Abuse Process
It’s about eight names: Ghislaine Maxwell breaks her silence
A court drawing shows Ghislaine Maxwell in the dock
© Elizabeth Williams / Picture Alliance
So far, she has remained staunchly silent in court. But now Ghislaine Maxwell could change her strategy. As reported by US media, the Epstein confidante has given up her resistance to the naming of eight names.
She hadn’t said a word during the entire process. Ghislaine Maxwell’s strategy was: Don’t burden yourself and others. But the verdict of the jury apparently changed everything: The twelve jurors had found Jeffrey Epstein’s former confidante guilty on five out of six counts.
The sentence has not yet been announced. In the worst case, the 60-year-old faces up to 65 years in prison. So she would never leave prison while she was alive. In order to reduce her sentence, observers speculated after the verdict that the woman could change her strategy and cooperate with the authorities.
And that’s exactly what Ghislaine Maxwell apparently intends to do: As the American television broadcaster CNN reports on its website, Maxwell is willing to name the names of eight people who belonged to the circle of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and who had minors taken in by him. CNN is citing a January 12 letter addressed to Judge Loretta Preska.
Prince Andrew belonged to the circle around Ghislaine Maxwell
It is about a statement that Maxwell made in the 2016 trial against Epstein. At that time she named the names of eight people involved – but has always insisted that they should not be published. Now she apparently wants to give up her resistance and leave the decision to the court to publish these names. The politician Jon Cooper also announced this on Twitter.
In 2015, Virginia sued Giuffre Maxwell for false testimony, but there was no verdict here, the process was settled out of court in 2017, Ghislaine Maxwell is said to have paid the plaintiff millions.
It is now about these process files: If they are made public, eight people must tremble. Presumably also Prince Andrew: Virginia Giuffre also sued the second eldest son of the Queen. The process is scheduled to begin later this year.