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The second round of legal documents related to the defamation case between Virginia Giuffre, a victim of Jeffrey Epstein, and his associate has been made public.
The release on Thursday did not include any new names, but it did offer information about the arguments made by the lawyers for Maxwell and Giuffre to undermine each other before the case was resolved in 2017.
One of the recently released documents included a request from Maxwell’s lawyers to subpoena journalist Sharon Churcher for her testimony. They claimed she assisted Ms. Giuffre in creating false stories involving notable individuals such as Alan Dershowitz and Prince Andrew.
The lawyers asked Ms Churcher to provide any notes and recordings from an interview for an article about Ms Giuffre’s accusations. Maxwell’s defense team argued that Ms Churcher was not an unbiased third party, but rather a collaborator in the publication of untrue statements made by the plaintiff. They also alleged that Ms Churcher instructed Ms Giuffre to fabricate a diary with false accounts of sexual abuse by Mr Dershowitz and Prince Andrew.
Ms Churcher stated to The Independent that the accusations are false and ridiculous.
Both Mr Dershowitz and Prince Andrew have previously stated that they had no prior knowledge of Epstein’s sex trafficking activities before they were made public. They have also denied engaging in sexual relations with Ms Giuffre when she was underage.
After Ms Giuffre claimed that she was forced to have sexual relations with Mr Dershowitz, the two engaged in heated legal disputes for the next three years. In November 2022, Ms Giuffre acknowledged that she may have misidentified Mr Dershowitz as one of her perpetrators. As a result, both parties dropped their lawsuits.
Ms Giuffre has accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault in a civil lawsuit and he has agreed to pay a settlement of seven figures. Despite this, he continues to maintain his innocence.
These are the main points from the release on Thursday:
The journalist made accusations against Dershowitz.
Ms Giuffre inquired about any information on men from Epstein and Ms Churcher responded in a 2011 email by mentioning Alan Dershowitz, Epstein’s friend and lawyer who represented Claus von Bulow in a case that was turned into a movie titled “Reversal of Fortune.”
The email went on to say, “We all have a suspicion that Alan is a pedophile, but there is no evidence of it. You might have met him when he was with JE.”
Following the initial release of documents on Thursday, Mr. Dershowitz once again refuted any claims of engaging in sexual activity with underage girls. He stated that his connection with Epstein was solely professional and that he had only occasionally accepted flights on Epstein’s private jet before learning about the extent of Epstein’s sex trafficking operation.
Ghislaine Maxwell alleged that a journalist assisted in fabricating accusations against the Duke of York. (US Department of Justice/PA)
During a conversation about a possible interview with Vanity Fair, Ms Giuffre informed Ms Churcher through email that her account needed to be written carefully in order to avoid revealing any information about an upcoming book. Ms Giuffre also stated that Mr Clinton had entered the VF office building and issued a warning to journalists against publishing stories about sex trafficking involving Epstein.
According to Graydon Carter, a former editor at the magazine, the incident described by Ms Giuffre in her email did not occur. There is no additional information or proof to support her allegations.
“I can definitely confirm that this did not occur,” stated Mr. Carter.
On Wednesday, a deposition was unsealed that mentioned Mr. Clinton. In the deposition, Johana Sjoberg stated that Epstein had told her that Mr. Clinton was interested in “young” girls. On Thursday, a spokesperson for Mr. Clinton denied any connections between the former president and Epstein.
The statement given to PEOPLE stated that it has been almost two decades since President Clinton last communicated with Epstein.
In this undated photo, Jeffrey Epstein, on the left, is seen alongside former President Bill Clinton.
In a follow-up to the email exchange from 2011, Ms Churcher recommended that Ms Churcher agree to a request from Vanity Fair to buy the notorious photo of Prince Andrew with his arm around Ms Giuffre.
“I am willing to allow VF to purchase your photo through [Ms Giuffre’s attorney],” responded Ms Churcher in her email. “The potential risk would be if we also let him provide a statement stating that your interviews with us were accurately portrayed and that you have no further comments at this time regarding how you were ‘sex trafficked’ to Prince Andrew and two other prominent politicians ([redacted] and [redacted]).”
In other parts of their request, Maxwell’s lawyers stated that Ms Churcher willingly offered to be present during Ms Giuffre’s conversation with federal authorities and provided recommendations on which literary agent Ms Giuffre should choose for her book agreement.
I’m present to have this non-prosecution agreement for BS dismissed.
In a follow-up to the email conversation from 2011, Ms. Churcher suggested to Ms. Churcher that she should agree to Vanity Fair’s request to buy the notorious photo of Prince Andrew with his arm around Ms. Giuffre.
“I am willing to allow VF to purchase your image through [Ms Giuffre’s attorney],” replied Ms Churcher in her email. “The risk would be if we also allow them to include a statement from you stating that our interviews were accurately reported and that you have no further comments at this time about being ‘sex trafficked’ to Prince Andrew and other prominent figures ([redacted] and [redacted]).”
In addition, in their request, Maxwell’s lawyers alleged that Ms. Churcher offered to be present during Ms Giuffre’s conversation with government officials and provided her with guidance on which literary agent to choose for her book agreement.
The Independent has contacted Ms Churcher for a response.
I am here to have this non-prosecution agreement for BS dismissed.
In 2014, Ms Giuffre communicated with federal investigators via email regarding material that was seized during the initial investigation into Epstein’s 2008 plea deal, in which he was charged with procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting.
“I am currently working towards invalidating this non-prosecution agreement and, during my conversation with Judge Paul Cassal, he proposed obtaining any images or videos that were released by the FBI in order to strengthen our case and demonstrate the extent of Jeffrey’s involvement in pedophilia and the numerous other individuals who participated in sexual activity with underage girls,” stated Ms. Giuffre.
Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of child sex trafficking, was often seen with the late Jeffrey Epstein (US Department of Justice/PA).
According to Ms Giuffre’s ex-boyfriend, Maxwell requested that he help find and bring in underage girls.
According to a deposition from Ms Giuffre’s ex-boyfriend Anthony Figueroa, Ms Maxwell allegedly asked him on multiple occasions to bring underage girls to Epstein’s residence in Palm Beach.
“I witnessed Maxwell taking them upstairs and would then leave. I waited for them to signal that they were ready, and then I would say goodbye and leave.”
Additionally, on Thursday, incident reports from the initial police inquiry into Epstein’s offenses in Palm Beach in 2006 were released. These reports include statements from young victims detailing the abuse they suffered at the hands of the disgraced financier, as well as graphic descriptions of the sexual massages he demanded.
The US Department of Justice has a picture of Jeffrey Epstein’s home in West Palm Beach from the Maxwell trial court.
The Department of Justice in the United States.
Being mentioned in the legal records does not automatically indicate that the person was implicated in or knowledgeable about any illegal actions by Epstein.
In 2015, Ms. Giuffre filed a civil lawsuit against Maxwell after a representative for the socialite denied Ms. Giuffre’s accusations as “clearly false”. This legal action aided in the consolidation of the criminal case against Maxwell, resulting in her receiving a 20-year prison sentence for five counts of sex trafficking of minors. Maxwell has appealed her conviction since then.
Unfortunately, numerous names mentioned in the Giuffre v Maxwell case remained confidential. The Miami Herald, whose inquiry into Epstein’s actions resulted in his apprehension in 2019, initially filed a lawsuit in 2018 to obtain access to all records pertaining to the case.
The initial batch of these records was revealed on August 9, 2019, only one day prior to Epstein’s suicide in his prison cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.
Additional documents are anticipated to be published in the coming days.
Source: independent.co.uk
