Former United States President Donald Trump has become embroiled in the case of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein after a Ghislaine Maxwell accuser testified that the suspect introduced her to the Republican businessman when she was only 14 years old.
The woman, who was only identified by the pseudonym Jane, said during her testimony that in the 1990s when she was still 14 years old, she was taken to meet Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Jane did not accuse the former President of improper behavior when she met him and did not provide additional details about the incident.
Trump's Involvement With Epstein
Maxwell's defense attorney, Laura Menninger, asked Jane if Epstein introduced her to former President Trump, with the alleged accuser answering with a simple "Yes." Jane also acknowledged that she took part in a Miss Teen USA beauty pageant in 1998, an event that was associated with Trump. It remained unclear whether the event took place before or after Jane's meeting with the Republican, NBC News reported.
Another accuser, Virginia Giuffre, who is not part of the trial against Maxwell, filed a civil lawsuit accusing the girlfriend of the disgraced financier of introducing her to Prince Andrew when she was 17 years old. However, the royal family member has denied the allegations and said he had no recollection of meeting Giuffre.
With Menninger's continued questions for Jane, the witness recalled that she was once onboard one of Epstein's private plane flights along with Prince Andrew. The statement comes after Larry Visoski, the disgraced financier's long-time pilot, testified that he remembered meeting Jane on one of the flights he flew but said he did not know she was a minor at the time.
The case against Prince Andrew come from Giuffre who alleged that the royal family member was among those who sexually assaulted her when she was still a minor. She said that the first of three incidents was in 2001 in London. Giuffre said in a 2019 interview that Maxwell was responsible for introducing her to Prince Andrew, BBC reported.
Maxwell's Criminal Charges
Maxwell is on criminal trial for six federal charges, including sex trafficking of minors, in what prosecutors say was a massive scheme to trap underage girls for the disgraced financier's sex trafficking ring. The trial has already highlighted Epstein's connections to various high-profile figures, including Trump, Bill Clinton, and Prince Andrew.
The disgraced financier and his girlfriend were part of similar social orbits as Trump, with both Epstein and the Republican having residences in Palm Beach, Florida, and New York. The two men have also been photographed together before, at times with Trump's previous girlfriend, Melania Knauss, throughout the 1990s and the 2000s.
In an interview in 2002, Trump said that he has known Epstein for 15 years and considered him as a "terrific guy." Additionally, the Republican businessman said that the disgraced financier had a reputation for young women.
When asked about Maxwell's charges last year, Trump said that he wished her "well" and recently told reporters that he had decided to ban Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago estate. However, the former president did not reveal what led to the end of their friendship, CNN reported.
Related Article:
