‘Sex-trafficking' from Australia alleged in sports agent lawsuit
The woman, referred to as Jane Doe in the civil complaint filed in a California district court, alleges that Barnett 'trafficked' her from Australia to the UK in 2017 and 'tortured' her between then and 2023, keeping her as a 'sex slave'.
Financial Times
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7NEWS
a day ago
- 7NEWS
Former Jeffrey Epstein girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell shares ‘100 names' in meeting with US Department of Justice
Disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned former girlfriend of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has finished one-and-a-half days of interviews with US Justice Department officials. 'She answered those questions honestly, truthfully, to the best of her ability,' her lawyer David Oscar Markus told reporters outside the federal courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida, where Maxwell met on Friday with Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche. 'She never invoked a privilege. She never refused to answer a question, so we're very proud of her,' Markus said. Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence and is housed at a low-security federal prison in Tallahassee. She was sentenced three years ago after being convicted of helping Epstein, a wealthy, well-connected financier, sexually abuse underage girls. Officials have said Epstein killed himself in his New York jail cell while awaiting trial in 2019, but his case has generated endless attention and conspiracy theories because of his and Maxwell's links to famous people, such as royals, presidents and billionaires, including US President Donald Trump. In a social media post this week, Blanche said Maxwell would be interviewed because of President Trump's directive to gather and release any credible evidence about others who may have committed crimes. Trump has denied prior knowledge of Epstein's crimes and claimed he cut off their relationship long ago. But he faces ongoing questions about the Epstein case, overshadowing his administration's achievements. On Friday, reporters pressed the Republican president about pardoning Maxwell, but he deflected, emphasising his administration's successes. Markus said Maxwell 'was asked maybe about 100 different people'. 'The deputy attorney-general is seeking the truth,' Markus said. 'He asked every possible question, and he was doing an amazing job.' Markus said he did not ask for anything for Maxwell in return, though he acknowledged that Trump could pardon her. 'Listen, the president this morning said he had the power to do so. We hope he exercises that power in the right and just way,' Markus said. Earlier in July, the Justice Department said it would not release more files related to the Epstein investigation, despite promises that claimed otherwise from Attorney-General Pam Bondi. The department also said an Epstein client list does not exist. Maxwell is appealing against her conviction, based on the government's pledge years ago that any potential Epstein co-conspirators would not be charged, Markus said. Epstein struck a deal with federal prosecutors in 2008 that shifted his case to Florida state court, where he pleaded guilty to soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution. Epstein in 2019 and Maxwell in 2020 were charged in federal court in New York.
Perth Now
2 days ago
- Perth Now
Maxwell completes US justice dept Epstein interviews
Disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned former girlfriend of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has finished one-and-a-half days of interviews with US Justice Department officials. "She answered those questions honestly, truthfully, to the best of her ability," her lawyer David Oscar Markus told reporters outside the federal courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida, where Maxwell met on Friday with Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche. "She never invoked a privilege. She never refused to answer a question, so we're very proud of her," Mr Markus said. Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence and is housed at a low-security federal prison in Tallahassee. She was sentenced three years ago after being convicted of helping Epstein, a wealthy, well-connected financier, sexually abuse underage girls. Officials have said Epstein killed himself in his New York jail cell while awaiting trial in 2019, but his case has generated endless attention and conspiracy theories because of his and Maxwell's links to famous people, such as royals, presidents and billionaires, including US President Donald Trump. In a social media post this week, Mr Blanche said Maxwell would be interviewed because of President Trump's directive to gather and release any credible evidence about others who may have committed crimes. Mr Trump has denied prior knowledge of Epstein's crimes and claimed he cut off their relationship long ago. But he faces ongoing questions about the Epstein case, overshadowing his administration's achievements. On Friday, reporters pressed the Republican president about pardoning Maxwell, but he deflected, emphasising his administration's successes. Mr Markus said Maxwell "was asked maybe about 100 different people". "The deputy attorney-general is seeking the truth," Mr Markus said. "He asked every possible question, and he was doing an amazing job." Mr Markus said he did not ask for anything for Maxwell in return, though he acknowledged that Mr Trump could pardon her. "Listen, the president this morning said he had the power to do so. We hope he exercises that power in the right and just way," Mr Markus said. Earlier in July, the Justice Department said it would not release more files related to the Epstein investigation, despite promises that claimed otherwise from Attorney-General Pam Bondi. The department also said an Epstein client list does not exist. Maxwell is appealing against her conviction, based on the government's pledge years ago that any potential Epstein co-conspirators would not be charged, Mr Markus said. Epstein struck a deal with federal prosecutors in 2008 that shifted his case to Florida state court, where he pleaded guilty to soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution. Epstein in 2019 and Maxwell in 2020 were charged in federal court in New York.
ABC News
3 days ago
- ABC News
Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell grilled by top US Justice Department official
A top US Justice Department official has spent hours grilling Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned accomplice of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as President Donald Trump struggles to tamp down a furore over his handling of the explosive case. Warning: This story contains references to sexual abuse and suicide. David Markus, Maxwell's attorney, said the former British socialite answered every question she was asked during a day-long meeting with Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche at a courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida. "She never invoked a privilege. She never declined to answer," Mr Markus said. Mr Markus said he was not going to comment on the "substance" of the meeting with Mr Blanche, Mr Trump's former personal lawyer for his hush money trial and two federal criminal cases, or whether there would be further discussions. Maxwell, 63, is serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted in 2021 of recruiting underage girls for Epstein, who died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial in his own sex trafficking case. Earlier this week, Mr Blanche said if Maxwell had "information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say". "No one is above the law — and no lead is off-limits," he said. Mr Trump, 79, was once a close friend of Epstein and The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the president's name was among hundreds found during a DOJ review of the so-called "Epstein files", though there has not been evidence of wrongdoing. Mr Trump filed a $US10 billion ($15 billion) defamation suit against the Journal last week after it reported that he had penned a sexually suggestive letter to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003. Maxwell is the only former Epstein associate convicted in connection with his activities, which right-wing conspiracy theorists allege had included trafficking young models for VIPs. The meeting with Maxwell marks another attempt by the Trump administration to defuse anger among the Republican president's own supporters over what they have long seen as a cover-up of sex crimes by Epstein, who was a wealthy financier with high-level connections. Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said the meeting between Maxwell and a Justice Department official who used to be Mr Trump's own lawyer smacked of a "corrupt deal so that [Attorney-General Pam Bondi] can exonerate Donald Trump". Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said it raised some troubling questions. "Is he really going as [deputy attorney-general] or is he going de facto as Trump's personal criminal attorney, Tom Hagen style?" the senator said in a reference to the Corleone family lawyer in The Godfather. "Will he promise her a pardon for silence, or for a Trump-friendly tale?" Senator Whitehouse asked. Many of the president's core supporters want more transparency on the Epstein case, and Mr Trump had promised to deliver that on retaking the White House in January. But he has since dismissed the controversy as a "hoax" and a "witch hunt", and the DOJ and FBI released a memo this month claiming the Epstein files did not contain evidence that would justify further investigation. Epstein committed suicide while in jail and was not murdered, did not blackmail any prominent figures, and did not keep a "client list", according to the July 7 FBI-DOJ memo. Epstein was found hanging dead in his New York prison cell while awaiting trial on charges that he sexually exploited hundreds of victims at his homes in New York and Florida. AFP
