Ghislaine Maxwell gets 20 years in prison for role in Jeffrey Epstein's sex crimes



Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite and Jeffrey Epstein accomplice who was convicted of sex trafficking underage girls, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday.

Maxwell, 60, was found guilty in December 2021 on five counts, including sex trafficking of minors, for a scheme in which she recruited and groomed teenage girls for her lover Epstein to sexually abuse for years. Her arrest in July 2020 came years after investigations and litigation against Epstein, who allegedly operated an underage sex trafficking ring and raped dozens of underage girls.

Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial for his alleged federal crimes.

Prosecutors had asked for Maxwell to be sentenced to between 30 and 55 years in prison for her crimes, above the 15½ to 19½ years recommended by sentencing guidelines.

She was convicted on conspiracy to entice a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors.

Maxwell's attorneys had argued for a lighter sentence of no more than five years. In court filings, they said Maxwell's "difficult, traumatic childhood" and her dysfunctional relationship with her father "made her vulnerable to Epstein, whom she met right after her father's death."

Judge Alison Nathan sentenced Maxwell on three of the five counts, ruling that the victims' disturbing testimony during trial and Maxwell's "direct and repeated participation in a horrific scheme" deserved a sentence slightly above the sentencing guidelines, CNN reported.

The judge also fined Maxwell $750,000, the maximum permitted under the law.

"It is important to emphasize that although Epstein was central to this criminal scheme, Ms. Maxwell is not being punished in place of Epstein or as a proxy for Epstein," Nathan said Tuesday before handing down Maxwell's sentence, according to the New York Times. She said Maxwell's crimes were "heinous and predatory."

In a statement to her victims before sentencing, Maxwell said she hoped they would find closure, according to CNN.

"Jeffrey Epstein should have been here before all of you," Maxwell said. "It is not about Epstein, ultimately. It is for me to be sentenced."

"I am sorry for the pain that you've experienced," she added. "I hope my conviction ... brings you closure."

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams applauded the sentence in a statement.

"Today's sentence holds Ghislaine Maxwell accountable for perpetrating heinous crimes against children," he said. "This sentence sends a strong message that no one is above the law and it is never too late for justice."

Defense attorney Bobbi Sternheim said Maxwell will appeal her conviction.

Elon Musk sets Twitter ablaze by asking a curious question about Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, the media, and the DOJ



Elon Musk caused quite a stir on Twitter this weekend by asking an intriguing question about Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, the media, and the Department of Justice.

One of the top-trending topics on Twitter on Saturday was "Jeffrey Epstein." Musk set the trending topic ablaze when he tweeted a question about the deceased convicted pedophile.

"Only thing more remarkable than DOJ not leaking the list is that no one in the media cares," Musk wrote, then asked the question, " Doesn’t that seem odd?"

Musk also shared a meme captioned: "Things I'll never see in my lifetime." The meme features photos of fantastical things such as dragons, dinosaurs, and unicorns. The meme also included the words: "The Epstein/Maxwell client list."

The tweet went viral and racked up more than 60,000 retweets and nearly 350,000 likes in less than 24 hours.

\u201cOnly thing more remarkable than DOJ not leaking the list is that no one in the media cares. Doesn\u2019t that seem odd?\u201d
— Elon Musk (@Elon Musk) 1654369069

Musk then joked, "Sometimes I think my list of enemies is too short, so …"

Musk has made enemies with the media in recent months because of his acquisition of Twitter – including the Washington Post, which wrote hit pieces on the billionaire.

Epstein had relationships with former President Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, and Bill Gates.

Gates and Musk – the fourth and first-richest people in the world, respectively – have an ongoing feud. Musk allegedly ditched Gates on a scheduled meeting after finding out that the Microsoft co-founder bet against Tesla stock.

A Twitter user replied to Musk's tweet with an older photo of the SpaceX founder with Ghislaine Maxwell standing behind him at a formal event.

Musk fired back, “Ah yes, Maxwell photobombing me at a @VanityFair Oscars party – you should [ask] them why they invited her."

"The same people who push this photo say nothing about prominent people who actually went to his island a dozen times," Musk “Also very strange …”

Former President Clinton took at least 26 trips aboard Epstein's "Lolita Express" private jet, according to records obtained by Fox News.

Last month, Musk tweeted, “If I die under mysterious circumstances, it’s been nice knowin ya.”

\u201c@alifarhat79 Ah yes, Maxwell photobombing me at a @VanityFair Oscars party \u2013 you should them why they invited her. \n\nThe same people who push this photo say nothing about prominent people who actually went to his island a dozen times. Also very strange \u2026\u201d
— Elon Musk (@Elon Musk) 1654369069

In 2019, Project Veritas released a video of ABC News anchor Amy Robach venting about her network not airing an interview she did with Virginia Giuffre – an alleged victim of Epstein and Prince Andrew.

Robach says in the leaked video:

I’ve had this story for three years. I’ve had this interview with Virginia Roberts. We would not put it on the air. First of all, I was told, ‘Who’s Jeffrey Epstein? No one knows who that is. This is a stupid story.’ Then the palace found out that we had her whole allegations about Prince Andrew and threatened us a million different ways. We were so afraid that we wouldn’t be able to interview Kate and Will. That also quashed the story…. It was unbelievable what we had. [Bill] Clinton — we had everything. I tried for three years to get it on to no avail and now it’s all coming out and it’s like these new revelations. And I freaking had all of it. I’m so pissed right now. Every day I get more and more pissed…. What we had was unreal.

ABC said it did not air the interview because it didn't meet the network's standards and lacked sufficient corroborating evidence. Robach claimed that the video shows her "caught in a private moment of frustration."

Epstein is said to have committed suicide in his New York City jail cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on Aug. 10, 2019, according to the New York City chief medical examiner. Epstein was awaiting trial on charges related to the sex trafficking of minors.

Maxwell was arrested in July 2020. In December 2021, Maxwell was convicted of recruiting and grooming teenage girls for sexual encounters with Epstein. Maxwell's sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 28.

Judge denies Ghislaine Maxwell bid for mistrial over juror failure to disclose he is a victim of sexual assault



A federal judge on Friday rejected a bid by Ghislaine Maxwell to toss out her conviction on sex trafficking charges over the failure of a juror to disclose that he was a victim of sexual assault.

The juror admitted that he had failed to disclose the information on a jury questionnaire form, but he said that it was accidental and that he had been distracted when he filled it out.

Maxwell, a British socialite, was convicted in December for sex trafficking a 14-year-old girl during her time as a close confidante to disgraced billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein. He was found dead in a Manhattan jail cell in Aug. 2019 while awaiting trial for the same crimes.

The judge interviewed the juror last month and said that he found him to be responsive and forthright and believed that his experience with being a victim of sexual abuse did not interfere with his duty to be a fair and impartial juror.

The jury deliberated for about 40 hours before handing down a guilty verdict for Maxwell on one count of sex trafficking a minor, three counts of conspiracy, and one count of transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

Prosecutors alleged that Maxwell had helped Epstein to lure young girls into sexual relationships with him. Four women testified that they had been sexually assaulted by Epstein through the facilitation of Maxwell.

Prior to Epstein's suicide, prosecutors were getting closer to publicly releasing a trove of documents that would reveal many of the wealthy and famous celebrities who were involved in child trafficking.

Maxwell could face up to 65 years in prison when she is scheduled to be sentenced in June.

Here's more about the conviction of Maxwell:

Ghislaine Maxwell prepares for life behind barswww.youtube.com

Ghislaine Maxwell won't fight to keep names of 8 'John Does' secret any more, lawyer says



Convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell has ended her fight to protect the identities of eight "John Does" named in a civil lawsuit filed by accuser Virginia Giuffre, according to court documents filed last week.

The "John Does" — who were allegedly participants in Maxwell's and late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking schemes — are now at the mercy of a New York judge as to whether their identities remain hidden from the public.

"Counsel for Ghislaine Maxwell writes to inform the Court that she does not wish to further address those objections," Maxwell's attorney, Laura Menninger, said in a letter to Judge Loretta Preska dated Jan. 12.

The eight "John Does" are designated by number in the letter as "Non-Parties 17, 53, 54, 55, 56, 73, 93, and 151."

Menninger noted that "each of the listed Does has counsel who have ably asserted their own respective privacy rights" and added that her client "therefore leaves it to this Court to conduct the appropriate review consistent with the Order and Protocol for Unsealing Decided Motions."

Insider reported that the lawsuit in question was settled in 2017. But Giuffre for years has fought to have the material unsealed to expose individuals who were allegedly involved with Maxwell and Epstein.

"The 'John Does' all appear to be people who have stepped into the litigation over the years and asserted privacy rights for parts of the sealed material," Insider noted.

The outlet was careful to add that just because Maxwell is no longer opposing the unsealing does not necessarily mean that all names will be released. But Maxwell's decision to stop fighting to keep their names secret certainly helps clear the way.

Maxwell, 60, a British socialite and longtime companion of Epstein, was found guilty last month on several sex trafficking-related charges — including conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and sex trafficking of an individual under 18 years old.

Following the guilty verdict, an attorney for Giuffre named Sigrid McCawley inquired as to whether Maxwell would still seek to keep the "John Does" secret.

"Now that Maxwell’s criminal trial has come and gone, there is little reason to retain protection over the vast swaths of information about Epstein and Maxwell’s sex-trafficking operation that were originally filed under seal in this case," McCawley wrote.

Giuffrie, now 38, has long accused Maxwell and Epstein of coercing her into having sex with their high-profile associates, including Prince Andrew, Duke of York. In August 2021, Giuffrie sued Prince Andrew for taking advantage of her sexually on several occasions between 1999 and 2002.

Breaking: Jury finds Ghislaine Maxwell guilty of sex trafficking a minor



A Manhattan federal court jury found 60-year-old Ghislaine Maxwell guilty of several charges relating to sex trafficking of a minor on Wednesday after five full days of deliberation.

Maxwell was the girlfriend of convicted pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, and prosecutors were able to convince a jury that she aided the billionaire in locating his teenage victims from 1994 to about 2004. She was accused of recruiting and grooming the girls for Epstein, with most of the evidence consisting of testimony from four victims.

She was convicted of 5 out of 6 charges of luring teenage girls for sexual abuse, some as young as 14 years old. Maxwell was not convicted of one charge of enticing a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts.

Attorneys for Maxwell tried to argue that she was also a victim of Epstein's rather than an accomplice to his crimes.

Epstein died under mysterious circumstances in 2019 when he was found in his cell in Manhattan after apparently committing suicide. He was awaiting trial for sex trafficking when he died. Guards were supposed to have checked in on him every 30 minutes, but they neglected to do so due to insufficient staffing at the prison.

"The road to justice has been far too long. But, today, justice has been done," said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in a statement about the verdict.

"I want to commend the bravery of the girls — now grown women — who stepped out of the shadows and into the courtroom," he added. "Their courage and willingness to face their abuser made this case, and today's result, possible."

Maxwell faces as many as 65 years in prison upon her sentencingnext year.

Here's more about the guilty verdict against Maxwell:

Ghislaine Maxwell convicted in Epstein sex abuse casewww.youtube.com

Twitter bans popular accounts that tracked Ghislaine Maxwell trial and Nancy Pelosi's stock trades



Twitter has suspended @NancytTracker, a popular account that tracked Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's stock trades and reported on the wealth Pelosi and her husband have accrued through trading. The social media platform also suspended @TrackerTrial, an account that posted updates on the Ghislaine Maxwell trial and was, according to the account's owner, the largest account on Twitter that specifically tracked the trial at the time.

Both accounts were operated by the Free Press Report, a newsletter on Substack. In a post Wednesday, the Free Press Report said that Twitter suspended the @TrackerTrial account and "all the other accounts that I have made in the past" as well. A screenshot of an email the Free Press Report received from Twitter indicates the accounts were banned for allegedly violating the platform's rules against platform manipulation and spam.

"You may not use Twitter's services in a manner intended to artificially amplify or suppress information or engage in behavior that manipulates or disrupts people's experience on Twitter," the company told the Free Press Report.

The account operator denied that the @TrackerTrial account had violated Twitter's rules by artificially inflating its followers or engagement.

"The account got insane engagement, which by the way, was all organic. There was not outside amplification. The people wanted to hear the truth about the Ghislaine Maxwell, and Jeffrey Epstein trial and the engagement numbers showed that," the Free Press Report wrote. "There were hundreds of millions in impressions and an account that went from zero to over 525,000 followers in a couple of weeks. All we did was report information from the trial that the mainstream media was failing to do."

The Free Press Report has appealed to Twitter to lift the suspension, but as of Thursday that appeal has gone unanswered. The Nancy Tracker and Maxwell Trial accounts have been restarted on Gab, an alternative social media site that says it "champions free speech, individual liberty, and the free flow of information online."

At the time of its suspension, the @NancyTracker account had more than 200,000 followers on Twitter. Some of its most popular posts highlighted how Pelosi had better annualized stock returns than famous professional investors like Warren Buffett and George Soros and how the House speaker generates "$10-15 million in investment income per year while paying a lower effective tax rate than a working class individual," according to screenshots taken by Reclaim the Net.

In October, @NancyTracker posted that it received "a cease and desist order from a lawyer representing someone high up in the political office."

"I will not name names. And I will also not cease or desist," @NancyTracker said.

The account was banned less than two months later for violating Twitter's rules on platform manipulation and spam.

Twitter did not respond to a request for comment.

Last week, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey stepped down and was succeeded by Parag Agrawal, formerly the company's chief technology officer. Since becoming Twitter's new CEO, Agrawal has faced scrutiny over comments he made in 2020, in which he said Twitter should not be "bound by the First Amendment."

"Our role is not to be bound by the First Amendment, but our role is to serve a healthy public conversation and our moves are reflective of things that we believe lead to a healthier public conversation," Agrawal said. "The kinds of things that we do about this is, focus less on thinking about free speech, but thinking about how the times have changed."

Ghislaine Maxwell: The Trial the Media Does NOT Want You to See | The News & Why It Matters | Ep 914

Ghislaine Maxwell: The Trial the Media Does NOT Want You to See | The News & Why It Matters | Ep 914

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey RESIGNS, Big Tech Crackdown INCOMING | 11/29/21

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