Talk About Tennis 2.0

Lisa Bloom lists some things that I may have missed during this week. Interesting point of view from her.

@Lisa Bloom via @threadreaderapp

My top ten disturbing, outrageous moments from the Ghislaine Maxwell trial this week:

10. There were pictures of topless girls, taken by amateur photographer Ghislaine, adorning her desk.

(And throughout Epstein’s revolting homes.)
9. Defense gets likeable maintenance man to admit he sometimes, when instructed, scheduled massages, paid the girls, drove Ghislaine to find girls to give massages, then:

“Does that make you guilty of sex trafficking?”

Objection sustained, but the point was made.
8. Driver testifies employees were instructed never to look Epstein directly in the eyes.

(Because Epstein would melt?)
7. Driver testifies that in the beginning of his employment with Epstein (1994ish), Epstein would have a girl come to his Palm Beach house about once a day.

By the end, 2002, it was THREE times a day.

(I thought about my clients who were lured in for this, devastatingly.)
6. Driver testifies that after Epstein’s “massages” he’d clean up towels, a large dildo, multiple vibrators, porn tapes, a black vinyl costume.
5. Driver testifies that he took Ghislaine to Mar a Lago. She saw a young girl, told him to stop, jumped out and went to speak to her.

The girl was Virginia Roberts, her life forever changed from that chance meeting.
4. The defense in her opening statement calling Jeffrey Epstein a 21st century James Bond.


3. A defense attorney today being warned by the judge not to use Jane’s real name.

Then he immediately blurted out Jane’s real name.
2. Victim “Jane” testifying about the time that Jeffrey Epstein took her to Mar a Lago and introduced her to Donald Trump.

She was underage at the time.
And what I found to be the most chilling moment in the entire week of the Ghislaine Maxwell trial I observed:

1. “Jane” to her boyfriend years ago about all of the money that Epstein paid for her acting classes:

“The money wasn’t (expletive) free, Matt.”

I would really hate to be a juror on this case.

I also don't understand the focus on Mr. Alessi's theft. Is what he testified to invalidated by his admitted theft and repayment? Are they trying to say, as I was told when I was growing up "a liar will steal"? Right now it looks like it's okay to molest young women as long as you don't steal. Sheesh.

ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 10:09 pm I would really hate to be a juror on this case.

I also don't understand the focus on Mr. Alessi's theft. Is what he testified to invalidated by his admitted theft and repayment? Are they trying to say, as I was told when I was growing up "a liar will steal"? Right now it looks like it's okay to molest young women as long as you don't steal. Sheesh.

I think it's that he was lying about how many times he had stolen, to show he's not trustworthy.

I didn't know there were inflatable massage tables, so that's something...

From @KlasfeldReports via @threadreaderapp

Pretrial proceedings are about to begin.

U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan is on the bench.
The judge says the next anticipated witness is "Kate," who is one of the witnesses against Maxwell. The defense says that she was over the age of consent, and there are arguments as to the scope of her testimony.
Judge Nathan said she will tell the jury: "I instruct you that the witness is not a victim of the crimes charged in the indictment."

(So, though 'Kate' was one of four accusers, I am referring her to a witness here.)
Judge Nathan orders redacting the photographs on the wall of Epstein's massage room. She will also exclude photographs of vibrators of various sizes, which she says have "little if any relevance" and could "confuse" the jury.
The schoolgirl outfits may be able to come in if the witness connects them to the permissible time frame of the indictment.
(Explainer as to some of the admissibility questions: The search of Epstein's Palm Beach house was in 2005, after the time period of the indictment.

The allegations of the indictment end in 2004.

Maxwell's defense team has made admissibility arguments on that basis.)
As to the vibrators ruling, the juror was allowed to see similar pieces of evidence.

(...)

The jury enters.

Judge Nathan informs them that the parties agreed to stipulate to the remaining testimony of Sgt. Dawson, the final witness from last week.
Judge Nathan instructs the jury that "Kate" is not a victim of the crimes charged in the indictment, and the government has been instructed not to testify about the details of any sexual contact with Epstein.
Direct examination begins:

Q: "Kate," do you recognize that?
A: Yes.

Asked what it is, she replies: "It's my driver's license."

Submitted under seal and shown to the jury.
"Kate": "I had been dating a man, and we had taken a trip to Paris."

She says she met Maxwell there. She says she was approximately 17 years old.

"We spoke about the evening and where we were headed to, out for the evening. We spoke about where I lived."
"Kate" says Maxwell invited her to tea at her house.

"She seemed very exciting. She seemed to be everything I wanted to be," she says.
"Kate" recalls photographs of a slightly older man with "peppered hair," "greying hair."

It was Jeffrey Epstein, she says.
Kate: "I had a really lovely time, and I felt special. And I felt..."

(Deep exhale)

"—that I found a new connection that could be very meaningful for me."
Kate: "I left there feeling exhilarated," like someone wanted to be her friend.
Kate quoting Maxwell and Epstein: "She said that he was a philanthropist and that he liked to help young people."
"Kate": "She said that I was exactly the kind of person that he would help."

She says she was 17 and that she was "lonely" and "hadn't found a group of friends yet."

Q: Did there come a time when you met Epstein?
A: Yes.
Kate on her memory of meeting Epstein: "He seemed to be in his 40s."
Kate on Maxwell's "She said 'This is the girl that I told you about'" and "that I was strangely strong for my size."

Asked what her size was, she responds she was about 95 lbs.

"She said, 'Why don't you give his feet a little squeeze to show him how strong you are?"
She says she did.
"Kate" says that Epstein's massage therapist canceled and Maxwell asked if she could fill in.

Q: Were you a massage therapist at the time?
A (faintly): No.
Maxwell's lawyer: "Objection. Sustained."

(Correcting herself)

"Objection. Leading."

Judge Nathan: I'll allow it.
Q: What was Epstein wearing under the robe?
A: He was naked.

She says that Maxwell gave her massage oil and then closed the door.

Q: During the massage, did Epstein initiate sexual contact with you?
A: Yes.

(Per court's ruling, she can't describe details.)
Kate recalls Maxwell asking her "How'd it go?" and "Did you have fun?"
Q: What was Epstein wearing?
A: He was naked.

Asked where Maxwell was, she replied she was in the doorway.

Then came another massage and sex act.
Q: What if anything did Maxwell say to you after the massage?

She says Maxwell told her "Did you have fun?" and "You're such a good girl."

Kate: "She sounded really pleased, and I was pleased that she was pleased."
Connecting to one of the evidentiary issues described during pre-trial proceedings:

Q: What were you given to wear?
A: I was given a schoolgirl outfit.

"Kate" describes it as a short pleated skirt, white socks, white panties and a shirt. This happened in Palm Beach, she says.
Q: Why did you put on the schoolgirl outfit?

A: I didn't know how to say no to that. I didn't know anybody in Florida. I had never been to Palm Beach or Florida before. I wasn't sure if I said no if I would have to leave or what consequence there would be for not doing it.
Q: Did Epstein engage in a sex act with you?

A (softly): Yes.

(Details of sexual contact are not being elicited pursuant to court order.)

"Kate": "She asked me if I had fun and told me I was such a good girl and told me I was one of his favorites."
"Kate" is being asked about going to Epstein's island, saying he called it "Little St. Jeff."

She was in her early 20s at the time, she said.
"Kate" on her recollections of the island: "I remember seeing a blonde slim girl, who seemed far younger than me at the time, very young."
"Kate" says she was addicted to cocaine, alcohol and sleeping pills.

(This is being elicited on direct examination, and Maxwell's defense attorney said in opening she "used drugs during the period of time" and "that it fogged
her memory.")
Asked whether her memories have changed, as the defense asserts, "Kate" denies it.

"The memories that I have of significant events of my life have never changed," she says.

She adds she may initially have "missed" certain memories that she later recalls.
She says "I asked to testify under a pseudonym because I have a child" and she doesn't want the child to be associated with her testimony.

This is from @KlasfeldReports Friday recap:

Matthew Russell Lee for/as http://InnerCityPress.com

Now Maxwell's lawyer Bobbi Sternheim cross examination of Witness Kate:
Sternheim: You had a beautiful mother, didn't you?
Kate: Yes.
Sternheim: And your step father was rich and you lived in the Belgravia section of London, didn't you?
Kate: Yes.
Sternheim: You were an international model?
Kate: I was a model.
Sternheim: You were dating an older, prominent gentleman who was an Oxford classmate of Ghislaine, correct?
Kate: Yes.
Sternheim: You were a model for a UK version of Victoria's Secret?
Kate: No. The company failed almost right way.
Sternheim: But you were a lingerie model?
Kate: Yes.
Sternheim: You were in a piano bar and were discovered by the musician Seal, right?
Kate: No.
Sternheim: But you said that. You acted in movies?
Kate: I did not have speaking roles.
Sternheim: You were in a movie with a very well known UK actor, correct?
Kate: Yes
Sternheim: You spoke publicly, in your own name, in this courthouse, right?
Kate: Yes.
Sternheim: You were invited by a judge in this courthouse, Judge Berman, to speak, and you spoke, right?
Kate: Yes.
Sternheim: And you've spoke with Virginia Robert Giuffre?
Kate: Yes.
Sternheim: You used drugs for 10 years, right?
Kate: Yes.
Sternheim: And you dated other men, right?
Kate: Yes, I dated men.
Sternheim: And you even married one of them?
Kate: Are you asking me if I've been married?
Sternheim: And you were with a prominent restauranteur?
Kate: I was with a man who owned 2 restaurants.
Sternheim: Didn't a tabloid encourage you to get a man connected to the royal family to buy cocaine?
Kate: Not exactly.
Sternheim: And that became a big tabloid spectacular, right?
Kate: I suppose.
Sternheim: When were you last in contact with Epstein?
Kate: 30s.
Sternheim: Give me a date.
Kate: I don't have a date.
Sternheim: How old are you?
Kate: 44.
Sternheim: Aren't you trying to get a victim's visa? Isn't this your name?
Kate: My visa application is base on extraordinary ability.
Sternheim: Which one?
Kate: Music teaching to treat trauma.
Sternheim: Any unlicensed music coach can get it?
Sternheim: Nothing further.
Judge Nathan: Re-direct?
AUSA: Let's take the lunch break.
Judge Nathan: OK.

Live tweeting will continue, watch this feed...

Any live tweeting will be from @innercitypress. @KlasfeldReports is not live tweeting the afternoon session.

OK, the jury is finally back in, for re-direct of still pseudonymous witness Kate, staring with her award from the Epstein victims' fund.
(nothing given so far on this re-direct)

Next US witness: Patrick McHugh of JP Morgan Chase: "I'm an officer of the firm. I can speak to who is authorize to access accounts and the like."
Assistant US Attorney names a slew of financial exhibits and calls them public exhibits. We'll see when we get access to them. Watch this feed.

Pending getting all these exhibits, the current one shows a wire transfer involving Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell for $7,400,000, JPM Chase and BONY Mellon.

Now JPM's McHugh is being asked about helicopter purchase. The exhibits as shown on the screens are blurry - will have to wait to get access to legible copies.
Maxwell's lawyer: This document doesn't show who approved it, right?
McHugh: Yes, the statement does not
Next witness is FBI's Ms. Kelly McGuire, Special Agent.
AUSA: What is this?
Agent McGuire: The front view of the resident [at 9 E. 71 Street]. When there was no response, we forced our way in.

From another live Tweeter

JOSH RUSSELL
@jruss_jruss

Maxwell defense says that some of Government exhibits of photographs found at Epstein's townhouse are .PSD files (from Photoshop, according to metadata) and can't be trusted to not have been altered.

Today 12/7 so far from @KlasfeldReports via @threadreaderapp

Good morning from New York.

Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyer said prosecutors plan to call "Jane's" brother "Brian" to back up her testimony. Defense claims that "Jane" contacted him after leaving the stand.

Menninger said that "Jane" told "Brian" that Maxwell's lawyer was an "expletive that rhymes with 'front.'"
Maxwell's defense wants to exclude "Brian's" testimony.

Judge Nathan expressed concerns about whether any coaching took place and is considering the request to exclude it.
The prosecutor says that "Brian" informed the govt about the convo with "Jane," whom 'Brian' insists did not go into details of her testimony.

"Jane" told him "he should know that the defense attorney is an 'expletive,'" "Brian" told the govt.
Judge Nathan:

"The first task is for the govt to fully inquire about what 'Brian' learned from 'Jane' or anyone else" about the conservation.
To be clear:

At issue here is less the "expletive that rhymes with 'front'" than the conversation that took place. Ghislaine Maxwell's counsel is arguing that it could violate the court's sequestration order shielding witnesses from each other's testimony.
The FBI witness who ended yesterday's proceedings has returned to the stand.

"All rise."

The jury is entering.
Questioning of the FBI witness has resumed:

She identifies multiple photographs of Maxwell and Epstein.
These photos are being identified as being from a CD the FBI agent reviewed from the Maxwell investigation.

Testimony ended yesterday with CDs being found during the 2019 raid on Epstein's NY townhouse, including inside his safe.





Various photographs are shown to the jury of the two of them embracing and images of Maxwell appearing to massage Epstein's foot.
On cross examination, the FBI witness (Kimberly Meder) agrees that thousands of images were recovered — though she says she doesn't know when asked if tens of thousands were.
Q: In one set, there were more than 20,000. Is that right?

(Long pause as the witness reviews records, doesn't see the number, is prompted where to look and eventually replies yes.)
Asked whether she doesn't know whether the photos were altered, the witness replies: "Correct."
This witness's testimony concludes.

The next witness, from the FBI's Computer Analysis Response Team (CART), introduces an email from "GMax" complaining about unsatisfactory housekeeping from John, apparently a clear reference to the prior witness Juan Alessi.

Dated May 25, 2001, "GMax" grouses in the missive: "I need to what if any list John is using and he needs to understand he is doing a truly awful job."

Among her complaints, she says the "massage creams etc in JE's bathroom were a mess."

Intriguing new file created by "GMax" on Oct. 14, 2002, entered into evidence. It reads:

"Jeffrey and Ghislaine have been together, a couple, for the last 11 years. They are, contrary to what many people think, rarely apart — I almost always see them together."

"Ghislaine is highly intelligent and great company with a ready smile and an infectious laugh who always puts one at ones [sic] ease," the file created by "GMax" continues.
On cross-examination, the defense is establishing that the documents were written on a desktop and could not be geolocated.
Side note: The witness is treating the wrong letter of Ghislaine as silent.

He's pronouncing it "Gis-ayne."
It's "Ghee-lehn."

We're at mid-morning recess.

Trial continues and a witness testifying under the first name Carolyn takes the stand.

An attorney clarifies she's testifying under her first name only, rather than a pseudonym.
Carolyn describes a relationship with someone named "Sean," whom she says she told she was 17. She says he learned she was 14 at her birthday party.

Through Sean, Carolyn says, she met Virginia.
She says she was introduced to give Epstein a massage and make money.

Q: About how old were you the first time you went to Jeffrey Epstein's house?
A: 14.
Carolyn describes meeting Maxwell for the first time.

"She had an accent and she had shoulder-length black hair."

Carolyn says she called her by her surname: Maxwell.

"Because I didn't exactly pronounce her first name correctly."

Maxwell took off her clothes, and Carolyn left on her bra and underwear, she testifies.

Carolyn:

After 45 minutes of massaging his back, Epstein turned over, and Epstein and Virginia started having sex.

She says she and Virginia were both paid. Carolyn got $300.
Carolyn says she went to Epstein's house more than 100 times, two to three times a week, between the ages of 14 and 18.

Her voice sounds faint and emotional throughout her testimony.
Explaining why she went, Carolyn says it's because she was young and "$300 was a lot of money."
Carolyn said that she usually saw Maxwell when she entered the kitchen.

"She would just let me know that Mr. Epstein would be back, that he was on a jog."
Carolyn says that she told Maxwell that her mother was an alcoholic and that she was molested.

"I remember telling her that I had been raped and molested by grandfather starting at the age of four."
When invited to go to the island, Carolyn says, she told Maxwell she was "too young" and "there was no way in hell" she'd be allowed to go there.
Q: Did she touch you?
A: Yes.

Q: Where?
A: On my breasts.
Carolyn says she brought three friends to Epstein's house.
Asked what she was doing with the money she made at Jeffrey Epstein's house, Carolyn breaks down into tears when saying: "Buying drugs."
Carolyn says she had a son (whose father's first name she says in court) on March 12, 2004.

She says she returned to Epstein's house after that because she needed the money.

She stopped going because she realized she became "too old."

Q: How old were you?
A: 18.
She says she was arrested for her drug use.

"I handed the officer the drugs."

Q: Why did you do that?
A: Because I was an idiot. (she laughs)

She agrees she was later arrested for possessing stolen property.
Carolyn says she went to therapy following those incidents.
She says she later worked for an escort service and became a stripper. She sometimes had sex with men for money, she said.

(This is still the government's direct examination, apparently anticipating what Maxwell's attorneys will ask.)
Cross examination is beginning.
The initial questions look into Carolyn's prior statements about Virginia Roberts.

Flashback from Maxwell's defense opening:

"Carolyn was introduced to Epstein not by Ghislaine, by a woman named Virginia Roberts."

Lunch break.

Cross-examination will resume after the recess.

Spelling correction:

The figure identified as "Sean" earlier in the thread should be "Shawn."
Cross-examination by Maxwell's lawyer Jeffrey Pagliuca resumes:

He questions Carolyn about FBI notes of her interview in August 2017.
Pagliuca says the FBI notes say that Carolyn described the woman as having an "unknown" accent.

The witness denies that, saying she told the FBI that the woman had an "accent."
As Pagliuca questions Carolyn about comparisons between her testimony today and what she told the government in earlier meeting, it'd be helpful to review this legal explainer from the time of "Jane's" testimony.

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1466 ... 76866.html

Matthew Russell Lee for/as http://InnerCityPress.com

OK - now in US v. #GhislaineMaxwell, her lawyer Pagliuca is cross-examining survivor Carolyn who testified Maxwell paid her $300 to have sex with Jeffrey Epstein. Inner City Press will live tweet, thread below....

Pagliuca: Look at the notes the FBI took during your interview, about a lady with short black hair and an "unknown" accent. They didn't cut you off, correct?
Carolyn: That was a bad day for me. I was not expecting the FBI to come to my home.
Pagliuca: You knew what a British accent was, but you said "an unknown accent," right?
Carolyn: The day that you're talking about --
Pagliuca: I'd ask the Court to make her answer.
Pagliuca: So for the 2d visit to Mr. Epstein's house, you sat in the kitchen and spoke with the chef, right?
Carolyn: I don't remember if it was the 2d visit or after.
Pagliuca: Show the witness what she said in 2007.
Carolyn: The FBI didn't ask me about Maxwell.
Pagliuca: Are you saying the FBI limited what you could say?
Carolyn: They didn't ask me about Maxwell.
Pagliuca: But you told the FBI about Sarah and the Incubus tickets from Epstein.
Carolyn: Yes.
Pagliuca: And you moved from Florida to Georgia.
Carolyn: Yes.
Pagliuca: I want to talk about the lawsuits you filed --
Carolyn: What does that have to do with me moving to Georgia?
After Pagliuca asks Carolyn again and again about FBI 302s and lawsuit paragraphs, Judge Nathan declared the afternoon break, having said she'll be addressing objection now out of the presence of the jury.

Judge Nathan: Let's pick up the first factual paragraph

Pagliuca: We argue the entire complaint is inconsistent, by omission. She mentions Sarah Kellen and not Ms. Maxwell.
AUSA Maurene Comey: This was a lawsuit against 2 defendants - there was no reason that 3d parties would be in.
Judge Nathan: I'm letting it in.

Slightly different reportage by Klasfeld here:

Adam Klasfeld
@KlasfeldReports
Jury is sent out of the courtroom for recess.

Pagliuca tells the judge he's trying to impeach the witness "by omission," pointing to paragraphs of Carolyn's civil complaint about Sarah Kellen.

He says the govt's trying to play down Kellen's alleged role and play up Maxwell's.

The civil complaint does the opposite, Pagliuca says.