JEFFREY Epstein’s alleged madam Ghislaine Maxwell lost her bid on Monday to keep part of her deposition private, including details on sex toys and massages.
US District Judge Loretta Preska said Maxwell only had a "minimal" privacy interest in keeping a 20-line excerpt from a 2016 deposition under wraps.
The Manhattan judge determined that the excerpt was about massages rather than private sexual acts of consenting adults, and that the public therefore deserved to have access to the full testimony.
"There is no reason not to unseal this portion of testimony," Preska wrote.
"While the court acknowledges Ms Maxwell's interest in a fair criminal trial Ms. Maxwell can argue all her points to the presiding judge in her criminal trial, as she has already.”
Maxwell, 59, had argued that the excerpt could undermine the criminal trial she faces as she fights charges that she helped convicted sex offender Epstein.
Preska has already released various parts of Maxwell’s deposition from July 22, 2016.
The deposition came from a defamation lawsuit that one of Epstein’s accusers, Virginia Giuffre, lodged against Maxwell but has since reached a settlement.
Maxwell pleaded not guilty to charges that she aided Epstein in recruiting three teen girls for him to have sex with in the mid-1990s and lied about her involvement.
She claims that one of the perjury charges stemmed from the 20 lines of testimony she does not want made public.
The charge addressed Maxwell’s denials to ever giving a massage to Epstein or another person, being aware that Epstein had sex toys, and knowing if Epstein had sex with anyone besides herself and two other women in the 1990s and 2000s.
Maxwell believes that prosecutors got a transcript of her old deposition in illegal ways and that it should not be part of her trial.
Maxwell’s lawyers say that her argument could be compromised if prosecutors are able to claim that any errors they made caused no harm once Preska released her testimony.
US District Judge Alison Nathan, who is presiding over Maxwell’s criminal case, will make the decision on admitting or suppressing the deposition.
Maxwell has been incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since she was arrested in July.
She is also seeking to dismiss all or part of the indictment against her by arguing that prosecutors are targeting her because Epstein is dead and they see her as a “substitute” to get justice for his acts.
In August 2019, while awaiting his trial on sex trafficking charges, Epstein committed suicide in Manhattan jail.
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