Files made public in case of British socialite may contain extra details of allegations against Epstein and his political connections

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A large tranche of documents released on Friday from a lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell – who allegedly procured girls for financier Jeffrey Epstein – contains both lurid claims and denials of world leaders’ involvement in his alleged sex trafficking.

Virginia Giuffre, who is among Epstein’s many accusers, sued Maxwell in 2015, alleging the British socialite and daughter of the former media tycoon Robert Maxwell defamed her by claiming she was a liar in her accusations against Maxwell and Epstein.

Giuffre has accused Maxwell of recruiting her to work as Epstein’s masseuse at age 15, when the teen was a locker-room attendant at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in south Florida.

The release of the documents comes in the wake of Epstein’s arrest in July on sex trafficking charges – and was thought to potentially contain bombshells due to his former ties to high-profile men including the president.

The documents, however, contain denials that Trump and some other world leaders were involved in untoward behavior. In a 2016 deposition Giuffre said that Trump “didn’t partake in any sex with us … and never flirted with me”.

Trump, who was pictured partying with Epstein and women in the 1990s, has recently attempted to distance himself from the financier.

In the wake of Epstein’s arrest, Trump told reporters he “knew [Epstein], like everybody in Palm Beach knew him”, but added: “I had a falling out with him. I haven’t spoken to him in 15 years. I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you.”

However, in a 2002 profile of Epstein from New York magazine, Trump was quoted as saying: “I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

Bill Clinton had also been linked to Epstein’s social circle but the documents contained no untoward revelations.

Clinton has also distanced himself from Epstein in a statement issued by his press secretary, saying he had “not spoken to Epstein in well over a decade” and “knows nothing about the terrible crimes Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he had been recently charged in New York”.

But the documents do contain alleged details of Epstein’s activities.

In documents filed by Giuffre’s lawyers, one accuser claimed in a deposition that Maxwell “recruited her under the guise of a legitimate assistant position, but asked her to perform sexual massages for Epstein, and punished her when she didn’t cause Epstein to orgasm”.

Another person deposed “testified that [Maxwell] contacted him to recruit high school-aged girls for Epstein, and also testified that Maxwell and Epstein participated in multiple threesomes with Virginia Giuffre”.

A butler “witnessed, firsthand, a 15-year-old Swedish girl crying and shaking because [Maxwell] was attempting to force her to have sex with Epstein and she refused”, court documents filed by Giuffre’s lawyers claim. The girl allegedly said that Maxwell “tried to force her to have sex with Epstein through threats and stealing her passport”.

An accuser also said in a deposition that the “defendant, a perfect stranger, approached [her] while trolling [her] school grounds. She lured Ms [her] into her and Epstein’s home under the guise of a legitimate job of answering phones, a pretext that lasted only a day.”

She was asked in the deposition: “What was Maxwell’s main job with respect to Jeffrey?”

“Well, beyond companionship, her job, as it related to me, was to find other girls that would perform massages for him and herself,” the woman answered, according to papers filed by Giuffre’s lawyers.

However, documents filed by Maxwell’s lawyers contain portions of Giuffre’s deposition, which they claim undermines her claims that she was trafficked to the rich and famous.

“You were sexually trafficked to foreign presidents?” Giuffre was asked.

“No,” she responded, according to court papers.

“So that’s not true, you were not sexually trafficked to foreign presidents?” Giuffre was also asked.

“I don’t know what foreign presidents you’re talking about,” she said, according to court papers filed by Maxwell’s lawyers.

Pressed whether she had been “sexually trafficked to any foreign president”, Giuffre responded: “I understand well-known prime ministers and other world leaders; as far as foreign presidents, I’m not too sure. I don’t know.”

Giuffre also said “no” when asked if she had met any foreign presidents, according to the documents filed by Maxwell’s lawyers.

“So you were not sexually trafficked to any foreign president?” she was asked yet again.

“As far as I know right now, yes.”