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Times
24 minutes ago
- Times
I was abused by Jeffrey Epstein. Why is Trump silencing me?
A Jeffrey Epstein victim has said the Trump administration's decision to close the case is 'worse than silencing', as a lawsuit is filed to force the government to reveal what it knew about one of the worst sex-trafficking rings in history. Danielle Bensky, 38, who was abused by Epstein when she was a teenage aspiring ballerina in 2004, said the decision left her feeling like she was on a 'first-class flight on a refurbished Lolita Express', using the nickname for Epstein's private jet, which ferried victims around the financier's various homes. 'It feels like the current cabinet is essentially erasing our voices after years of bravery and work to find our way out of silence,' Bensky told The Times. 'It's actually worse than silencing — it's rewriting a narrative as if none of us existed in the first place. 'What does this teach our children? That if you are wealthy and powerful enough, you can make anything disappear, or play the blame game and create conspiracy theories?' Bensky accused Epstein of using her mother's brain-cancer diagnosis as leverage to repeatedly sexually abuse Bensky when she was 18, threatening to withhold treatment if she told anyone. 'Epstein told Bensky that he knew the best surgeons in New York, but that if Bensky wanted Epstein to help her mother then she would have to recruit other girls for him,' her lawyers alleged in a lawsuit filed last year. The US justice department and the FBI announced last week they had found no evidence that Epstein had blackmailed powerful people or kept a 'client list', and reiterated that he died by suicide in his prison cell in 2019. On Monday night Republicans in the House of Representatives voted against attaching a Democratic amendment to another piece of legislation that would force the justice department to release 'the Epstein files'. The measure would have forced Pam Bondi, the attorney-general, to publish all documents related to the convicted sex offender within 30 days. • Pam Bondi said Epstein client list was 'on her desk'. What happened? 'Are you on the side of the rich and powerful, or are you on the side of the people?' Ro Khanna, the California Democrat proposing the measure, said before the vote, promising to introduce the amendment 'again and again and again'. Bensky said it was 'deplorable' the victims' wishes had been ignored. 'For victims, it isn't political. Those documents hold and represent the fragmented pieces of our teenage selves that we have desperately been trying to glue back together for two decades.' Bensky has only recently returned to professional dancing after years of counselling. She said memories of the abuse 'eat at us in the dark corners of our minds, long after politicians go to sleep at night … I thought that we were in an era of shedding light, so that those fragmented pieces could finally become a mosaic. We will never be the same, but at least we could feel whole. The shutdown undermines all of that.' The only one of Epstein's associates to face criminal charges is Ghislaine Maxwell, the daughter of the British media magnate Robert Maxwell, who was convicted of sex-trafficking and sentenced to 20 years in prison. • Ghislaine Maxwell refused appeal on sex-trafficking verdict The victims allege their abuse, however, was enabled by people in his inner circle, as well as associates who have 'never been held to account'. Last year Bensky sued two of Epstein's closest advisers in Manhattan federal court. She alleged in her suit that Darren Indyke, Epstein's longtime personal lawyer, and his accountant, Richard Kahn, helped the financier create a complex web of corporations and bank accounts that let him hide his abuses and pay off victims and recruiters, while leaving them 'richly compensated' for their work. 'Epstein did not act alone and the breadth and depth of Epstein-related information that the government is withholding is profound,' said Bensky's lawyer, Sigrid McCawley, managing partner of Boies Schiller Flexner. McCawley said the government had yet to disclose information collected from Epstein's computers during raids of his homes in New York and Palm Beach, Florida, as well as financial records that may shed light on how he accrued his vast wealth. 'The government has failed these survivors time and time again,' she said. 'The public should demand nothing less than full accountability for all that were involved irrespective of title, wealth or social status.' Daniel Weiner, Indyke and Khan's lawyer, said in response that neither had 'ever been found in any forum to have committed any misconduct, and they emphatically reject the allegations of wrongdoing contained in the complaint'. Another victim, Maria Farmer, sued the justice department and the FBI last month, claiming they 'chose to do absolutely nothing' after she brought sexual abuse claims against Epstein to an FBI agent in 1996. According to Farmer's lawsuit, she was sexually assaulted by Epstein and Maxwell while she stayed at Epstein's estate as an 'artist-in-residence' in 1996. She also accused them of abusing her sister Annie, who was 16. Annie was one of the four victims who testified against Maxwell during her federal trial. While reporting her concerns to the FBI, Farmer said the agency hung up on her and failed to follow up or properly investigate, and she accused the agency of violating its manual for investigative operations and guidelines, which tasks the FBI with investigating violations of federal law. Farmer alleges that Epstein got away with a 'wide-ranging sex trafficking venture' and was able to do so because the FBI and justice department 'failed to listen to or protect his sex-trafficked, sexually abused and sexually exploited victims'. The FBI declined a request for comment, citing its standard practice of not commenting on ongoing litigation. 'The government had so many missed opportunities to protect victims,' Jennifer Freeman, Farmer's lawyer, told The Times. 'Had the FBI listened to Maria's complaints about Epstein starting in 1996, nearly 25 years of Epstein's abuse of victims could have been avoided as well as additional years of trying to figure out how and why the US government failed to stop Epstein.' Freeman believes a civil lawsuit may be one of the last remaining avenues the victims have to force the justice department to release the findings of the bureau's investigation. 'The one bright spot for victims is the FBI's statement in its recent memorandum: 'One of our highest priorities is combating child exploitation and bringing justice to victims',' Freeman said. 'We will press Maria Farmer's case forward — and hold the US government to its word.'
Daily Mail
29 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS American Idol executive Robin Kaye and her husband are found murdered inside $5million LA mansion
An American Idol executive and her husband were found murdered inside their $5 million Los Angeles mansion. Robin Kaye, an award-winning music supervisor for the hit show, and Thomas Deluca, both 70, were brutally shot to death inside their home in Encino Monday, authorities told TMZ. Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department were called to the six-bedroom home for a welfare check, but when they entered, they discovered Kaye and Deluca's lifeless bodies. Authorities witnessed blood at the front entrance of the couple's home before breaking through a window to enter the property, a source told the outlet.
Daily Mail
34 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Ghislaine Maxwell's former cellmate shares chilling premonition of what she thinks will happen to Epstein's fixer
's former cellmate shared a chilling premonition after Jeffrey Epstein 's former accomplice revealed she would 'tell all' about the pedophile's sex trafficking scheme. Jessica Watkins, a transgender veteran who was serving time for the January 6 riots before receiving a pardon by Donald Trump, suggested 63-year-old Maxwell could meet the same fate as Epstein, who was found dead in his prison cell. 'Just putting this out there: I know Ghislaine Maxwell personally when I was in prison with her. She isn't suicidal in the least,' Watkins posted on X. 'There are also virtually no working cameras in FCI Tallahassee,' she added in an apparent reference to the suspicious coincidences around Epstein's death, which was ruled a suicide. Watkins claimed that only 'maybe ten' cameras in the 'entire' prison were present or working. 'Just getting ahead of potential narratives,' Watkins said. Her chilling post implied Maxwell's life may be in danger after she expressed willingness to testify before Congress about the so-called Epstein list. It comes amid a furious civil war between Trump's top MAGA lieutenants after the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation stated there was no evidence that Epstein possessed a client list or "blackmailed prominent individuals". Watkins said that should Maxwell ' would not [be] by her own hand.' 'She also doesn't do drugs, is in good health, and works out everyday, so no "old age" or "natural causes" arguments will work either,' Watkins wrote. Watkins's warnings about her former cell mate come as a source claimed that Ghislaine Maxwell is willing to reveal the 'truth' on The Epstein Files in front of Congress Watkins said Maxwell was drawn to her as the only other 'celebrity inmate' in the Florida prison, based on her being named as Trump's codefendant in a January 6 legal case. 'Fortunately,' Maxwell was 'actually very nice' and a 'staunch advocate for her fellow inmates,' Watkins said, adding that that Epstein's accomplice lives in an 'open dorm' and had 'about 50 witnesses' who have eyes and ears on her at all times. . She describe Maxwell as a 'model inmate' who was 'sociable and kind.' 'So most people were nice to her. Doesn't mean she didn't do something evil,' Watkins wrote. 'But generally, she kept to herself.' 'She's safer there than in the SHU (Special Housing Unit- The Hole). They sent her there sometimes for talking to the Media,' she added. Watkins was sentenced to eight and a half years prison for charges connected to the January 6 Capitol riot, including conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding, interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder, and conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging duties. The former 'Oath Keeper' was released in January after Trump commuted sentences to 'time served'. 'In my mind I thought it was this heroic American moment where I thought people were going into our house, we were going to be heard,' Watkins said. 'It was this moment where I lost all basic objectivity. I wasn't doing security anymore; I wasn't medic Jess anymore. I was just another idiot.' While the pardoned Jan 6 rioter said she and Maxwell were 'not friends at all,' they lived and worked together closely while behind bars. 'She always creeped me out, so I avoided her when I could . But even still, we talked often enough. In prison, it's kinda unavoidable,' she said. Watkins claimed that Maxwell was 'very tight lipped' about her case, but wrote: 'She did tell me (and I quote) "They had no interest in me until Jeffrey... died".' However, Maxwell allegedly asked members of the media, 'Why do you keep asking about [Trump], and not the Clintons?,' Watkins claimed. Maxwell is serving 20 years for her role in a scheme to sexually exploit and abuse multiple minor girls with Epstein over the course of a decade. Epstein allegedly controlled a web of underage girls who claimed they were passed around as sex toys to his wealthy friends and billionaire business associates. A source told Daily Mail that 'she would be more than happy to sit before Congress and tell her story.' 'Despite the rumors, Ghislaine was never offered any kind of plea deal,' the source said. 'No-one from the government has ever asked her to share what she knows. She remains the only person to be jailed in connection to Epstein and she would welcome the chance to tell the American public the truth.' Maxwell argues she should have been protected from prosecution as part of a Non Prosecution Agreement made by Epstein - her former lover and boss - in 2007 when he agreed to plead guilty to two minor charges of prostitution in a 'sweetheart deal' which saw him spend little time behind bars. Controversy continues to rage over the Department of Justice's statement that there is no Epstein 'client list', despite the release of videos from inside New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center the DOJ claims 'proves' he committed suicide. Critics have pointed to the fact that there is a crucial minute missing from the jail house video that also does not show the door or, indeed, the inside of Epstein's jail cell. The scandal - and alleged 'cover up' - has prompted a rebellion amongst President Trump's loyal MAGA base. Some even believe Attorney General Pam Bondi should be fired after promising to release all files relating to Epstein and his high-profile male friends only to apparently renege on that promise. 'Congressional hearings have been held into everything from JFK's assassination to 9/11. The Epstein Files rank up there with those cases. Ghislaine would be willing to speak before Congress and tell her story,' the source close to Maxwell said. Maxwell had her appeal to overturn her conviction turned down yesterday. Her attorneys then appealed directly to President Trump, calling him the 'ultimate dealmaker,' in the hopes that he may overrule Attorney General Pam Bondi. The White House, however, dismissed any suggestion that the President would pardon Maxwell. 'There have been no discussions or consideration of a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, and there never will be,' a senior White House official told the Daily Mail. Outcry for Maxwell's release increased after she revealed she would be willing to testify to Congress about the case against Epstein.
