After losing her effort to keep her documents sealed, Ghislaine Maxwell's financial records, including suspected links to the Clinton Foundation, are due to be revealed. Maxwell argued that disclosing the material would jeopardize her future criminal trial and make her a tabloid target; but a New York judge ruled against her on Thursday.
The records were initially submitted in conjunction with the case against Maxwell on behalf of claimed Jeffrey Epstein victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre. The defamation case was resolved in 2015, but Giuffre's attorneys have been fighting for years to get access to papers that might contain claims against other members of Epstein's exclusive social circle.
Dozens of Ghislaine Maxwell's documents will be revealed
Giuffre's legal team sought Maxwell's tax returns, balance sheets, and financial documents for companies she controlled. Maxwell's lawyers sought in the civil trial to limit any disclosure of her finances to just her net worth, saying the "scope of requests are overly broad and intended to harass and embarrass Maxwell," as per Daily Mail.
Judge Preska said she was not persuaded by Ghislaine Maxwell's claim that continued unsealing of these documents implicates her right to a fair trial in her ongoing criminal prosecution, which is set to begin in November, at a hearing in federal court in New York. A petition for a protective order filed by Maxwell's attorneys to restrict the information about her finances they had to send up will be among the documents that were made public.
Giuffre's attorneys wanted this information so they might be better prepared if the lawsuit was settled, which it was. Maxwell's tax returns, balance sheets for firms she owned, and financial statements for companies she managed were among the documents requested by Giuffre's attorneys.
While it is unknown whether the Clintons will be included in the records that will be made public, there has been a lot of back and forth; and dozens of documents will be released on this issue. When the financier was arrested in July 2019, Bill Clinton's ties with Epstein and Maxwell came under heavy investigation.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Maxwell was facing criminal charges for allegedly recruiting young girls for Epstein to abuse. She was ordered to be held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn until her trial. She has pleaded not guilty and has filed five appeals to be freed from jail pending trial; all of which have been denied, as per NY Post.
Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyer hopes to have the same judgment as Bill Cosby
Meanwhile, according to her lawyer, the lawsuit against British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell should be dismissed; and she should be released on the same grounds as Bill Cosby, which arises from a sweetheart deal struck with Epstein more than a decade ago.
David Oscar Markus, Maxwell's appellate lawyer, was alluding to a 2007 plea agreement Epstein struck with federal prosecutors in which they agreed not to prosecute his co-conspirators. Prosecutors claim that because the agreement was reached in Florida it does not apply to Maxwell.
Bill Cosby was freed from jail on Wednesday when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed his sexual assault conviction, ruling that the prosecutor who filed the case was bound by his predecessor's agreement not to charge him. In New York, Maxwell is facing federal charges while Cosby was found guilty on state charges.
In 2005, Bruce Castor, the Montgomery district attorney said that Cosby would not be charged because of a lack of evidence. In a 79-page ruling, the court found that District Attorney Kevin Steele, the prosecutor who initiated the case against Cosby, violated an agreement he had with Castor, although the arrangement had seemingly never been written down.
Related Article: Ghislaine Maxwell's Lawyers Laid Complaints Over Treatment in Jail, Days After Court Denies Bail Request
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