited by the offer, but quickly became upset when she says she was sexually assaulted upon meeting Epstein. Giuffre was distraught, but Maxwell and Epstein acted so casually that the young woman thought this was just how the rich and powerful behaved. She was paid for her “massage” session with Epstein – more money than she had ever seen – and agreed to keep working for the multimillionaire.
Giuffre was soon farmed out to Epstein’s wealthy friends, including, she says, Prince Andrew of the Royal Family. She was taught how to perform sexual favors for these wealthy individuals and traveled the world with Epstein.
Edwards wrote that when he met Giuffre he believed she was the key to taking down Epstein, since her years and travels with the now-convicted predator meant she knew the “structure of his organization.”
Edwards also wrote that after years of traveling the world as one of Epstein’s underage sex slaves, Maxwell and the millionaire asked Giuffre to bear a child for them.
“At the age of 19, when she had been involved in the sex cult for over two years, Epstein and Maxwell came up with a proposal that turned her stomach: they wanted her to carry his baby,” Edwards wrote. “They told Virginia she would be taken care of for the rest of her life if she would agree to give Epstein and Maxwell a child, although there were some strings attached. In particular, she would have to sign a contract agreeing that the baby was not her own, but the legal child of Epstein and Maxwell.”
“It was the final straw. She couldn’t bear the thought of Epstein and Maxwell raising her child. She knew she had to escape,” Edwards added.
Giuffre, Edwards wrote, escaped Epstein and Maxwell while in Thailand, where Epstein allegedly asked Giuffre to find a young girl for the millionaire. Instead, Giuffre found a man in town who “fell in love with her and promised to take care of her.”
“She married him days later, hopped on a plane with him to Australia, and never looked back,” Edwards wrote. “She hid in Australia for nearly ten years, during which time she had three children.”
Epstein was found hanging in his cell on August 10, 2019 after being taken off suicide watch.

Epstein Maxwell

Woman Who Accused Jeffrey Epstein Of Rape Says Millionaire And His Madam Asked Her To Have Surrogate Baby

Ghislaine Maxwell

Jeffrey Epstein

More troubling details have emerged about the previously secret non-prosecution agreement in Florida eleven years ago involving financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was found dead of apparent suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in August after being charged with child sex trafficking.
According to an exclusive report by <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/exclusive-florida-feds-knew-york-victim-epstein-indictment/story?id=69088738">ABC News</a> published Thursday, FBI and federal prosecutors in Florida were aware of a key witness whose testimony helped lead to Epstein&#8217;s arrest last summer, but the Florida prosecutors worked out the controversial deal with Epstein before she was able to testify.
&#8220;A woman whose allegations of childhood sex abuse in New York were central to last year&#8217;s indictment of Jeffrey Epstein was questioned by the FBI and subpoenaed for testimony by federal prosecutors in Florida more than a decade ago in connection with the first federal investigation into Epstein&#8217;s alleged child sex trafficking, according to court documents and multiple sources familiar with the events,&#8221; ABC News reports.
&#8220;But the woman, who was 19 at the time of her initial contact with federal agents in 2008, did not appear before a grand jury in West Palm Beach, as the subpoena commanded,&#8221; the report continues. &#8220;Before her testimony could be secured, Epstein cemented a controversial and once-secret non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney&#8217;s Office in Miami by pleading guilty to two state prostitution charges for which he was sentenced to 18 months in a county jail.&#8221;
As a Florida-based attorney who represented three of Epstein&#8217;s alleged victims in the original Florida investigation told ABC, the young woman&#8217;s testimony could have dramatically altered the situation eleven years ago, blowing open the case by providing evidence of his alleged multi-state child sex abuse network.
&#8220;I certainly think with the FBI&#8217;s capabilities, even back then, that they could have unraveled the entire network from New York to Paris to New Mexico,&#8221; West Palm Beach attorney Spencer Kuvin told the network. &#8220;The potential was always there. [The government] shut this thing down and pled this thing out before going through and talking to probably more than half of the women that were involved in this whole thing. Had they conducted a full investigation and taken their time, this would&#8217;ve been a whole different story.&#8221;
Having reached the initially secret, widely criticized agreement with Epstein, however, Florida prosecutors called off the subpoena for the pivotal New York witness, halted the investigation and suspended the grand jury.
&#8220;It wasn&#8217;t until nearly 11 years later, when federal prosecutors in New York quietly opened a new investigation into Epstein, that the woman was again contacted by authorities seeking details of her alleged years-long sexual abuse by the multi-millionaire financier,&#8221; ABC explains. &#8220;Identified in last year’s indictment as &#8216;Minor-Victim 1,&#8217; she is the only alleged victim from New York whose allegations are specifically detailed in the charges, a strong indicator of her importance to the investigation.&#8221; (<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/exclusive-florida-feds-knew-york-victim-epstein-indictment/story?id=69088738">Read the full ABC report here.</a>)
Epstein&#8217;s initial case and his jail cell death have continued to spark controversy and conspiracy theories, the late-financier&#8217;s name repeatedly appearing not only in viral headlines and social media posts but in multiple lawsuits from alleged victims now more than seven months since his demise.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/awful-lawsuit-claims-jeffrey-epstein-trafficked-girls-as-young-as-eleven-years-old">Lawsuit Claims Jeffrey Epstein Trafficked Girls As Young As Eleven Years Old</a>

Jeffrey Epstein Protesters

Feds Knew 11 Years Ago About Epstein Key Witness Who Could’ve Changed Everything

As the British royal family faces intense media scrutiny, Prince Andrew is reportedly being &#8220;uncooperative&#8221; with investigators regarding his relationship with convicted billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Since Epstein allegedly committed suicide in his jail cell late last year, the FBI and other law agencies have been seeking to interview the Duke of York, but he has been largely unresponsive.
&#8220;U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman told reporters Monday that federal prosecutors have not heard back from Andrew,&#8221; reports <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/prince-andrew-epstein-fbi-law-enforcement">Fox Business</a>. &#8220;Despite their request to interview him, the duke has &#8216;provided zero cooperation&#8217; in their efforts, Berman said, at a news conference outside Epstein’s New York mansion.&#8221;
Berman added that Epstein &#8220;couldn’t have done what he did without the assistance of others, and I can assure you that the investigation is moving forward.&#8221;
The news of Prince Andrew&#8217;s lack of cooperation directly contradicts his past statements indicating he would cooperate with investigators following Epstein&#8217;s death. This past November, the Duke of York even <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/money/jeffrey-epstein-prince-andrew-stepping-away-royal-duties" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">announced</a> he would be stepping back from his public duties.
&#8220;It has become clear to me over the last few days that the circumstances relating to my former association with Jeffrey Epstein has become a major disruption to my family&#8217;s work,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;I continue to unequivocally regret my ill-judged association with Jeffrey Epstein.&#8221;
Virginia Roberts Giuffre claimed in a 2015 lawsuit that Epstein recruited her to have sex with his powerful friends when she was just 15 years old, alleging that one of her sexual encounters with Prince Andrew occurred when she was just 17. Though a photograph she provided shows the British royal with his arm around her waist at the time, it’s not clear if the meeting was a brief encounter. Prince Andrew has denied all the charges against him.
“I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever,” said Andrew in a public interview that media experts agree was disastrous. “I stayed with him and that’s [something] I kick myself for on a daily basis because it was not something that was becoming of a member of the royal family and we try and uphold the highest standards and practices and I let the side down, simple as that.”
“I have absolutely no memory of that photograph,” the prince insisted. “I’m afraid to say that I don’t believe that photograph was taken in the way that has been suggested.”
During the interview on the BBC, Prince Andrew did himself no favors when he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/prince-andrew-says-his-tendency-to-be-too-honorable-made-him-pal-around-with-jeffrey-epstein">blamed his friendship</a> with Epstein on his “honor.”
“The problem was the fact that once he had been convicted I stayed with him,” the Duke of York said. “That’s the bit I kick myself for on a daily basis because it was not something that was becoming of a member of the Royal Family and we try and uphold the highest standards and practices and I let the side down, simple as that.”
Prince Andrew went on to describe Epstein’s home as a “convenient place to stay” despite Epstein being a convicted sex offender.
Virginia has since called Prince Andrew a &#8220;liar&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-prince-andrews-accuser-responds-to-his-denials-he-knows-what-happened">while demanding</a> he come clean with the truth. “He knows what happened; I know what happened, and there’s only one of us telling the truth,” Virginia told the BBC in an interview.
Andrew&#8217;s former protection officer, however, recently told <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/prince-andrew-had-visits-ghislaine-21360358" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Mirror</a> that he predicts the Duke of York will face absolutely nothing over his involvement with Epstein.
“Even if the FBI request information from the Royal Protection Command, they will get a big fat no,&#8221; Paul Page told the outlet. “They’re not going to get any documentation from the British police in terms of Prince Andrew’s movements or anything else.&#8221;

BRITAIN-CANADA-ROYALS-HARRY-MEGHAN

REPORT: Prince Andrew Being ‘Uncooperative’ In Epstein Probe

Prince Andrew

Ghislaine Maxwell, who is under criminal investigation by the FBI over her connections with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, reportedly had her personal emails hacked and potentially damaging information about high profile people linked to Epstein&#8217;s sex trafficking case could become public.
&#8220;The revelation was made in a letter filed by the British socialite&#8217;s lawyers in the defamation case brought against her by Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Guiffre,&#8221; The Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7919155/Ghislaine-Maxwells-personal-emails-HACKED-leaked.html">reported</a>. &#8220;The letter was sent by Maxwell&#8217;s attorney, Ty Gee, on December 5 to New York federal court Judge Loretta A. Preska but made public last week. The letter addresses the materials that should remain sealed or redacted in the case.&#8221;
The letter states that documents that had been released to the public by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in August did not thoroughly redact private information which allegedly led to the hack. The letter stated:
<blockquote>Despite the Second Circuit&#8217;s best efforts, it made serious mistakes. For example, it redacted a non-party&#8217;s name in one location but not another; so the media immediately gained access to that name.
As another example, it redacted Ms. Maxwell&#8217;s email address (which linked to her own domain name) in one location but not another; shortly afterward hackers breached the host computer.</blockquote>
The Mail speculated that &#8220;the email security breach means that 58-year-old Maxwell&#8217;s emails could be sold or leaked to the public and potentially reveal more details about individuals connected to Epstein.&#8221;
Another British publication, The Telegraph, <a href="https://outline.com/Nba8Xd">reported</a> that there was even speculation that a &#8220;a rogue state&#8221; may have been behind the hack.
The Telegraph also noted that her attorneys in the U.S. were fighting to prevent the release of over 8,500 additional documents that are &#8220;said to contain damaging new sex claims about Epstein’s vast network of celebrity friends.&#8221;
&#8220;It appears from her email address, which the Telegraph is choosing not to publish, that Ms Maxwell had set up her own secret mail server rather than entrusting her messages to major providers like Google or Yahoo. The server appears to have been run through a New York-based website registered under the name Jennifer Turner, an apparent pseudonym,&#8221; The Telegraph reported. &#8220;Running a personal server can offer added legal protection against handover requests from law enforcement, but it can also leave emails more vulnerable to hackers.&#8221;
In late December, Reuters first <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-jeffrey-epstein-investigation/exclusive-fbi-investigating-british-socialite-and-others-who-facilitated-epstein-idUSKBN1YV0VB">reported</a> that the FBI had opened a criminal investigation into Maxwell:
<blockquote>The FBI is investigating British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and several other people linked to U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, according to two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation.
They said a principal focus of the FBI’s investigation is Maxwell, a longtime associate of Epstein, and other “people who facilitated” Epstein’s allegedly illegal behavior.</blockquote>
Maxwell reportedly has so much &#8220;dirt&#8221; on high profile people that she &#8220;believes she will escape prosecution and return to her high society party life once &#8216;the dust has settled&#8217;, according to a pal of Jeffrey Epstein&#8217;s alleged madam,&#8221; The Sun <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10589347/ghislaine-maxwell-dirt-powerful-people-epstein/">reported</a>.

Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell

Ghislaine Maxwell’s Emails Hacked, Damaging Info On Famous People Linked To Epstein Sex Trafficking Case Could Be Released, Report Says

According to a forensic pathologist, photos of the late Jeffrey Epstein’s eyes after his death reveal burst capillaries, indicating that Epstein was strangled to death.
<a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7894685/The-burst-capillaries-Epsteins-eyeballs-pathologists-say-suggests-murder.html">The Daily Mail</a> obtained clips from an appearance on a Dr. Oz special by forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden that will air on Thursday. Baden, who was present during Epstein’s autopsy, suggested that the fact that the autopsy showed Epstein with burst capillaries and pale lower legs, rather than purple or blueish legs, indicated he did not hang himself.
&#8220;In a hanging, the arteries and the blood vessels, the veins are both clogged off and the person is pale. The face is pale,&#8221; Baden explained.
Dr. Oz responded, &#8220;It suffocates you, no blood goes up there.&#8221;
&#8220;That’s right,&#8221; said Baden. &#8220;No blood coming in or out&#8230;. with a manual strangulation, there’s a backup of a pressure and the little capillaries can rupture and they’re best seen in the eye.&#8221;
Speaking of Epstein’s legs, Baden opined, “The blood settles after we die. The so-called lividity, if you’re hanging, the lividity is on the lower part on the legs. These would be like maroon/purple, front and back and they aren&#8217;t.&#8221;
Baden questioned the ruling given over Epstein’s death, asserting: &#8220;The initial death certificate was issued at the time of the autopsy, it&#8217;s pending further study, getting more information. Five days later it was changed to hanging suicide and one of the things the family wishes to know, the estate wishes to know is, what was that additional information that caused them to change it when five months later and the family still doesn&#8217;t know what happened to in the first encounter and what happened to him when he was found dead.&#8221;
“Is that unusual, that you have a five-month gap?” Oz asked.
“It&#8217;s very unusual, especially in a prison situation,&#8221; replied Baden.
Baden said the supposed noose that Epstein allegedly used to kill himself didn’t fit with the facts.
“Doesn&#8217;t follow the furrow, number one. Number two, there&#8217;s no evidence that there&#8217;s any blood or tissue on any of the part of the loop. Most of all, this little area shows a pattern that wouldn&#8217;t be made by this smooth surface of the sheet that was torn to make the noose,” said Baden, adding, “The problem I think why we&#8217;re here today, five months later, is that there&#8217;s been a total lack of transparency in what happened to Epstein.”
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/alleged-epstein-suicide-attempt-footage-no-longer-exists-after-jail-saves-wrong-video">The Daily Wire</a> reported last week:
<blockquote>Prosecutors on Thursday told a judge overseeing the trial of Epstein’s former cellmate, accused murderer Nicholas Tartaglione, that surveillance footage of the hallway during Epstein’s failed alleged suicide attempt “no longer exists” because of “technical errors,” according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/a104be68ede71c99f26c4e765d244e0e">Associated Press</a>. Last December, prosecutors believed they had found the footage after announcing only a day before that they had actually lost it, as previously reported by the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-missing-prison-video-from-jeffrey-epsteins-suicide-attempt-has-been-found-prosecutors-say?itm_source=parsely-api">Daily Wire</a>.
According to AP, &#8220;the revelation came despite assurances that prosecutors made that jail officials were preserving the footage at the request of a defense attorney for Nicholas Tartaglione, a former police officer who shared a cell with Epstein in July” at the time of his first —and failed —alleged suicide attempt. The <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/in-stunning-reversal-prosecutors-now-say-footage-of-epstein-suicide-attempt-no-longer-exists/">National Review  </a>reports that prosecutors explained that the footage “captured a different tier than the one where Cell-1 was located because the preserved video did not show corrections officers responding to any of the cells seen on the video.”</blockquote>

Jeffrey Epstein Appears In Court For Bail Hearing Over Sex Trafficking Charges

Pathologist Shows Photos Of Epstein’s Eyes, Claims Epstein Was Strangled

A shocking new lawsuit claims that New York financier Jeffrey Epstein trafficked girls as young as eleven and twelve years old for his perverted pals, and may have been an active abuser and trafficker as recently as 2018.
Epstein, a convicted sex offender, killed himself in a Manhattan jail late last year as he awaited trial on a host of Federal charges, including claims that he trafficked and sexually abused minor children. Those charges, though, only covered incidents that took place before 2005.
The new claim, filed in court on Wednesday, &#8220;significantly expands&#8221; on an already active case against Epstein, filed by the attorney general of the U.S. Virgin Islands, seeking forefieture of Epstien&#8217;s several estates and the &#8220;dissolution of numerous shell companies he established in the territory that officials have said acted as fronts for his sex trafficking enterprise,&#8221; per the New York Times. It includes new evidence, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/15/nyregion/jeffrey-epstein-virgin-islands.html">the NYT also reports</a>, that suggests Epstein may have been running his &#8220;pedophile ring,&#8221; centered out of the Virgin Islands, well into the 2010s and, perhaps, as recently as 2018.
&#8220;New evidence shows Jeffrey Epstein sexually abused and trafficked hundreds of young women and girls on his private Caribbean island,&#8221; according to the NYT. Epstein &#8220;was bringing girls as young as 11 and 12 to his secluded estate in the Virgin Islands, known as Little Saint James, and kept a computerized database to track the availability and movements of women and girls, the lawsuit said.&#8221;
The Virgin Islands, the lawsuit says, was the &#8220;nexus&#8221; of Epstein&#8217;s operation and, based on new evidence, was used for years to coordinate Epstein&#8217;s activities and those of his sex trafficking ring. Attorney general Denise N. George wants to reclaim the property Epstein used as his headquarters, sell the assets, and redirect the funds to women who were victimized as part of Epstein&#8217;s horrific program.
George&#8217;s office went above and beyond the work of American Federal prosecutors, the NYT says, acting on existing evidence, consolidating open cases, investigating claims, and, eventually, piecing together the bones of an alleged criminal enterprise extending to all corners of the globe &#8212; not just New York and Florida, where Federal investigators concentrated their efforts.
“Epstein clearly used the Virgin Islands and his residence in the U.S. Virgin Islands at Little Saint James as a way to be able to conceal and to be able to expand his activity here,” George said in a statement released after the lawsuit was filed.
<div class="css-53u6y8">
“We will not remain complacent, and we will enforce our laws whatever way we can,” George added. “It doesn’t matter the social status of the person. It’s that the laws apply equally.”
Epstein&#8217;s assets in the Virgin Islands could total more than $500 million, though it still remains to be seen whether the Virgin Islands can recover. So far, there&#8217;s no concrete plan to redistribute Epstein&#8217;s wealth to his allged victims, but that&#8217;s what George plans to do with the money if she&#8217;s able to seize and sell Epstein&#8217;s two estates and pull money from his shell corporations.
</div>
Although Epstein is dead, a number of questions remain about how he conducted his business, and Federal agents anticipate further charges, perhaps against several of Epstein&#8217;s &#8220;clients&#8221; and his alleged madam, socialite Ghislaine Maxwell. Recent reports suggest that big names, like Britian&#8217;s Prince Andrew and former president Bill Clinton could be named in the Federal government&#8217;s trove of documents related to the Epstein case, but a New York judge ruled last week that those documents will remain under seal.
&nbsp;

Epstein

AWFUL: Lawsuit Claims Jeffrey Epstein Trafficked Girls As Young As Eleven Years Old

More than five months after his death behind bars, Jeffrey Epstein continues to spark controversy — and legal battles. On Monday, Lawrence Lessig, a prominent law professor at Harvard University, filed a lawsuit in Massachusetts against The New York Times for publishing what he describes as &#8220;clickbait defamation&#8221; against him in an Epstein-focused story.
On Sept. 14, just over a month after Epstein was found dead in his prison cell by self-strangulation after being charged with sex trafficking of minors, The New York Times published a story on Epstein&#8217;s donations to M.I.T. titled, &#8220;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/14/business/lessig-epstein-ito-mit.html">A Harvard Professor Doubles Down: If You Take Epstein’s Money, Do It in Secret.</a>&#8221; The story, which offers &#8220;a conversation with Lawrence Lessig about Jeffrey Epstein, M.I.T. and reputation laundering,&#8221; begins:
<blockquote>
It is hard to defend soliciting donations from the <a class="css-1g7m0tk" title="" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/16/nyregion/jeffrey-epstein-investigation.html">convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein</a>. But Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard Law professor, has been trying.
Mr. Lessig is a friend of Joichi Ito, who <a class="css-1g7m0tk" title="" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/07/business/mit-media-lab-jeffrey-epstein-joichi-ito.html">resigned</a> as the director of the M.I.T. Media Lab, as well as from the boards of The New York Times Company and other organizations, after it was revealed that he had courted money from Mr. Epstein and worked to hide it. Mr. Ito also traveled twice to <a class="css-1g7m0tk" title="" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/28/business/jeffrey-epstein-island.html">Mr. Epstein’s Caribbean island home</a>.
</blockquote>
The Times then provides a summary of Lessig&#8217;s &#8220;doubling down&#8221; on his supposed defense of taking money from Epstein:
<blockquote>
Mr. Lessig signed a letter in support of Mr. Ito, and then published <a class="css-1g7m0tk" title="" href="https://medium.com/@lessig/on-joi-and-mit-3cb422fe5ae7" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a 3,500-word essay</a> on the subject. He argued that in an ideal world, no institution should take money from people like Mr. Epstein, but that in reality, much of the money that props up universities and other elite institutions comes from troubling sources.
Mr. Lessig suggested that donors to places like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology could be organized in four buckets, ranging from “people like Tom Hanks or Taylor Swift — people who are wealthy and whose wealth comes from nothing but doing good” — to “entities and people whose wealth comes from clearly wrongful or harmful or immoral behavior.” Mr. Lessig, who noted that he was a childhood victim of sexual abuse, also argued that the act of veiling Mr. Epstein’s contributions was good, because it avoided “whitewashing” his reputation.
</blockquote>
Now, as reported by <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/01/13/harvard-law-professor-sues-new-york-times-over-jeffrey-epstein-story/4457147002/">USA Today</a>, Lessig is accusing the Times of deliberately distorting what he said about donations from the likes of Epstein, publishing a &#8220;sensationalized, false and defamatory &#8216;clickbait&#8217; headline and lede&#8221; that presents the &#8220;direct opposite&#8221; of what he actually argued.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Today I sued the <a href="https://twitter.com/nytimes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nytimes</a>: <a href="https://t.co/tXEXgzcD9w">https://t.co/tXEXgzcD9w</a>
&mdash; Lessig (@lessig) <a href="https://twitter.com/lessig/status/1216746210226135041?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Lessig&#8217;s lawsuit states that &#8220;within hours&#8221; of the publication of the story, the professor &#8220;became associated with the notoriety surrounding the Epstein scandal, and the community that quietly or silently tolerated such monstrosity.&#8221; The story, Lessig contends, is a clear case of defamation, as he explains at length in a blogpost on <a href="https://medium.com/@lessig/on-suing-the-times-9f66f3dd9063">Medium</a> posted Monday.
The Times&#8217; title and lede for the article on his discussion about the Epstein donation scandal, Lessig writes in the blogpost, &#8220;are false.&#8221; After pointing out passages from his original post, including where he states clearly that &#8220;it was a mistake to take this money, even if anonymous,&#8221; Lessig writes:
<blockquote>
My essay was clearly not “defend[ing] soliciting donations” from Epstein. My essay said—repeatedly—that such soliciting was a “mistake.” And more importantly, it was a mistake because of the kind of harm it would trigger in both victims and women generally. &#8230; I did not defend taking money from Epstein. I didn’t say it was ok to take money from Epstein “if in secret.” I said it was wrong to take Epstein’s money, “even if anonymous.” The assertion—in the tweeted headline and lede—to the contrary is thus flatly false.
</blockquote>
&#8220;I love the Times,&#8221; Lessig writes. &#8220;I know that journalism is hard, and deadlines are short. So I when I asked the Times to correct these two false and defamatory statements, I fully expected they would, and I fully expected that would be the end of it. And I so I was astonished when they not only refused to fix the mistake, but doubled down on the absurdity of their justifications.&#8221;
The Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/01/13/us/ap-us-times-lawsuit-epstein-1st-ld-writethru.html">responded</a> Monday to Lessig&#8217;s lawsuit by declaring that it will defend against his claim &#8220;vigorously.&#8221;
“When Professor Lessig contacted The Times to complain about the story, senior editors reviewed his complaint and were satisfied that the story accurately reflected his statements,&#8221; said Times spokeswoman Danielle Rhoades Ha. &#8220;We plan to defend against the claim vigorously.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/alleged-epstein-suicide-attempt-footage-no-longer-exists-after-jail-saves-wrong-video">Alleged Epstein Suicide Attempt Footage ‘No Longer Exists’ After Jail Saves Wrong Video</a>

Harvard Professor Sues New York Times Over Epstein Story; NYT Responds

Harvard

New York Times

On Wednesday, The Sun (U.K.) released new photos of former President Bill Clinton in connection to now-deceased registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in a &#8220;world exclusive.&#8221;
The photos purport to show Mr. Clinton with alleged Epstein madam Ghislaine Maxwell on board Epstein’s notorious private jet dubbed the &#8220;Lolita Express.&#8221;
Another image shows the former president with his arm around alleged &#8220;sex slave&#8221; Chauntae Davis, who is wearing a pilot hat she was allegedly ordered to wear to look professional, The Sun reported.
&#8220;Other never-seen-before images show Clinton traveling on the infamous Boeing 727 jet while playing cards and chomping on a cigar,&#8221; <a href="https://www.the-sun.com/news/us-news/224545/bill-clinton-jeffery-epsteins-ghislaine-maxwell-lolita-express/?utm_medium=Social&amp;utm_campaign=sunustwitter&amp;utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1578496843">The Sun</a> reported.
“It’s clear that <a href="https://www.the-sun.com/who/jeffrey-epstein/">Epstein</a> was using this private jet and his wealth to get close to rich and powerful people,&#8221; Chauntae told the outlet.
“Looking back at these images now it raises a lot of questions about why <a href="https://www.the-sun.com/who/bill-clinton/">Bill Clinton</a> was using the plane and what perhaps Jeffrey may have been trying to accomplish by having him around,&#8221; she said.
<div class="advert-wrapper advert-wrapper--articlempu">
Chauntae, then 22 years old, &#8220;categorically denied that any improper behavior occurred around Clinton and that he was a &#8216;complete gentleman&#8217; the entire time,&#8221; the report said.
</div>
“President Clinton knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein plead guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he has previously been charged in New York,&#8221; a previously issued statement from Clinton said. “In 2002 and 2003, President Clinton took a total of four trips on Jeffrey Epstein’s airplane: one to Europe, one to Asia, and two to Africa, which included stops in connection with the Clinton Foundation. Staff, supporters of the Foundation, and his Secret Service detail traveled on every leg or every trip.”
In August, it was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/there-sexual-picture-bill-clinton-jeffrey-epsteins-ryan-saavedra">reported</a> that Epstein allegedly had a “sexual picture” of former Mr. Clinton hanging in his Manhattan mansion.
“The picture depicting the former president apparently lounging on a chair in the Oval Office, wearing red heels and posing suggestively in a blue dress redolent of Monica Lewinsky was in a room off the stairway of the Upper East Side townhouse,” The Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7353967/Did-Jeffrey-Epstein-portrait-Bill-Clinton-blue-dress-red-heels-NYC-mansion.html">reported</a>. “The painting was secretly snapped inside the pedophile’s lavish $56 million home in October 2012, four years after Epstein completed his sweetheart deal for prostitution of a minor and seven years before he was accused of running a sex trafficking ring of underage girls.”
As noted by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/medical-examiner-hired-by-jeffrey-epsteins-family-says-evidence-points-toward-homicide">The Daily Wire</a>, &#8220;Epstein died by hanging in his jail cell back in August. He had just been transferred to a &#8216;special housing unit&#8217; within the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City in order to provide him with greater protection. At the time, he was facing dozens of sex trafficking charges stemming from years spent allegedly shuttling young women between several of his massive homes, so that he and his friends could use them for sex.&#8221;
The death, which was quickly ruled a suicide, came two weeks after Epstein allegedly tried to hang himself the first time in jail.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Bill Clinton poses with Epstein’s ‘pimp’ Ghislaine Maxwell and a sex slave on board private jet the ‘Lolita Express’ <a href="https://t.co/dxIyqDy953">https://t.co/dxIyqDy953</a>
&mdash; The Sun US (@TheSunUS) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheSunUS/status/1214929938257723393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/there-sexual-picture-bill-clinton-jeffrey-epsteins-ryan-saavedra">There Is A ‘Sexual Picture’ Of Bill Clinton In Jeffrey Epstein’s Mansion, Report Says</a>

Jeffrey Epstein Bill Clinton

New Photos Of Clinton With Alleged ‘Sex Slave,’ Epstein Madam On ‘Lolita Express’ Emerge

Bill Clinton

CBS News&#8217;s &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; reported never before seen images of inside Jeffrey Epstein&#8217;s prison cell where he was found dead, and showed photographs that were taken of Epstein&#8217;s body during his autopsy.
While showing the photos, 60 Minutes said, &#8220;There are dozens of photos taken by the medical examiner&#8217;s office that day. On the floor, a mattress and piles of sheets. Several nooses that appear to be fashioned from the orange bed linens are laid out. His medicines photographed but no body.&#8221;
60 Minutes host Sharyn Alfonsi asked Epstein lawyer Dr. Michael Baden: &#8220;Is there a photograph of when he was found dead in the cell?&#8221;
&#8220;No,&#8221; Baden responded. &#8220;There’s no photograph taken of Mr. Epstein in the cell.&#8221;
&#8220;Do you think there was foul play here?&#8221; Alfonsi asked.
&#8220;The forensic evidence released so far, including autopsy, point much more to murder and strangulation than the suicide and suicidal hanging,&#8221; Baden responded. &#8220;I hesitate to make a final opinion until all the evidence is in.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
“The forensic evidence released so far, including autopsy, point much more to murder&#8230; [but] I hesitate to make a final opinion, until all the evidence is in.”
Dr. Michael Baden, a renowned forensic pathologist, is investigating the death on behalf of his Epstein’s brother. <a href="https://t.co/rVO73WhH5P">pic.twitter.com/rVO73WhH5P</a>
&mdash; 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) <a href="https://twitter.com/60Minutes/status/1213975287496613888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 6, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“60 Minutes” later revealed that federal prison protocols were not followed in response to Epstein&#8217;s death because they took his dead body to the emergency room rather than leave him where he was.
&#8220;Bureau of Prisons protocol mandates a suicide scene should be treated with the &#8216;same level of protection as any crime scene in which a death has occurred,'&#8221; “60 Minutes” said. &#8220;60 Minutes reviewed hundreds of graphic photographs from the autopsy of Jeffrey Epstein and inside his cell. There are two nooses, a bit of orange sheet tied to the grate of a window. On the top bunk, bottles and medicines stand upright. Below it, another piece of fabric is tied through a hole on the bed about four feet from the ground.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
60 Minutes reviewed hundreds of graphic photographs from the autopsy of Jeffrey Epstein and inside his cell. Here are the known facts. **This video contains graphic images that some viewers may find disturbing.**<a href="https://t.co/oVeiCRd8A6">https://t.co/oVeiCRd8A6</a> <a href="https://t.co/QOwq8Eqiah">pic.twitter.com/QOwq8Eqiah</a>
&mdash; 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) <a href="https://twitter.com/60Minutes/status/1213976459519377408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 6, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Sources told “60 Minutes” that &#8220;a second camera inside the tier, the one that could have seen Epstein&#8217;s cell door and the doors of other inmates, was not working that night.&#8221;
“60 Minutes” recovered a note from inside Epstein&#8217;s prison cell that stated: &#8220;[Name blurred out] kept me in a locked shower stall for 1 hour. [Another prison guard] sent me burnt food. Giant bugs crawling over my hands. No fun!!&#8221;
Baden said that if the prison was really convinced that Epstein was suicidal that they would not have allowed him to have a ballpoint pen because it could be used as a weapon to hurt himself or someone else.
“60 Minutes” noted that Epstein had a sleep apnea machine in his cell which featured a long electrical cord that he could have used to hang himself.
Baden said that the broken bones in Epstein&#8217;s neck, combined with things he deemed as being problematic with the noose that investigators said was used, pointed to a potential homicide.
&#8220;There were fractures of the left, the right, thyroid cartilage and the left hyoid bone,&#8221; Baden said. &#8220;This is an autopsy photo of Epstein&#8217;s broken hyoid bone, a U-shaped bone that sits under the jaw that part of the tongue attaches to. The thyroid cartilage sits at the front of the neck. I have never seen three fractures like this in a suicidal hanging. Sometimes there&#8217;s a fracture of the hyoid bone or a fracture of the thyroid cartilage.&#8221;
&#8220;But not three?&#8221; Alfonsi asked.
Baden responded, &#8220;Very unusual to have two and not three. And going over a thousand jail hangings, suicides in the New York City state prisons over the past 40-50 years, no one had three fractures.&#8221;
Baden then pointed to the nooses that were found, saying, &#8220;What I see here is that this noose doesn&#8217;t match the ligature furrow mark. It&#8217;s wider than this.&#8221;
&#8220;To the naked eye, it looks like there&#8217;s some blood here,&#8221; Alfonsi said. &#8220;And it doesn&#8217;t look like there&#8217;s any blood on this noose.&#8221;
&#8220;That&#8217;s right,&#8221; Baden said. &#8220;This looks like a clean noose that was never used to compress anybody&#8217;s neck.&#8221;
&#8220;There&#8217;s also something that&#8217;s striking about the photos,&#8221; Alfonsi responded. &#8220;The wound is down here. You&#8217;d think if somebody hung themselves the wound would be maybe up here.&#8221;
&#8220;Yes,&#8221; Baden responded. &#8220;Most hangings – especially free hangings, the ligature slides up to beneath the jawbone, the mandible. Here it&#8217;s in the middle of the neck.&#8221;
“60 Minutes” said that Baden believed that a wound straight across a person&#8217;s neck indicated that they were the victim of a strangulation and not a hanging.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
“I have never seen three fractures like this in a suicidal hanging.”
Dr. Michael Baden lays out the forensic reasons why he’s skeptical of the medical examiner’s ruling that Jeffrey Epstein killed himself. **This video contains graphic images.** <a href="https://t.co/rZDRtPchod">https://t.co/rZDRtPchod</a> <a href="https://t.co/sAkIch7sBF">pic.twitter.com/sAkIch7sBF</a>
&mdash; 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) <a href="https://twitter.com/60Minutes/status/1213983146653421569?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 6, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&nbsp;

60 Minutes: More Protocols Broken In Epstein Death, Two Nooses Found, Note Found

The woman accused of helping sex offender Jeffrey Epstein acquire underage girls thinks the “serious dirt” she has on powerful people will help her avoid prosecution, a former friend said.
A friend of Ghislaine Maxwell <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10589347/ghislaine-maxwell-dirt-powerful-people-epstein/">told The Sun</a> that the British socialite had so much dirt on rich and powerful people she thinks she can return to her party lifestyle after “the dust has settled.”
“The Brit socialite, accused of procuring underaged girls for billionaire paedophile Epstein, remains ‘totally convinced’ that she can stay in hiding and eventually clear her name,” the outlet reported.
More from The Sun:
<blockquote>Ghislaine is apparently so brazen that she&#8217;s texting friends while being hidden by rich associates, a world away from the Brit socialite&#8217;s normal high life in the US, according to friend Laura Goldman.
Laura, who&#8217;s also pals with Ghislaine&#8217;s sister Isabel, told Sun Online: &#8220;Ghislaine and her sister Isabel remain totally convinced that she&#8217;ll escape any criminal convictions and will eventually clear the family name and return to high society once the dust has settled.
&#8220;She has wealthy connections who hide her and even pay some legal fees. She can stay out of the public eye as long as she wants.”</blockquote>
Laura also told the outlet that Maxwell was “so confident that she&#8217;ll be back that she&#8217;s still texting friends in different social circles while she&#8217;s in hiding.”
&#8220;She&#8217;s doesn&#8217;t think that she did anything wrong,” Laura told the outlet. &#8220;She obviously has some serious dirt on someone to be so sure of herself in the circumstances.&#8221;
Laura, The Sun reported, has previously called Maxwell “sex-obsessed” and said the British socialite had even found a new boyfriend while in hiding. Laura also said Maxwell was “head over heels in love” with Epstein.
Finally, Laura told the outlet that Maxwell was “relieved” when Epstein killed himself in August because “he couldn&#8217;t turn on her.&#8221;
Earlier this month, it was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jeffrey-epsteins-alleged-madam-is-planning-a-tv-interview-to-tell-her-side-of-the-story">reported </a>that Maxwell was considering an interview with a major TV network to tell her side of the story. The Sun <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10509700/ghislaine-maxwell-tell-all-interview-prince-andrew/">reported</a> at the time that Maxwell planned to defend her friend, Prince Andrew, after his own disastrous TV interview attempt to clear his name.
“Ghislaine is in hiding and knows the only way to stop being hunted is to speak on her own terms,” the source told the outlet. “She will do a sit-down interview with a big US network and defend the duke. Apparently, she’ll say Virginia Giuffre is lying and Andrew never had sex with her.”
The FBI was investigating Epstein for alleged sex-trafficking, leading to his arrest earlier this year. Now that Epstein is dead, focus has turned to Maxwell for her alleged role in procuring women for the now-deceased multimillionaire. Virginia Giuffre – the woman who claims she was forced to have sex with the prince when she was a teenager – recently tweeted that “all eyes” should look out for Maxwell, whom she said should be “rotting in jail for her atrocities against me &amp; so many other little girls she dragged into Epstein’s orbit!”

Epstein’s Madam Apparently Thinks She Can Avoid Prosecution Because She Has ‘Serious Dirt’ On Powerful People

It&#8217;s about time.
Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein died Aug. 10 in prison awaiting trial on numerous sex trafficking charges involving girls as young as 14 years old. Authorities say he killed himself.
Shortly after his death, reports emerged that Epstein had had help procuring underage girls from socialite Ghislaine Maxwell. But since then, nothing. Just last month, a story headlined &#8220;&#8216;SHE’S OUR WALDO, AND WE’RE GONNA FIND HER&#8217;: THE HUNT FOR JEFFREY EPSTEIN’S ALLEGED ENABLER GHISLAINE MAXWELL&#8221; ran in <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/11/hunt-for-jeffrey-epstein-alleged-enabler-ghislaine-maxwell">Vanity Fair</a>.
Finally, authorities are reportedly investigating Maxwell.
The FBI is investigating the British socialite &#8220;and several other people linked to&#8221;  two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation have told <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-jeffrey-epstein-investigation-idUSKBN1YV0VB">Reuters</a>.
<blockquote>They said a principal focus of the FBI’s investigation is Maxwell, a longtime associate of Epstein, and other “people who facilitated” Epstein’s allegedly illegal behavior.
Maxwell has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing. Her lawyers did not respond to a request for comment.
The FBI also is following up on many leads received from women who contacted a hotline the agency set up at its New York field office in the wake of Epstein’s arrest in July, the sources said.</blockquote>
The probe is reportedly in its early stages.
In another development, the sources said the FBI has no current plans to interview Britain’s Prince Andrew, a longtime friend of Epstein.
The prince has been accused of having sex with at least one of Epstein’s alleged underage “sex slaves,” Virginia Roberts Giuffre. He denies the allegations, but Giuffre last month detailed her allegations in an appearance on &#8220;Dateline.&#8221;
On the show, she said she had sex with Prince Andrew in 2001 when she was just 17.
The incident occurred in the London townhouse of Maxwell, a former Epstein girlfriend who became his top aide, after the prince gave Giuffre her vodka at a nightclub, she says.
In her first television interview, Giuffre joined five other Epstein accusers, including three who have not come forward before.
Prince Andrew has denied Giuffre’s allegations, but a photo, allegedly taken by Epstein, shows the prince with his arm around the waist of Giuffre, who was 17 at the time.
Giuffre, who is now 35, says she is telling the truth about Prince Andrew. &#8220;He was an abuser, he was a participant,&#8221; she said on the show.
&#8220;The first time in London, I was so young. Ghislaine woke me up in the morning  and said, &#8216;You&#8217;re gonna&#8217; meet a prince today.&#8217; I didn&#8217;t know at that point that I was going to be trafficked to a prince,&#8221; she said.
&#8220;We went out to Club Tramp,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Prince Andrew got me alcohol, it was in the VIP section, I&#8217;m pretty sure it was vodka. He was like, &#8216;let&#8217;s dance.&#8217; I was like, &#8216;OK.&#8217; We leave club Tramp and I hop in the car with Ghislaine and Jeffrey.&#8221;
&#8220;She says, &#8216;He&#8217;s coming back to the house and I want you to do for him what you do for Epstein.&#8217; I couldn&#8217;t believe it,&#8221; Giuffre said.
&#8220;Although he did not work on the original Epstein investigation, [Dougan] says copies of all the original files were secretly given to him by former Palm Beach County detective Joe Recarey who led the inquiry,&#8221; The <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7499171/Ex-cop-MI6-fears-leaked-secrets-Prince-Andrews-friendship-Jeffrey-Epstein-breaks-silence.html">Daily Mail</a> reported.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-missing-prison-video-from-jeffrey-epsteins-suicide-attempt-has-been-found-prosecutors-say">The ‘Missing’ Prison Video From Jeffrey Epstein’s Suicide Attempt Has Been Found, Prosecutors Say</a>

Patrick McMullan Archives

Feds Finally Start Investigating Jeffrey Epstein’s Accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell

On Wednesday, federal prosecutors <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/surveillance-footage-outside-epsteins-cell-during-suicide-attempt-goes-missing">said</a> surveillance footage from outside Jeffrey Epstein’s jail cell recorded the day he allegedly attempted to commit suicide in July had gone missing. On Thursday, prosecutors said they had found the footage.
CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/12/20/video-of-jeffrey-epstein-jail-suicide-attempt-is-found.html">reported</a> that the video actually had been properly preserved by jail staff. The footage was requested by attorney’s for Nicholas Tartaglione, Epstein’s former cellmate and an ex-cop who is facing the death penalty for charges relating to the murders of four people during a failed drug deal. Tartaglione has claimed he helped save Epstein’s life during the convicted sex offender’s alleged suicide attempt on July 23.
Tartaglione’s lawyers want the footage to use during the sentencing phase of his trial, hoping that footage of him trying to save Epstein would spare him from the death penalty. On Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York told a judge in a court filing that prosecutors “confirmed with [Metropolitan Correctional Center] staff that the Video was preserved by MCC staff upon defense counsel&#8217;s request in July 2019.&#8221;
&#8220;The Government is in the process of obtaining a copy of the Video from the MCC. Once the Government obtains a copy of the Video, the Government intends to make it available for defense counsel&#8217;s review at the United States Attorney&#8217;s Office,&#8221; the prosecutors&#8217; office wrote in the filing, according to CNBC.
Bruce Barket, who is representing Tartaglione, told CNBC in an email: “We are very pleased the video was preserved, as we had asked.&#8221; He added, “We look forward to viewing it.”
Barket had previously said it was “troubling” that prosecutors had apparently lost the requested video.
Epstein allegedly attempted to commit suicide on July 23. At the time, sources told NBC that the marks found around Epstein’s neck were from a suicide attempt, while another source suggested Epstein staged the attempt in order to get transferred to another prison. Yet another source <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/jeffrey-epstein-found-injured-marks-his-neck-new-york-jail-n1034301">told NBC</a> that “an assault hadn’t been ruled out and that another inmate in Epstein’s unit, identified by sources as Nicholas Tartaglione, had been questioned.”
On August 10, Epstein was found dead in his jail cell with a bedsheet around his neck. His death was ruled a suicide, but questions have arisen. Tartaglione was no longer Epstein’s cellmate at the time of the accused sex trafficker’s death, and he had been taken off suicide watch shortly before his death. The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/08/14/jeffrey-epsteins-last-words-to-lawyer-before-his-jailhouse-death/">reported</a> that Epstein told his lawyers that Tartaglione had caused the previous neck injuries, which led to him being taken off suicide watch.
The day before Epstein’s first alleged suicide attempt, he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jeffrey-epstein-reportedly-received-new-ashe-schow">reportedly</a> received new allegations that he had raped a 15-year-old. A woman, who is now in her 30s, said she was taken to Epstein’s mansion in New York when she was in high school, and that he started paying her to massage him. After a year of this, according to the woman, Epstein began touching her and eventually raped her.
Epstein was already facing charges for alleged sex trafficking of minors when the new accusations were presented to him.

The ‘Missing’ Prison Video From Jeffrey Epstein’s Suicide Attempt Has Been Found, Prosecutors Say

Federal prosecutors revealed in court on Wednesday that the surveillance footage from outside the jail cell of Jeffrey Epstein during his alleged suicide attempt in July has gone missing.
&#8220;Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Swergold admitted nobody can find the footage of the outside of the cell the multimillionaire perv shared with accused quadruple murderer Nick Tartaglione during a hearing in White Plains District Court,&#8221; The New York Daily News <a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-epstein-tartaglione-video-footage-20191218-riodo5rhvfhuznn45knlyfrj2m-story.html">reported</a>. &#8220;Tartaglione, a former Briarcliff Manor cop, faces the death penalty for the alleged murders in a drug deal gone bad.&#8221;
&#8220;I don’t know the details of how it was lost or destroyed or why it wasn’t retained when it should have been,&#8221; Tartaglione lawyer Bruce Barket <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7807919/Jeffrey-Epsteins-suicide-attempt-video-gone-missing.html">said</a> in court. &#8220;It is on the surface troubling. I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve found out more details.&#8221;
Epstein was found in his cell semi-conscious with marks on his neck late in July while he was at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.
Two sources told NBC News at the time that they believed that the marks were from an apparent suicide attempt while a third source suggested that Epstein could have staged the attack to get a transfer to another facility.
However, a fourth source <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/jeffrey-epstein-found-injured-marks-his-neck-new-york-jail-n1034301">told</a> NBC News that &#8220;an assault hadn&#8217;t been ruled out and that another inmate in Epstein&#8217;s unit, identified by sources as Nicholas Tartaglione, had been questioned.&#8221;
Epstein was found dead in his jail cell just a couple of weeks later on August 10 in an incident that was ruled a suicide but instantly sparked questions and conspiracy theories about the nature of Epstein&#8217;s death.
The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/08/14/jeffrey-epsteins-last-words-to-lawyer-before-his-jailhouse-death/">reported</a> on the last words that Epstein told his lawyers before his death:
<blockquote>The convicted pedophile also told his lawyers that the neck injuries he suffered in an earlier incident at the Metropolitan Correctional Center were inflicted by his hulking, ex-cop cellmate, which led the lawyers to request that he be taken off a suicide watch, according to a source familiar with Epstein’s case.</blockquote>
A source <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/08/14/epstein-told-lawyers-that-cellmate-nicholas-tartaglione-roughed-him-up/">told</a> the Post that Epstein told his lawyers that “the cop roughed him up, and that’s why they got him off suicide watch.”
In November, Bureau of Prisons Director Kathleen Hawk Sawyer <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-investigating-possibility-of-criminal-enterprise-in-jeffrey-epstein-death-bureau-of-prisons-director-admits">revealed</a> during testimony to the U.S. Senate that the FBI was investigating whether a “criminal enterprise” played a role in Epstein&#8217;s death in August.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, asked Sawyer: “With a case this high profile, there has got to be either a major malfunction of the system or criminal enterprise at foot to allow this to happen. So are you looking at both, is the FBI looking at both?”
Sawyer responded: “The FBI is involved and they are looking at criminal enterprise, yes.”
A couple of days later, Attorney General William Barr <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/attorney-general-william-barr-gives-update-on-jeffrey-epstein-death">said</a> in a brief interview with Fox News that he was skeptical about the events surrounding Epstein&#8217;s death but that he came to conclude that Epstein&#8217;s death was “a perfect storm of screw-ups” after he examined security footage from the night of August incident.

Surveillance Footage Outside Epstein’s Cell During Suicide Attempt Goes Missing

William Barr

Jeffrey Epstein&#8217;s &#8220;companion&#8221; cellmate, who was assigned to the accused sexual predator to make sure Epstein didn&#8217;t commit suicide while detained in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City, says he has &#8220;no doubt&#8221; that Epstein hanged himself, despite experts&#8217; claims to the contrary and a conspiracy theory meme that has swept the nation.
Bill Mersey, who is serving time in MCC for Federal tax evasion, told DailyMailTV that he was assigned to babysit Epstein while Epstein awaited trial on multiple charges of sexual assault and sex trafficking as part of the MCC&#8217;s &#8220;inmate companion&#8221; program. Mersey claims to have spent &#8220;dozens&#8221; of hours alone with Epstein, giving him intimate knowledge of Epstein&#8217;s frame of mind just days before he was found dead in his cell, having hanged himself with strips of fabric cut from his prison bedsheet.
&#8220;Mersey claims Epstein didn’t appear to lose his mind like some inmates at the Metropolitan Correctional Center,&#8221; the Daily Beast reports, adding that Mersey says Epstein &#8220;&#8216;never complained&#8217; and &#8216;didn’t whine'&#8221; about his surroundings, even though MCC is known for being understaffed and filthy, and Epstein likely shared his cell with &#8220;rodents, roaches, and water leaks.&#8221;
But that&#8217;s not to say that Epstein was in a good frame of mind, according to Mersey.
“He didn’t strike me as suicidal but sometimes you could see it in his eyes, ‘Oh my God, I’m never getting out of here.’ He would kind of drift off and I would try to bring him back,” Mersey told the Daily Mail. The pair would talk about Epstein&#8217;s famous friends, Mersey claims, adding that Epstein openly discussed anecdotes about now-President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton but never openly discussed his alleged sex trafficking business, likely keeping mum at the direction of his $10,000-per-day legal team. Instead, Mersey says, they spoke of Mersey&#8217;s business: an online escort service.
Mersey was reassigned to a new cell just a day or so before Epstein was found dead, ostensibly because prison management at MCC felt that Epstein was no longer a suicide risk. Mersey says, however, that he believes Epstein was already planning his demise when Mersey was switched out.
“The last time I saw him, he was eating his dinner sitting on the floor, with his food between his legs. I asked him what he was doing and he said, ‘It’s easier this way.’ He had just kind of spiraled down to the floor. I thought that’s a long way down from a $77 million mansion to eating prison food sitting on a stone floor,” Mersey said in his interview.
As for his eventual suicide, Mersey concludes that it would be incredibly difficult for someone to orchestrate a murder inside MCC, despite its many flaws.
“I am 99.999 percent that he committed suicide,” Mersey claims. “I wasn’t there to see it so I can’t be 100 percent, but I wouldn’t bet 2 cents against $1 million that somebody did him. He did himself.”
Epstein&#8217;s death, of course, remains the subject of much speculation. Although the coroner who inspected Epstein&#8217;s body after his death concluded that he committed suicide by hanging, experts, hired by Epstein&#8217;s family say they believe he could have been strangled, particularly given that a small bone near Epstein&#8217;s Adam&#8217;s apple was broken &#8212; something that happens in only 6% of hangings.
The Federal government is also investigating Epstein&#8217;s death after investigators discovered that cameras, aimed at Epstein&#8217;s cell, went dark the night Epstein hanged himself, and that two guards, assigned to check in on Epstein regularly throughout their shift, appear to have fallen asleep on the job and then forged inspection logs to cover their tracks.

Jeffrey Epstein’s Suicide Watch ‘Companion’ Says He Has ‘No Doubt’ Accused Sexual Predator Killed Himself

The controversy surrounding convicted pedophile and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein continues amid more reports about his final days in prison and those who were drawn into his seedy circle.
One of Epstein&#8217;s accusers, Virginia Roberts, who now goes by her married name Giuffre, says she was trafficked to the United Kingdom by Epstein as a young girl and forced to have sex with Prince Andrew. On Tuesday, Giuffre issued a troubling statement online about &#8220;evil people&#8221; wanting to see her &#8220;quieted.&#8221; In a follow-up statement Wednesday, the alleged former &#8220;sex slave&#8221; of Epstein said she was informed by the FBI of a &#8220;credible death threat&#8221; against her.
&#8220;I am making it publicly known that in no way, shape or form am I suicidal,&#8221; Giuffre wrote in a statement posted on Twitter Wednesday (revised for clarity). &#8220;I have made this known to my therapist and GP- If something happens to me — in the sake of my family do not let this go away and help me to protect them. Too many evil people want to see me quieted.&#8221;
&#8220;In response to the overwhelming amount of support I have received, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who is standing up beside me fighting for our children to have a safer future,&#8221; she wrote in a follow-up post. &#8220;I have been informed from the F.B.I there has been a credible death threat against me.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
In response to the overwhelming amount of support I have received, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who is standing up beside me fighting for our children to have a safer future. I have been informed from the F.B.I there has been a credible death threat against me 🦋 <a href="https://t.co/FR5e1yZMs8">https://t.co/FR5e1yZMs8</a>
&mdash; Virginia Giuffre (@VRSVirginia) <a href="https://twitter.com/VRSVirginia/status/1204914442594668544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
As noted by the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7784529/Virginia-Roberts-claims-FBI-warned-credible-death-threat-against-her.html">Daily Mail</a>, Giuffre recently gave an emotional <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-50607705">interview</a> with the BBC in which she detailed the alleged abuse she suffered from Epstein and Prince Andrew.
&#8220;She claims the prince abused her three times — once at Epstein&#8217;s New York apartment, once on a yacht in the Caribbean, and once at the London home of Ghislane Maxwell, Epstein&#8217;s alleged madam,&#8221; the outlet reports. &#8220;Speaking about her first alleged encounter with Andrew in London, she said she was taken to Tramp nightclub where she recalls dancing with the &#8216;sweating&#8217; prince.&#8221;
&#8220;He is the most hideous dancer I&#8217;ve ever seen in my life,&#8221; Giuffre told the BBC. &#8220;His sweat was like it was raining basically everywhere.&#8221;
Upon leaving the night club, said Giuffre, she got into a car in which Ghislaine told her &#8220;that I have to do for Andrew what I do for Jeffrey.&#8221;
The instructions &#8220;just made me sick,&#8221; she told the BBC. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t expect it from royalty. I didn&#8217;t expect it from someone that people look up to and admire &#8211; the royal family.&#8221;
&#8220;There was a bath and it started there and it led into the bedroom,&#8221; she said in describing what allegedly took place at Ghislane&#8217;s residence. &#8220;It didn&#8217;t last very long, the whole entire procedure. It was disgusting. He wasn&#8217;t mean or anything. But he got up and said thanks and walked out. And I sat there in bed just felt horrified and ashamed and felt dirty.&#8221;
Prince Andrew  &#8220;categorically&#8221; denies the accusation, telling the BBC that he has no memory of the evening or a photo of him with Virginia. He also points to her claim that he was &#8220;sweating&#8221; at the club as evidence that it was false because he suffers from a rare condition that prevents him from sweating.
<div class="mol-img-group floatRHS"></div>

Virginia Roberts

Epstein Accuser: FBI Warned Me About ‘Credible Death Threat’

Ghislaine Maxwell – the alleged madam for sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – is planning to tell her side of the story in an interview with a major TV network.
Because that worked so well for Prince Andrew.
Maxwell is a British socialite who came into the international spotlight after she was accused of acting as a “pimp” for Epstein, who plead guilty in 2008 to procuring for prostitution a girl below the age of 18 and who was arrested earlier this year for alleged sex trafficking. He was found dead in his prison cell with a noose around his neck on August 10.
Maxwell allegedly found underage girls for Epstein.
The Sun exclusively <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10509700/ghislaine-maxwell-tell-all-interview-prince-andrew/">reported</a> that Maxwell has been talking to a major US network about an interview where she would defend herself and Prince Andrew, whose disastrous public interview in mid-November <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/queen-boots-prince-andrew-out-of-buckingham-palace-over-jeffrey-epstein-scandal">led to him</a> being stripped of his royal duties and kicked out of Buckingham Palace.
A source told The Sun that Maxwell will claim Andrew’s accuser, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, is lying about her relationship with the Duke of York.
“Ghislaine is in hiding and knows the only way to stop being hunted is to speak on her own terms,” the source told the outlet. “She will do a sit-down interview with a big US network and defend the duke. Apparently, she’ll say Virginia Giuffre is lying and Andrew never had sex with her.”
The FBI is investigating Epstein’s alleged sex-trafficking and now that the infamous multi-millionaire is dead, Maxwell is apparently at the center of the probe. As The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/12/09/ghislaine-maxwell-planning-tv-tell-all-about-epstein-scandal/?utm_medium=SocialFlow&amp;utm_campaign=SocialFlow&amp;utm_source=NYPTwitter">reported</a>, Maxwell has not been seen in public since Epstein was arrested in July.
Maxwell is now considered to be a key witness in the allegations against Prince Andrew and has been accused by Giuffre of having forced her to have sex with the prince at Maxwell’s home in London back in 2001, the Post reported. More from the Post:
<blockquote>Giuffre recently tweeted for “all eyes” to look out for the woman she says should be “<a href="https://nypost.com/2019/12/04/virginia-roberts-giuffre-wants-ghislaine-maxwell-to-rot-in-jail/">rotting in jail for her atrocities</a> against me &amp; so many other little girls she dragged into Epstein’s orbit!”
Both the prince and Maxwell — who have <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/12/01/prince-andrew-in-constant-contact-with-epstein-ex-ghislaine-maxwell-report/">reportedly remained in contact </a>throughout the scandal — have <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/08/18/prince-andrew-appalled-by-jeffrey-epstein-sex-abuse-claims/">denied any wrongdoing</a>.</blockquote>
During Prince Andrew’s interview with the BBC where he tried to clear his name, the Duke of York <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/prince-andrew-says-his-tendency-to-be-too-honorable-made-him-pal-around-with-jeffrey-epstein">claimed</a> it was his “tendency to be too honorable” that led to his continued friendship with Epstein.
“There is … I mean I’ve gone through this in my mind so many times,” he said. “At the end of the day, with a benefit of all the hindsight that one could have, it was definitely the wrong thing to do. But at the time I felt it was the honorable and right thing to do and I admit fully that my judgement was probably colored by my tendency to be too honorable, but that’s just the way it is.”
Giuffre has since <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-prince-andrews-accuser-responds-to-his-denials-he-knows-what-happened">responded</a> to Andrew’s denials by saying “He knows what happened.”

Jeffrey Epstein’s Alleged Madam Is Planning A TV Interview To Tell Her Side Of The Story

It&#8217;s been a crazy week at Miami&#8217;s Art Basel.
First, a work of &#8220;art&#8221; — a banana duct-taped to a wall — sold for $120,000. Then, a guy ate it right off the wall.
And then, another guy scrawled a message in lipstick where the banana had once hung — &#8220;Epstien [sic] didn&#8217;t kill himself.&#8221;
That&#8217;s a crazy week.
The banana piece, crafted by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and titled &#8220;Comedian,&#8221; drew headlines when it was sold to a French collector for $120,000. Cattelan made news earlier this year when another artwork, an 18-karat solid gold working toilet titled &#8220;America,&#8221; was stolen by burglars from its exhibit in Britain&#8217;s Blenheim Palace.
Over the weekend, artist David Datuna walked up to the exhibit, pulled the banana off the wall, and ate it. He said he was doing an &#8220;art performance&#8221; and called himself a &#8220;hungry artist.&#8221; Of course it was all caught on video.
&#8220;I love Maurizio Cattelan artwork and I really love this installation,&#8221; he later captioned a post on his Instagram page. &#8220;It’s very delicious.&#8221;
In the video, gallery Director Peggy Leboeuf can be heard asking, &#8220;Are you kidding? This is so stupid.&#8221;
&#8220;No,&#8221; Datuna says.
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B5yIFp2hyE-/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:500px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);">
<div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B5yIFp2hyE-/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"> 
<div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;">
<div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;">
<div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div>
<div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div>
<div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewBox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div>
<div style="padding-top: 8px;">
<div style=" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;"> View this post on Instagram</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;">
<div>
<div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 8px;">
<div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div>
<div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: auto;">
<div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div>
<div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div>
<div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div>
</div>
</div>
</a> 
 <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B5yIFp2hyE-/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">“Hungry Artist” Art performance by me 🙂 I love Maurizio Cattelan artwork and I really love this installation It’s very delicious 🙂 #artbasel #artbaselmiamibeach #daviddatuna #Eatingabanana #Mauriziocattelan #Hungryartist</a>
<p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/david_datuna/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> David Datuna</a> (@david_datuna) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2019-12-07T19:38:52+00:00">Dec 7, 2019 at 11:38am PST</time>
</div>
</blockquote>
<script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>
Leboeuf told the <a class="gnt_ar_b_a" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-50704138/david-datuna-artist-eats-120000-banana-art-at-gallery" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-t-l="|inline|intext|n/a">BBC</a> that Datuna was asked to leave the exhibit but not arrested. &#8220;We can go further, but I don&#8217;t think we will,&#8221; she said.
Then Roderick Webber, 46, from Massachusetts, used the empty wall space for his own work of art, writing in red lipstick: &#8216;&#8221;Epstien [sic] didn&#8217;t kill himself.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This guy decided to write on the banana wall LOL 😅🤦🏻‍♀️ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ArtBasel?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ArtBasel</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/OfficialJoelF?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OfficialJoelF</a> <a href="https://t.co/jjWDyugNuv">pic.twitter.com/jjWDyugNuv</a>
&mdash; sacha-stephanie (@sachasteph_) <a href="https://twitter.com/sachasteph_/status/1203818844315361280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Webber was quickly arrested. As he was escorted out of the Miami Beach gallery, he shouted: &#8220;If someone can eat the $120,000 banana and not get arrested, why can&#8217;t I write on the wall?&#8221; the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7772043/Man-arrested-scrawling-Epstein-didnt-kill-120-000-banana-displayed.html">Daily Mail</a> reported.
The &#8220;Jeffrey Epstein didn&#8217;t kill himself&#8221; meme has been sweeping the country ever since the convicted pedophile was found dead in his prison cell on August 10. Epstein had been facing charges of trafficking and sexually abusing dozens of girls, some as young as 14, for more than a decade. Some high-level politicians, including Bill Clinton, and prominent individuals, including the UK&#8217;s Prince Andrew, had ties with Epstein.
For instance, rapper Suffa declared &#8220;Jeffrey Epstein didn&#8217;t kill himself&#8221; during an acceptance speech at an awards ceremony in Australia last month.
&#8220;I&#8217;m going to get out a few thank yous because I think this is the last time you&#8217;re going to see us. To our road crew Mugga, Pauly, Snebs, everyone, you&#8217;re all legends and we love you. Thanks to our wives, our children. And Jeffrey Epstein did not kill himself. Thank you,&#8221; Suffa said at the ARIA Music Awards in Sydney.
Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar once shared the meme in a series of 23 tweets in which the first letter of each tweet spelled out the phrase.
But wait. The art house made even more headlines when Madonna&#8217;s daughter Lourdes &#8220;Lola&#8221; Leon stripped off her clothes and, wearing just a nude thong and pasties, joined about 30 other people who were modeling clothing in a simulated orgy.
Now that&#8217;s a crazy week.

Maurizio Cattelan&#8217;s &#8220;Comedian&#8221; On View At Art Basel Miami 2019

Man Arrested After Scrawling ‘Epstein Didn’t Kill Himself’ On Wall Where $120,000 Duct-Taped Banana Exhibit Was Displayed

A new &#8220;deepfake&#8221; video shows President Trump addressing the nation from his desk in the Oval Office &#8212; and then saying &#8220;Jeffrey Epstein did not kill himself.&#8221;
Deepfakes are a new phenomena in which videos are digitally altered to make it appear that someone is saying something they never said. With new technology, the fakes look real.
&#8220;My fellow Americans,&#8221; Trump says in the new video. &#8220;Many of you will have been following the impeachment proceedings brought against me by the Democrats. This political witch hunt is tearing our country apart and not in a good way. While I truly believe I&#8217;m innocent of all charges, I have nonetheless decided to make the following announcement: Jeffrey Epstein did not kill himself.&#8221;
The Trump video is the latest from a YouTube channel called <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5D-8hVVwLB0DNrcSBqoVxg/videos">TheFakening</a>, which features numerous other fakes, like &#8220;Dwayne &#8216;The Rock&#8217; Johnson as Dora The Explorer Deepfake&#8221; and &#8220;Kevin Hart as Mr T in Anti-Drug PSA Deepfake.&#8221;
&#8220;As with any other deepfake, there are glitches in this new video,&#8221; <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/deepfake-trump-epstein-didnt-kill-himself">Futurism</a> reported. &#8220;Trump’s mouth movements incorrectly make it look like he’s pronouncing a &#8216;th&#8217; sound several times towards the end of the announcement, creating a telltale mismatch between the audio and video. But as the underlying technology progresses, errors are getting smaller and less frequent.&#8221;
<blockquote>Videos on TheFakening are clearly labeled as deepfakes, though it’s conceivable that someone could rip and reshare the video, trying to pass it off as real. For now, there would be relatively little anyone could do to stop them.
California has banned political deepfakes under certain circumstances, but by and large there’s not much keeping deepfake propaganda from spreading across the internet.</blockquote>
<iframe title="Donald Trump Says Jeffrey Epstein Didn&#039;t Kill Himself Deepfake" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aPp5lcqgISk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The &#8220;Jeffrey Epstein didn&#8217;t kill himself&#8221; meme has been sweeping the country since the convicted pedophile was found dead in his prison cell on Aug. 10. Epstein had been facing charges of trafficking and sexually abusing dozens of girls, some as young as 14, for more than a decade. Some high-level politicians, including Bill Clinton, and prominent individuals, including the UK&#8217;s Prince Andrew, had ties with Epstein.
For instance, rapper Suffa declared &#8220;Jeffrey Epstein didn&#8217;t kill himself&#8221; during an acceptance speech at an awards ceremony in Australia last month.
&#8220;I&#8217;m going to get out a few thank yous because I think this is the last time you&#8217;re going to see us. To our road crew Mugga, Pauly, Snebs, everyone, you&#8217;re all legends and we love you. Thanks to our wives, our children. And Jeffrey Epstein did not kill himself. Thank you,&#8221; Suffa said at the  ARIA Music Awards in Sydney.
Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar once shared the meme in a series of 23 tweets in which the first letter of each tweet spelled out the phrase.
And there was this great one, too.
<iframe title="Mr. Clinton Killed Epstein - Walmart" width="500" height="375" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_8lCYJc3R5k?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The meme spread further after the FBI, State Department, and the Metropolitan Correctional Center, all pointing to an official coroner&#8217;s report, claimed that Epstein hanged himself in his cell with strips of cloth cut from his own bedsheet.
A forensic pathologist, hired by Epstein&#8217;s brother, said the way Epstein&#8217;s hyoid, a U-shaped bone in the front and middle of the neck, was broken, indicated the possibility of strangulation rather than hanging.

US-politics-TRUMP-weather

WATCH: ‘Deepfake’ Trump Says Jeffrey Epstein Didn’t Kill Himself

Donald Trump

A new report published on Tuesday alleges that former Democrat President Bill Clinton and two-time failed Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton visited the New Mexico ranch of convicted pedophile and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein nearly every year since Clinton left office at the end of his second term.
&#8220;Bill and Hillary Clinton stayed at Jeffrey Epstein&#8217;s notorious &#8216;baby-making ranch&#8217; almost every year after they left the White House, according to the disgraced financier&#8217;s estate manager,&#8221; The Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7748467/Bill-Hillary-Clinton-frequent-guests-Jeffrey-Epsteins-New-Mexico-ranch.html">reported</a>. &#8220;The former president was Epstein&#8217;s closest &#8216;celebrity mate&#8217; and the Clintons, along with daughter Chelsea, visited Zorro Ranch &#8216;a whole bunch of times&#8217;, a former contractor who ran the IT system at the property told DailyMailTV in an exclusive interview.&#8221;
The Daily Mail reported that the Clintons never stayed in the main mansion on the massive 10,000 acre property but did stay in one of the guest houses.
&#8220;This is all according to security expert Jared Kellogg, who was brought in by long-standing ranch manager Brice Gordon to improve security and set up a camera system at the main house and &#8216;cowboy village&#8217;,&#8221; The Daily Mail continued. &#8220;Kellogg said that at the time of his site walk of Epstein&#8217;s property, he had barely any knowledge of Epstein&#8217;s reputation but he said Gordon spent most of the time boasting about the Clintons&#8217; frequent appearance at the estate.&#8221;
Kellogg told The Daily Mail: &#8220;My access was very controlled. During the site walk, it was dictated where I could and couldn&#8217;t go. There were certain facilities I wasn&#8217;t allowed to go in, which was odd, as they were boarded up, and they looked like they could have big parties in them, but I didn&#8217;t think much of it. They wanted to put very, very limited camera coverage on the main house itself.&#8221;
The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/31/business/jeffrey-epstein-eugenics.html">reported</a> over the summer that Epstein allegedly wanted to turn his ranch into a place where he would impregnate vast numbers of women in what the Times described as &#8220;transhumanism,&#8221; which &#8220;critics have likened transhumanism to a modern-day version of eugenics, the discredited field of improving the human race through controlled breeding.&#8221;
&#8220;Once, at a dinner at Mr. Epstein’s mansion on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Mr. Lanier said he talked to a scientist who told him that Mr. Epstein’s goal was to have 20 women at a time impregnated at his 33,000-square-foot Zorro Ranch in a tiny town outside Santa Fe. Mr. Lanier said the scientist identified herself as working at NASA, but he did not remember her name,&#8221; the Times reported. &#8220;According to Mr. Lanier, the NASA scientist said Mr. Epstein had based his idea for a baby ranch on accounts of the Repository for Germinal Choice, which was to be stocked with the sperm of Nobel laureates who wanted to strengthen the human gene pool.&#8221;
Epstein was arrested by federal law enforcement officials on sex trafficking charges in early July after returning to the United States and subsequently committed suicide in a New York City prison approximately a month later.
When asked for comment by The Daily Mail, the Clintons pointed to a statement that they released over the summer which &#8220;denied he had ever visited any of Epstein&#8217;s residences, apart from once at Epstein&#8217;s home in New York City.&#8221;

Jeffrey Epstein Appears In Manhattan Federal Court On Sex Trafficking Charges

New Connections Emerge Between The Clintons And Jeffrey Epstein: Report

Hillary Clinton

<a href="https://nypost.com/2019/12/01/prince-andrew-in-constant-contact-with-epstein-ex-ghislaine-maxwell-report/">The New York Post revealed Sunday</a> that Britain&#8217;s Prince Andrew, a close friend of deceased alleged pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and accused sexual predator himself, remains in &#8220;constant contact&#8221; with Ghislane Maxwell, Epstein&#8217;s ex-girlfriend and the woman he reportedly trusted to procure, groom, and manage his harem of underaged girls.
&#8220;The prince had a secret meeting with Epstein’s ex at Buckingham Palace in June — and has been talking to her throughout the escalating scandal that saw him dumped of royal duties,&#8221; the Post reported, citing the British tabloid, The Sun.
“&#8217;They have remained constantly in touch by phone and email,'&#8221; the Sun reported a source as saying. “They talk regularly. If he wasn’t in the spotlight at the moment he would have found a way to meet up with her.”
Maxwell is central to the Epstein accusations, and is alleged, herself, to have been the &#8220;manager&#8221; of Epstein&#8217;s and his friends&#8217; sex lives, hosting parties where Epstein&#8217;s friends could meet up with a lineup of underaged girls, and seeking out, grooming, and placing young women &#8212; many of whom were believed to be well under the age of consent &#8212; in Epstein&#8217;s many homes and apartments across the globe.
Maxwell once dated Epstein but remained a close friend and business partner, and is likely to face charges of aiding and abetting the accused sexual predator, who died by hanging in a Manhattan jail cell over the summer (his death, of course, remains shrouded in mystery, even after a coroner&#8217;s report concluded that he hanged himself with strips of cloth ripped from his bedsheets).
She also remains close to Prince Andrew. The Post reports that both Prince Andrew and Maxwell maintain their &#8212; and Epstein&#8217;s &#8212; innocence, and that they&#8217;ve essentially teamed up to face the coming onslaught together, even though Prince Andrew&#8217;s affiliation with the pair has cost him his royal status and many of the luxuries he enjoyed as one of the Queen&#8217;s sons.
It&#8217;s Prince Andrew&#8217;s friendship with Maxwell that motivated the claims against him. Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who says she was kindapped, groomed, and trafficked by Epstein and repeatedly sexually assaulted by the New York millionaire and his friends, claims Prince Andrew is one of her attackers, and that she met Prince Andrew at a party held at Maxwell&#8217;s London mansion when she was only 17.
Prince Andrew denies Giuffre&#8217;s story, as does Buckingham Palace.
Giffre is set to tell her story in a BBC interview airing Monday night. Britain&#8217;s royal family is <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/12/01/prince-charles-demands-andrew-be-open-and-honest-about-epstein-issue/">reportedly bracing for her revelations,</a> especially in light of Prince Andrew&#8217;s own disasterous interview with the network.
Prince Charles, who is set to become the UK&#8217;s next King when his mother, Queen Elizabeth II passes, has taken it upon himself to police Prince Andrew, encouraging him to be open and honest with investigators &#8212; even American investigators &#8212; and to speak frankly about his involvement with Epstein and Maxwell, and to take the issue &#8220;very, very seriously.&#8221;
Prince Andrew, at the behest of Prince Charles and his son Prince William, has been stripped of his royal duties and will no longer receive a royal pension. He still gets money from his mother, the Queen, and has amassed his own wealth, but even that may not escape scrutiny. Parliament&#8217;s Public Accounts Committee is being pressured to investigate the Prince&#8217;s finances, <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/prince-andrew-allowed-rent-vast-21003750">the UK&#8217;s Mirror reports</a>, including the sweetheart lease he enjoys.

Menu