In unsealed deposition, Maxwell repeatedly denies sex crime allegations toward her, Epstein

The 2016 Ghislaine Maxwell deposition released this week provides some of her most explicit detail to date about her roughly 30-year relationship with Jeffrey Epstein that resulted in each of them being indicted in connection with abusing underage children for sexual pleasures.

Maxwell throughout the 400-plus page deposition repeatedly denies accusations of wrongdoing – including that she recruited minors for Epstein’s sexual pleasures and that she also engaged in sexual acts with underage children.

Maxwell, a British-born socialite, was required to give the deposition as a defendant in a 2015 defamation case brought against her by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who accused Maxwell and Epstein of sexually abusing her, and sexually trafficking her to the U.K.’s Prince Andrew, Epstein defense attorney Alan Dershowitz, hedge funder Glenn Dubin and others.

The case was settled confidentially in 2017 in Giuffre’s favor for an undisclosed sum of money.

Maxwell and the others have denied Giuffre's accusations. And in the deposition, Maxwell calls Giuffre a “liar” and an “awful fantasist,” saying Giuffre's accusations are “a tissue of lies.”

Maxwell was arrested in July in New Hampshire on charges of perjury and abusing minors, almost exactly a year after Epstein was found hanged in a Manhattan jail awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges in New York.

Roughly 12 years earlier, Epstein was charged for solicitation of a minor in Florida. He pleaded guilty, served time in jail and was required to register as a sex offender.

The 58-year-old Maxwell now waits in a Brooklyn jail for her trial, which has been scheduled for July 2021. 

She and her attorneys fought desperately to keep the deposition under seal because it includes information relevant to her indictment – specifically information that is the basis for two counts of perjury and four counts for sexually abusing minors.  

The names in the deposition have been redacted, but the abundance of reporting on the high-profile case and the public comments of those involved have made clear who Maxwell is identifying in the lengthy transcript. 

Maxwell unequivocally and repeatedly denies engaging in sexual acts with Guiffre or witnessing Epstein sexually interacting with underage children. 

Time and again, Maxwell also claims that she has never participated in any “nonconsensual sex with anyone” or trained anyone under 18 years at Epstein’s homes. 

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” she repeatedly responds to questions on such matters.

Maxwell admits knowing that Epstein was a registered sex offender, but she denies knowing the first charges involved sex with a minor.

She also claims that she knew nothing about the numerous restitution payments Epstein made to victims over the years, which he agreed to under his plea agreement about 12 years ago. 

Maxwell also denies having seen naked pictures widely reported to have been scattered throughout Epstein’s six homes that she admits she managed over the years. However, she acknowledges having taken semi-nude pictures that she described as suitable for placing on a mantle. 

At one point in the deposition, Maxwell pounds the table when specifically asked about Giuffre and Prince Andrew, even suggesting that the infamous picture of them with Maxwell may not be "real" – a response similar to Andrew's during a 2019 BBC interview. 

"It is a photograph of a photograph. It is very difficult to prove it. I don't remember that photography ever being taken," said the prince. "I have no recollection of every meeting this lady." 

On page 105 of the depostion, Maxwell says that she had known the prince for “a very long time” but that she never introduced him to Epstein or Giuffre, and that Andrew never told her that he’d had sex with Giuffre. 

Several pages later, Maxwell stated that she had “no recollection of that night with Prince Andrew.” 

Giuffre alleged that Maxwell and Epstein flew her to London, then introduced her to Andrew and Giuffre. 

The four of them allegedly went to a private club, then returned to Maxwell’s home where, Guiffre alleges, she was sexually trafficked to Andrew.

Maxwell claims in the deposition that Andrew “doesn’t even know who Virginia Roberts is.”

When asked by the person taking the deposition whether Andrew told her that he “didn’t have sex” with Guiffre, Maxwell replies, “It would be difficult to have sex with someone you don’t know.”

At the beginning of Maxwell’s deposition, she says she would have liked to have thought of herself as Epstein’s girlfriend in the 1990s, but by page 367, she says she was “not” his girlfriend. 

One of the more humorous parts of the deposition was when Maxwell was asked whether she was an American and British citizen, and responded in the affirmative. And when asked what other citizenships she held, she replied, “TerraMar” and “French.”

TerraMar was a charity Maxwell founded ostensibly to save oceans. On that website, which was shutdown when Epstein was arrested in 2019, an advocate could sign up for a TerraMar passport.  

Maxwell acknowledges having a pilot’s license but denies ever having flown President Clinton on Epstein’s helicopter.  

Maxwell also said Clinton never visited Epstein’s Virgin islands estate, amid such claims.

Maxwell repeatedly denies having recruited young people to engage in sex acts with Epstein. However, she acknowledges having interviewed people for jobs, though making clear Epstein made the final hiring decisions.

Since the Guiffre case, other victims have come forward accusing Maxwell of sexually abusing them in the 1990s – the basis for the four other charges she faces in connection with her arrest. 

Her blanket denials during her 2016 deposition have the potential to be the cornerstone of her prosecution.