‘Pure evil': Epstein survivors and their families horrified as co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell suddenly framed as a ‘victim'

Daily Telegraph

2 days ago

Don't miss out on the headlines from World. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Multiple victims of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell have expressed their disgust at suggestions she could receive 'preferential treatment' from the government, or perhaps even a presidential pardon.
They are increasingly, palpably worried that Maxwell's monstrous crimes, particularly those committed against underage girls, are being forgotten.
Maxwell, who has never admitted to her role in Epstein's sex trafficking scheme, was the person chiefly responsible for procuring minors for him to abuse. She enticed them into his orbit, groomed them, and used various methods to keep them trapped.
The victims have long alleged that Maxwell also participated in the sexual abuse.
Get all the latest news happening around the world as it happens — download the news.com.au app direct to your phone.
Epstein and Maxwell in 2005. Picture: Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
Last month, as the Trump administration struggled to neutralise a public backlash against its handling of the Epstein files, the man Donald Trump had appointed Deputy Attorney-General – his own former defence lawyer, Todd Blanche – went to visit Maxwell.
Mr Blanche spoke to Epstein's partner and chief co-conspirator for two days. Lawyers representing Maxwell, who are currently trying to get the Supreme Court to throw out her convictions on child sex trafficking charges, later said she had discussed about a hundred people connected to the Epstein case.
Obvious fears arose among Maxwell's victims. Did the government intend to seek a shortening of her 20-year prison sentence in exchange for her co-operation? Was President Trump open to pardoning her, which would set her free immediately?
And how would the obvious conflicts of interest be navigated? Mr Trump, who was friends with Epstein and Maxwell for about 15 years and whose name reportedly appears 'multiple times' in the Epstein files, wants to be absolved of any suggestion he was involved in their crimes (and, we should note, there is at the moment no evidence he was).
Maxwell, obviously, wants to get out of jail, something she almost certainly cannot achieve without Mr Trump's grace. Every incentive compels her to be, ahem, helpful to the President. And this is someone with a long record of lying, including while under oath.
Perhaps nothing is amiss, but the ingredients for a potentially corrupt quid pro quo are there. You can understand why Epstein's survivors are suspicious.
Mr Trump, his now-wife Melania (then named Knauss), Epstein and Maxwell in 2000. It should be stressed that the Trumps are far from the only famous people to have been pictured with them. Picture:Two other elements have fed into their building unease.
First, on the fringes of America's right-wing media, some bloviaters have started to speak of Maxwell as a 'victim'.
'I think this is great,' Newsmax anchor Greg Kelly said last week, for example, referring to the government's overtures towards her.
'I do have a feeling that she just might be a victim. She just might be. There was a rush to judgment, there was a lot of chaos there for a while.
'Granted, she hung out with Jeffrey Epstein, and I know that's apparently not good.'
Apparently! (Oh, and Maxwell did much more than merely 'hang out' with Epstein, as we shall explore in a moment. Apparently some folks need to be reminded.)
Second, today we learned that the government had quietly moved Maxwell from her jail in Florida to a lower security one in Texas, which houses several female celebrity inmates. The fraudster Elizabeth Holmes is there, for example.
Why move Maxwell? That has not been explained.
Hence an angry statement released today, co-signed by Annie and Maria Farmer, both of whom were victims of Epstein and Maxwell, plus the family of Virginia Giuffre, who did so much to expose the pair's crimes before taking her own life earlier this year.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre outside court in 2019. Picture: Barry Williams/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
'It is with horror and outrage that we object to the preferential treatment convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell has received,' the statement reads.
'Ghislaine Maxwell is a sexual predator who physically assaulted minor children on multiple occasions, and she should never be shown any leniency.
'Yet, without any notification to the Maxwell victims, the government overnight has moved Maxwell to a minimum security prison. This is the justice system failing victims right before our eyes.
'The American public should be enraged by the preferential treatment being given to a pedophile and a criminally charged child sex offender.
'The Trump administration should not credit a word Maxwell says, as the government itself sought charges against her for being a serial liar.
'This move smacks of a cover-up. The victims deserve better.'
Annie and Maria Farmer in 2019.
Epstein and Maxwell. Picture: US District Court/AFP
Some other remarks worth mentioning, here.
'My little sister is one of her victims, and so am I,' Maria Farmer told MSNBC, slamming politicians who 'want to entertain Ghislaine Maxwell' and 'act like we victims should not be heard from'.
Her sister Annie told The Daily Mail any deal between the government and Maxwell would 'be devastating' and 'feel like a slap in the face'.
'It doesn't sit well that this is all happening without any involvement from the people they asked to testify in her case, or other victims,' she said.
'It's hard not to be anxious.'
Theresa Helm said any leniency shown towards Maxwell 'would mean the complete crumbling of this justice system'.
'We all deserve a pathway to justice. We don't deserve to have it, yet again, robbed from us,' she told MSNBC.
'It truly does seem like an upside down world.'
During an interview about Maxwell's case in 2021, which feels relevant in this discussion, Sarah Ransome described Maxwell as 'the chief orchestrator' who had 'forced' her into the room where Epstein raped her.
'It actually makes me sick that she is claiming to be a victim, or have any form of innocence' said Ms Ransome.
'This is the same woman that grabbed my arm and forced me into a room to be raped by Jeffrey. It was brutal.
'And I remember limping from Jeffrey's bedroom. I remember looking at Ghislaine, and she had this evil smirk on her face. She knew I was there to be raped, and she enjoyed it.'
Sarah Ransome outside court in 2021. Picture: Bryan R. Smith/AFP
Speaking to CNN this week Ms Giuffre's brother, Sky Roberts, said Maxwell 'deserves to rot in prison, where she belongs'.
'Because of what she's done to my sister, and so many other women. It's absolutely a pure sense of evil,' Mr Roberts said.
'She wasn't stolen. She was preyed upon,' he added, alluding to Mr Trump's complaint this week that Epstein 'stole' staff from his Mar-a-Lago resort, including Ms Giuffre.
'(Maxwell) wasn't just a recruiter. She participated, and viciously participated, with these girls, abusing them.'
He said his sister described Maxwell as a 'monster' from 'a nightmare'.
Maxwell.
And Epstein.
Journalist Tara Palmeri, who has reported extensively on the Epstein case and knows multiple victims, described recent events as 'infuriating'.
'Because I know so much about her. I know the damage she did to these girls,' Ms Palmeri said on her YouTube channel.
'So many of them are more angry with her, for the abuse, than Epstein. She was the one that violated them. She was the one that called Annie Farmer's mother and said, 'Don't worry, I'll take care of her, you can let her go to the ranch.' That was where Ghislaine Maxwell was the first one to touch Annie, and then Epstein jumped in.
'She was involved in the actual molestation of these girls. She didn't just bring them to Jeffrey Epstein.'
All these comments are worth remembering, going forward. Ghislaine Maxwell was not Epstein's sidekick, she was his partner, and is no less culpable. She wasn't pulled into the web of his sex trafficking scheme – if anything, she was chiefly responsible for weaving it.
She should not be pitied. Or trusted.
Twitter: @SamClench
Originally published as 'Pure evil': Epstein survivors and their families horrified as co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell suddenly framed as a 'victim'