A federal court has moved to unseal transcripts from Ghislaine Maxwell’s deposition from 2016, an extensively long document that may shed light on the sex-trafficking operation that catered to the rich and powerful, which she allegedly ran with Jeffrey Epstein.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit proclaimed the federal judge’s ruling from July, saying the lower court was right to reject “meritless arguments” from Maxwell, who is accused of procuring young girls for Epstein.
The mandate comes as a victory for Virginia Giuffre, one of the victims who publicly accused Maxwell, Epstein, and others of sexually abusing her as a minor.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska issued a new order saying that the parties involved should prepare for the unsealing of the transcript “as soon as is practicable.”
Maxwell has denied all allegations against her, but prosecutors say that she was involved with Epstein and that they both sexually abused dozens of underage girls. In July, she was charged with several counts related to sex trafficking of minors and perjury, she has pleaded not guilty in that case.
Giuffre has won the unsealing of many documents related to the now-settled defamation suit against Maxwell, which includes her account of how she got involved with Epstein and Maxwell’s orbit when she was a teenager working at Trumps Mar-a-Lago, Florida resort.
The only key document that has yet to be released is Maxwell’s deposition. Preska granted a stay to allow her legal team time to appeal.
The three-judge panel wrote in their order; in an attempt to keep the transcript unsealed, Maxwell argued that “her interests outweigh the public’s interests.”
One of the judges stated, “We have reviewed all of the arguments raised by Defendant-Appellant Maxwell on appeal and find them to be without merit.”
According to court documents, other details that have been kept a secret will be made public. In addition to Maxwell’s words, the deposition of a man identified as “John Doe 1” will be released, along with “all materials quoting those transcripts or disclosing information from those transcripts.”
“Minimal redactions” will be done to remove personally identifiable information, including names of people who aren’t parties in the lawsuit. Other details, such as the families of the non-parties and “descriptions of non-party conduct that would allow readers to discern the identity of a given nonparty,” will also be removed.
Preska wrote, “In order to hasten the unsealing process and to avoid any last-minute disputes, the Court advises the parties that the necessary redactions are intended to be as limited in scope as is workable.”
The appeals court also denied Maxwell’s request to consolidate the appeal over the defamation documents with other legal battles she is waging. And the court said that any other appeals in the complicated and long-running case should be made to the same appeals court.
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