Watch live as Ghislaine Maxwell trial continues in New York City
Day three of the trial of British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has begun in New York City, as the 59-year-old faces charges related to her alleged involvement in financier Jeffrey Epstein’s sex crimes.
Cross-examination of her first accuser, who is identified only as “Jane”, continues after she testified on Tuesday that Ms Maxwell was in the room when Epstein sexually assaulted her at the age of 14, not only grooming her for abuse, but also participating in it.
In at times graphic testimony, she described how she met the couple and was invited into their world, only to be subjected to sexual abuse over a period of years, ruining her self-worth.
Epstein’s longtime pilot Larry Visoski was cross-examined by the defence team on Tuesday morning about specific flights and passengers, following questioning by the prosecution regarding his work and access to Epstein’s properties.
He testified that passengers on Epstein’s plane included Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, Itzhak Perlman, Donald Trump, Chris Tucker, John Glenn, Kevin Spacey, and George Mitchell. Mr Visoski also said he never saw either Ms Maxwell or Epstein being inappropriate with a minor in 30 years.
Ms Maxwell, who spent decades rubbing shoulders with British royals and US presidents, is accused of recruiting and grooming underage girls for the late disgraced financier to sexually abuse between 1994 and 2004.
The daughter of the late media mogul Robert Maxwell, Ms Maxwell faces the prospect of up to 35 years of jail if she is found guilty. The trial is expected to last six weeks.
A trip to see The Lion King
In the defence’s cross-examination, the subject of a trip to New York to see The Lion King with Ms Maxwell and Epstein came up.
There is a dispute as to what “Jane” told investigators about when this trip happened.
Government interview notes suggest she went to see the show on Broadway, but that she was also 14 when the trip occurred, and yet the New York run of the live-action production did not start until she was 17.
The notes cannot be entered as evidence as they are not verbatim transcripts, merely just notes. However, “Jane” can be shown the notes to refresh her memory and be asked questions about them.
Ms Menninger continues to try to draw a contrast between the notes and her testimony.
Oliver O’Connell1 December 2021 17:11
Defendant’s family complaining about treatment of Maxwell
Marta Dhanis, reporting on the trial for Fox News, says that the Maxwell family is complaining about the treatment of the defendant while in the courthouse.
They say she “is not allowed any coffee or food of any kind during the court proceedings. She is not allowed to see her attorneys during the lunch break or after the court ends for the day.”
Oliver O’Connell1 December 2021 17:00
Cross-examination continues with first abuse incident
“Jane” testified that Epstein first abused her at the Palm Beach property when he masturbated on her in the pool house.
Ms Menninger is challenging that account saying that she told authorities in 2019 that it occurred in New York.
“That is not correct,” says “Jane”.
When Ms Menninger shows her notes from an interview, she adds that those are not her notes, she did not write that down, and the interview was not recorded: “This is just someone jotting down notes.”
“Jane” has repeatedly responded to Ms Menninger’s challenges to her testimony that they are based on inaccurate notes taken during interviews.
Oliver O’Connell1 December 2021 16:40
ICYMI: Prosecution’s key witness ‘Jane’ describes years of abuse
The Independent’s Bevan Hurley was in court yesterday for “Jane’s” stunning testimony.
Oliver O’Connell1 December 2021 16:28
“Jane’s” testimony implicates Ms Maxwell in participating in her abuse as well as grooming her for Epstein.
Ms Menninger is hitting at the very core of those statements.
Judge Alison Nathan has called for a break.
Oliver O’Connell1 December 2021 15:59
Amid a string of objections from the prosecution, and underlining the possible defence strategy, at one point Ms Menninger said that “Jane” told the government she did not have a specific memory of her first meeting with Ms Maxwell.
She then asked “Jane” if she came up with the memory in the last two years.
“Jane” denied having done so.
Oliver O’Connell1 December 2021 15:52
Following an objection from the prosecution, a long sidebar conversation with the judge began.
Inner City Press surmises that the defence’s potential angle in their cross-examination is that “Jane’s” complaints were decades after the events and initially against Epstein, not Ms Maxwell.
Oliver O’Connell1 December 2021 15:37
First meeting with Epstein probed
The defence strategy is not just to undermine the credibility of the witnesses, but also their own memories of events that happened, in some cases, more than 25 years ago.
Ms Menninger says she has differing accounts of the first meeting between “Jane” and Epstein and Ms Maxwell. She specifically mentions a conversation between “Jane” and her younger brother in which Ms Maxwell was not mentioned, and says she also gave a news source with another account.
On “Jane’s” first visit to Epstein’s house Ms Menninger says that she testified she was alone but says she told the government that she was with her mother and brothers at the beginning.
“Jane” says she does not remember that.
Oliver O’Connell1 December 2021 15:13
Defence questions Interlochen application
Ms Menninger intends to “impeach” the witness, which is to challenge their credibility with evidence that contradicts their testimony — evidence that the prosecution will not have seen.
She has brought up “Jane’s” application to the Interlochen music school in Michigan at which she says she first met Ms Maxwell and Epstein when she was 14.
In her testimony on Tuesday, “Jane” said that she had a difficult family life, but Ms Menniger is pointing to her application as stating that she comes from a “loving family”.
“Jane” says she does not recognise the specific document but does see her signature.
Oliver O’Connell1 December 2021 14:56
Ghislaine’s brother Kevin Maxwell is present
Ghislaine’s older brother, Kevin Maxwell, has joined the small group of supporters seated behind the defendant. He was absent from days one and two of the trial.
Her sister Isabel has been at the court throughout.
Oliver O’Connell1 December 2021 14:39
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