Ghislaine Maxwell trial - live: Defence claims Epstein accuser is a liar as socialite’s siblings fill court

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.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/ghislaine-maxwell-trial-updates-epstein-victims-b1967396.html?page=3

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Presidents, a prince, and the ‘piercing, powder-blue eyes’ of women on the Lolita Express

This is your captain speaking: Epstein’s pilot reveals jet-setting life flying global elites like Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton and Kevin Spacey on a private jet, write The Independent’s Bevan Hurley and Justin Vallejo.

“Larry Visoski saw many things from the cockpit of the ‘Lolita Express’. For nearly 30 years, the personal pilot of Jeffrey Epstein flew the global elite to the convicted paedophile’s palatial mansions and estates from New York to Paris to a tiny island in the Caribbean.

Apart from those “pretty important people”, Mr Visoski told the Federal District Court in Manhattan he would sometimes be introduced to other types of guests as they boarded the plane. One was an aspiring singer Epstein took to the cockpit, who Mr Visoski recalled as “a mature woman, with piercing, powder blue eyes”.

But one very specific thing Mr Visoski maintains he never saw, however, is sexual activity of any kind. He added that he “certainly did not” see any sex acts with underage girls.

Epstein’s pilot details disgraced financier’s opulent residences

For nearly 30 years, Epstein’s pilot flew the global elite to the convicted paedophile’s palatial mansions and estates. Bevan Hurley and Justin Vallejo report on the first witness in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial.

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Clinton, Trump and Spacey, palatial mansions and private islands: Epstein’s pilot reveals life on the Lolita Express

For nearly 30 years, Epstein’s pilot flew the global elite to the convicted paedophile’s palatial mansions and estates. Bevan Hurley and Justin Vallejo report on the first witness in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial.

Larry Visoski saw many things from the cockpit of the “Lolita Express”.

For nearly 30 years, the personal pilot of Jeffrey Epstein flew the global elite to the convicted paedophile’s palatial mansions and estates from New York to Paris to a tiny island in the Caribbean.

There was bipartisan participation from both Democratic and Republican power brokers, with Bill Clinton and Donald Trump among the passengers, according to Mr Visoski’s testimony in Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial on Tuesday.

Prince Andrew was there, Mr Visoski said, as were actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker. He remembered violinist Itzhak Perlman, too. Astronaut John Glenn was named, as was former Senate majority leader George Mitchell.

Apart from those “pretty important people”, Mr Visoski told the Federal District Court in Manhattan he would sometimes be introduced to other types of guests as they boarded the plane.

One was an aspiring singer Epstein took to the cockpit, who Mr Visoski recalled as “a mature woman, with piercing, powder blue eyes”.

The prosecution identified her only as “Jane”, and showed the jury the birth certificate of the girl they described as a 14-year-old who met Epstein and Ms Maxwell at a camp.

Mr Visoski also recalled Virginia Giuffre in the 1990s, describing her as a shorter woman with dirty blonde hair who “didn’t look young”.

Ms Giuffre has brought a civil lawsuit against Prince Andrew in a separate case alleging sexual assault; claims that the Duke strenuously denies and is battling in court.

All the while, Ms Maxwell was along for the ride. It was not unusual to see her in the cockpit travelling with Epstein from one place to the next, the pilot said.

But one very specific thing Mr Visoski maintains he never saw, however, is sexual activity of any kind. He added that he “certainly did not” see any sex acts with underage girls.

Ms Maxwell, 59, is accused of grooming four underage girls between 1994 and 2004 and trafficking them between Epstein’s properties. She has denied the allegations.

As her trial began, the court heard that Ms Maxwell ran Epstein’s residences like “boutique hotels”. There’s was the mansion in Palm Beach and a ranch in New Mexico. In Manhattan, it was a townhouse and in Paris, an apartment.

Mr Visoski testified he flew Epstein between them roughly once every four days. About every 10 days, meanwhile, he made the flight to the Caribbean to Epstein’s sprawling estate on Little Saint James in the US Virgin Islands.

“It was a regular destination,” Mr Visoski told the court.

Prosecutors used Mr Visoski’s testimony to describe the multiple residences and aircraft of Mr Epstein, including helicopters and the private jets that became known as the “Lolita Express”.

When he first began working for Mr Epstein in 1991, the plane was a Gulfstream with leather chairs and burgundy carpet. It had four large captain’s chairs in baseball glove leather colour, a conference table with two seats, a kitchen and bathroom.

Epstein upgraded a decade later in 2001 to a larger Boeing 727 with multiple areas and the “round room” outfitted with a doughnut-shaped couch. The entrance included a large living room with couches and captain’s chairs which led to a fully equipped kitchen. Next was the Red Room, with stark red walls and couches, which was Epstein’s office. Then there was a master bedroom with queen-size bed and two captain’s chairs, and finally the master lavatory.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/ghislaine-maxwell-trial-pilot-epstein-b1967125.html

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For a time, Epstein kept both planes. Mr Visoski said he would fly the Boeing into the larger Caribbean Island of St Thomas, where Mr Visoski would then pick up Epstein’s private helicopter and transfer guests to Little Saint James.

The island featured a boat dock, helipad, and a library building. Epstein would spend most of his time in a cabana beside an enormous outdoor pool, called the Flagpole Pool, where he had an office, Mr Visoski said.

Mr Visoski described the main residence built on top of a hill at the south end of the island as “an exploded house” – every room was built out from the central courtyard, and was its own separate bungalow. Going from the kitchen to the bedroom would involve a short outdoor walk. The residence had a second large outdoor swimming pool.

The jury was also shown photos of Epstein’s Paris apartment, Palm Beach residence and Manhattan townhouse.

Mr Visoski would take Epstein and his guests to his Zorro ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico, about five times a year, he said. The 10,000-acre property had a runway, a fire station, a stable with 10 to 15 horses, as well as a lodge and luxurious mobile home.

After Epstein bought the ranch in 1994, he built a palatial main residence – a multi-storey mansion constructed around an internal courtyard. He also fitted out each of the properties with hi-tech audio equipment and home movie theatres.

Mr Visoski’s decades of service were rewarded generously, the court heard. Epstein reportedly gave his pilot 40 acres of land in New Mexico on which to build a house. He also paid for his two daughters to go to college.

In almost 30 years, Mr Visoski said he never once saw Epstein or Ms Maxwell behave inappropriately. He even let his own two daughters ride with Ms Maxwell, who he said seemed like a nice person.

Mr Visoski said he couldn’t see everything happening on the plane while flying as the cockpit door was always closed. But he said that was never at the direction of Epstein, who allowed him to walk to the back of the plane if he needed to use the bathroom.

As Mr Visoski delivered his testimony to the court, the Federal Aviation Administration accidentally revealed data on 704 previously unknown flights on Epstein’s private jets.

The internal FAA flight records of Epstein’s private jets were accidentally provided to Insider, filling in a gap in the public record between 2013 to 2016.

While not naming the passengers, the records showed Epstein’s jets travelled mostly between his primary residence in New York and Palm Beach. Apart from his other estates in Paris, New Mexico and the Virgin Islands, the jets flew to other locations like Cabo and Marrakech.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/ghislaine-maxwell-trial-pilot-epstein-b1967125.html

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Where was Jeffrey Epstein’s island and what exactly was it?

Accusers say billionaire’s private paradise of Little St James in US Virgin Islands was centre of international sex trafficking ring

1 hour ago

The guests came from across the world, and from the highest ranks of society: celebrities and scientists and members of royal families, touching down in a private jet and then boarding a helicopter to the island. Its owner liked to call it "Little St Jeff"; locals called it "paedophile island".

But what is the truth about Little St James, the 75-acre private paradise in the US Virgin Islands that billionaire sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein once called home?

The island is now at the centre of a web of lawsuits and criminal investigations seeking to untangle the life of Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 at the age of 66 in what authorities claimed was a suicide.

A criminal complaint from the attorney general of the US Virgin Islands, which is attempting to seize Little St James as government property, described it "the perfect hideaway and haven for trafficking young women and underage girls for sexual servitude, child abuse and sexual assault".

On this island, the compaint says, "Epstein and his associates could avoid detection of their illegal activity from Virgin Islands and federal law enforcement, and prevent these young women and underage girls from leaving freely and escaping the abuse."

Here is everything we know about Little St James and what Epstein did there:

Where is Jeffrey Epstein’s island and what is it like?

Little St James is a small island fringed by coral reefs in the bright blue waters of the US Virgin Islands, with sheltered inlets and forested groves rising to dramatic windswept ridges and craggy cliffs. It lies just off the south-eastern tip of St Thomas, one of the Caribbean archipelago’s three main islands.

The Virgins were purchased from Denmark by the US government at the height of the First World War in order to stop them being used as a German submarine base. Today many financial experts regard them as a tax haven, with huge discounts on corporation tax and personal income tax available to companies based there.

It was in the Virgins that Epstein registered as a sex offender in 2010, following his first conviction for child prostitution in 2008. He also based his shell companies in a small unmarked office in a seaside strip mall on St Thomas, alongside a Sam’s Mini-mart and a salon called Happy Nails.

In 1998, he bought Little St James from venture capitalist Arch Cummin via a shell company, reportedly paying just under $8 million (£6 million). The new owner quickly scoured away all the native vegetation and replaced it with 40-foot palm trees.

Starting in 2007, Epstein began a massive programme of building and remodelling that drew suspicion from local officials. His main compound nearly doubled in size, sprouting into a plush mansion with an outside terrace connecting the master bedroom and the swimming pool, along with a desalination system.

Satellite photos show a sprawling network of terraces, cottages, beach houses, swimming pools, docks, utility buildings, a helipad, a tennis court, slipways, some kind of enclosed lake or lagoon, and various huts of unknown purpose, all connected by palm-lined roads where golf buggies ferried guests from place to place (a journey across the island reportedly took about five minutes).

Stunning drone footage posted on YouTube offers a closer look, with a huge sundial at the centre of the island big enough to walk around on and two tall American flags posted at opposite ends of the island.

At the other end from Epstein’s manor is a squat, boxy blue and white striped structure often referred to as a "temple", surrounded by a terrace with a red labyrinth motif. It previously had a golden dome and two gold statues on its roof, which were reportedly torn off in Hurricane Maria.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/jeffrey-epstein-island-little-st-james-b1967815.html

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QAnon adherents descend on Ghislaine Maxwell trial, upset Trump's name came up in testimony

by Barnini Chakraborty, Senior Investigations Reporter |

| December 01, 2021 11:14 AM

QAnon followers rushed to former President Donald Trump's defense after Jeffrey Epstein's longtime pilot named him and several other prominent VIPs as passengers on the "Lolita Express" private plane during testimony Tuesday at Ghislaine Maxwell's criminal sex trafficking trial.

Maxwell is accused of recruiting and grooming young girls who were then sexually abused by Epstein and his friends for decades. She has denied all the charges and says she's being punished for Epstein's crimes.

While pilot Lawrence Paul Visoski Jr. testified he flew Trump as well as former President Bill Clinton , Bill Gates, and Prince Andrew on Epstein's private Boeing jet, he did not implicate the men in Epstein's alleged dirty deeds.

That did not seem to matter to faithful QAnon followers, who went online to defend Trump after Visoski name-dropped him under oath.

EPSTEIN'S 'LOLITA EXPRESS' PILOT TELLS COURT BILL CLINTON AND DONALD TRUMP BOTH FLEW ON BOARD

The group has closely watched the developments in the case, claiming it provides proof that Maxwell not only aided and abetted Epstein but also that their involvement lends credibility to the conspiracy theory that there is a Satanic pedophile cabal made up of powerful Democrats, celebrities, and business owners.

The problem is that Trump is central to the QAnon narrative that believes he will expose the group of pedophiles to the world, leading to their arrest and ultimate execution.

Having Trump called out in court as someone who has flown on the "Lolita Express" and has ties and pictures with Epstein caused members of the radical group to air their disdain on Telegram, an online encrypted messaging platform.

One user identified by Newsweek as Qtah wrote: "If you're paying attention to the media, right now they are attempting to turn the trial of Ghiaslaine Maxwell into the trial of President Trump. These moves always backfire on them." Qtah, who has more than 128,430 subscribers, added that there was no evidence Trump flew on the plane.

BrunoBarks, another user waxing poetic, posted: "So, the pilot in the Ghislaine Maxwell case has fingered Trump as being a passenger on Epstein's Lolita Express. 'Trump lied and is guilty,' leftist Twitter is gleefully exclaiming. They jump the shark. Again. I challenge you to find anywhere where Trump directly denies flying with Epstein. Instead? We can find a quote from Trump irritated at Epstein who is going to fly on the Trump plane. All this does is to get more leftists' eyes on the trial and they will soon see who is really guilty. Remember that in any string operation, one must need [to get] close to the target scumbag being set up."

'QANON SHAMAN' SENTENCED TO 41 MONTHS IN PRISON FOR ROLE IN JAN. 6 RIOT

Many QAnon followers said they believed there was a rational explanation for why Trump would fly with Epstein and then went on to question Visoski's testimony, according to Newsweek.

One of Maxwell's and Epstein's alleged victims, "Jane," took the stand again Wednesday morning.

Jane claimed she was only 14 when Maxwell and Epstein preyed upon her vulnerabilities that led to years of sexual abuse.

She is one of four victims expected to testify in the six-week trial.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

If Maxwell is found guilty of the six criminal charges against her, she could spend 80 years in prison.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/crime/qanon-adherents-descend-on-ghislaine-maxwell-trial-upset-trumps-name-came-up-in-testimony

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Prosecution’s key witness ‘Jane’ describes years of abuse at hands of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell

Jeffrey Epstein engaged in sadomasochistic sexual abuse with a 14-year-old girl who had been left grief-stricken and living in poverty after the death of her father, and Ghislaine Maxwell was often “in the room” when it took place, a jury heard on Tuesday.

The prosecution’s key witness, a successful 41-year-old actor with more than 20 years experience in television, movies and Broadway shows, began her testimony on the second day of Ms Maxwell’s trial for sex trafficking and underage sex abuse in the Manhattan federal courthouse.

It marked the first time that either Epstein’s or Ms Maxwell’s alleged sexual abuse of underage girls has been aired in open criminal court.

Under the pseudonym Jane, the actor described in detail how the sickening abuse continued for years in massage rooms and bedrooms in three of Epstein’s properties in Palm Beach, New York and Santa Fe.

Epstein and Ms Maxwell would sometimes be joined by other older women, Jane said, and he would set out explicitly which sexual acts he wanted her to perform.

Afterwards, Epstein and Ms Maxwell would act like nothing had happened, Jane said.

“It seemed very casual, like it was very normal, like it was no big deal,” she said. “It made me feel confused because that did not feel normal to me.”

The prosecution had earlier signalled that Jane would be their key witness, anchoring their opening arguments around the alleged abuses she suffered.

Jane took to the witness stand dressed in a wraparound grey sweater and black dress, and removed her mask after Judge Alison Nathan reminded court sketchers they were banned from drawing her likeness.

Throughout the harrowing testimony, Ms Maxwell was seemingly unmoved, occasionally scribbling notes and passing them to her attorneys.

On several occasions both sets of lawyers were called into Judge Nathan’s chambers after repeated objections to a line of questioning by the prosecutor Alison Moe. Jane and Ms Maxwell would be left in the courtroom, and seemed to avoid eye contact.

Under questioning from Ms Moe, Jane told how her father, a composer and conductor, had died suddenly of leukemia in 1993, and her mother had had to sell their home and the family moved into a pool house on a friend’s property in Palm Beach.

Jane was attending Interlochen music camp in Michigan for gifted children in 1994 when she first met Epstein and Ms Maxwell.

She and her friends struck up a conversation with Ms Maxwell, who approached them while walking her pet “Yorkie” dog. After her friends returned to class Epstein arrived and sat across a park bench from her and began asking her questions.

“He seemed very interested to know what I thought about the camp, what my favourite classes were.”

Jane said Epstein told her he was a major donor to the camp who gave out scholarships to gifted arts students. They seemed surprised to hear Jane was also from Palm Beach Florida, where Epstein owned a waterfront mansion, and asked for her mother’s phone number.

A few days later Jane’s mother told her she had received a call from this mystery benefactor. He arranged to send a chauffeur to collect them and bring them to his home for tea the next week.

Jane said she was impressed by the “giant house with giant gates”, and Epstein led them out to a back patio where a spread of pastries and tea was waiting.

“He was very inquisitive, what I was doing in school, what my interests were, what I wanted to do with my life.”

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Epstein told the 14-year-old he mentored young student artists, and she began going to his house alone about once a week.

They would chitchat, she said, hang out by the pool, go to movies and on shopping trips.

She said Ms Maxwell seemed “a little bit off and quirky”. “She would tease me at times, but she was nice.”

After a few visits Jane recalled Epstein thrusting cash in her hands, and offering to pay for her voice lessons.

On one shopping trip she recalls going to Victoria’s Secret, the lingerie company owned by Epstein’s mentor, billionaire Les Wexner, where he bought her white cotton briefs.

“There was a lot of bragging about how they were friends with everyone, and knew everyone.”

They would name drop about friends such as Donald Trump, Bill Cinton and 60 Minutes journalist Mike Wallace.

Jane said she found it “overwhelming and intimidating”.

Ms Maxwell asked if she had a boyfriend and once told her: “If you f them once you can f them again because they are grandfathered in.”

The first instance of sexual abuse happened when she was alone with Epstein at his Palm Beach residence, Jane said.

Epstein told her to follow him to a pool house and suddenly pulled his pants down, pulled her on top of him, and proceeded to masturbate.

“I was frozen and in fear, I had never seen a penis let alone something like this… I didn’t tell anyone. I was terrified and felt gross and ashamed.”

On another occasion, Ms Maxwell and Epstein led Jane into his master bedroom and “started to fondle each other casually, giggling about it”.

“He asked me to take my top off and there were hands everywhere,” she said.

As the abuse went on Epstein and Ms Maxwell would instruct Jane to “twist his nipples and rub his feet hard”.

“It seemed very casual, like it was very normal, like it was no big deal. It made me feel confused because that did not feel normal to me.”

Epstein would use sex toys and massage instruments on her, and show her how he liked to be pleasured, Jane testified.

She also described orgies involving Epstein, Ms Maxwell and other “older” women. They would begin by “Ghislaine or Jeffrey… (summoning) everyone to follow them to Jeffrey’s bedroom or massage room”, Jane testified.

She travelled by private jet and commercial plane to Epstein’s home in New York, where she was struck by the “creepy” artwork of naked women and mounted animal heads, she said.

While visiting Epstein’s Upper East Side townhouse, she said she was called into his room and told to “straddle his face and squeeze his nipples while he came”.

On another occasion she travelled to Epstein’s ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she was again summoned to his room.

“My heart sank into my stomach because I did not want to go see him,” she said.

Jane testified that she said nothing about the sexual abuse because she was ashamed and thought it was her fault.

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Her mother was “enamoured” by these affluent people who were taking an interest in her and told her that she should be grateful for the attention.

“I was afraid that I would be in trouble if I said something,” she says, adding that she didn’t tell her siblings either.

When the prosecutor, Ms Moe, asked how the abuse had affected her, she said: “How do you navigate a healthy relationship with a broken compass? I didn’t even understand what real love is supposed to look like.

“It ruined my self-esteem, ruined my self-worth. I didn’t know how men were supposed to treat me, and how I was supposed to reciploracte that.”

At age 17 she moved to New York City, and Epstein helped her family into an apartment and paid for her tuition at a private school.

When she got her first break as an actor, she said she sent a signed photograph to Epstein with the words: “You rock my world”. Looking back it was cringeworthy, she said, but added her mother had told her to send the picture.

She ceased contact with Epstein in 2002 after falling “madly in love”, and says he began leaving increasingly agitated phone messages for her.

As her acting career advanced Jane relocated to Los Angeles, and said she tried to put it all behind her, partly out of fear of repercussions in Hollywood.

“I have always wanted to put this past me and move on with my life. I’m proud that I have my own career and my own husband and children, and I work in the entertainment industry and victim-shaming is still very present this day,” she said.

“I just wanted it to go away.”

Under cross-examination from Laura Menninger, Jane said she had first reported the abuse to the FBI in 2019, a few months before Epstein’s death by suicide while awaiting trial for underage sexual abuse. She admitted she had attended the interview with two personal injury lawyers.

Ms Meninger asked her several times if she had reported Ms Maxwell’s alleged abuse to the FBI.

“I don’t know,” she replied.

Jane sued Epstein’s estate and Ms Maxwell, and dropped the civil cases after being awarded $5m from a fund set up for his victims, eventually being paid $2.9m after legal costs.

Jane’s cross-examination continues on Wednesday.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/ghislaine-maxwell-trial-key-witness-epstein-abuse-b1967362.html