Federal prosecutors suggested Friday that a federal grand jury investigation into the late Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and others accused in the sexual abuse of underage girls remains active, indicating more criminal charges could be on the way.
“As the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has stated publicly, the investigation into the conduct of the defendant in this case and other possible co-conspirators of Jeffrey Epstein remains active,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing. “The full scope and details of that investigation, however, have not been made public.”
The filing also noted how prosecutors obtained Maxwell’s 2016 deposition in a defamation lawsuit that her lawyers are fighting to keep from public view. Prosecutors used the material to charge the British socialite with perjury.
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Maxwell, 58, is also charged with recruiting three underage girls for the disgraced financier for sexual purposes and lying about it under oath. She is also accused of abusing minors herself. Earlier this month, her lawyers said they received “critical new information” from the criminal case against their client to block the release of the deposition.
Prosecutors said the release of information Maxwell wants to put forth could harm their ongoing investigation, the Miami Herald reported.
“It would be grossly inappropriate for defense counsel to be permitted to sift through the criminal case discovery and cherry-pick materials they may believe could provide some advantage in their efforts to defend against accusations of abuse by victim plaintiffs, delay court-ordered disclosure of previously sealed materials, or any other legal effort the defendant may be undertaking at any particular time,” the prosecutors wrote.
Maxwell’s lawyers have suggested that lawyers for Virginia Giuffre provided the deposition to prosecutors, which violates a protective order in the civil case, the Miami Herald reported. Prosecutors noted in the filing that it had asked two courts to allow the recipient of the material to turn it over.
One court declined to grant permission but the other did. Maxwell was not notified that authorities were seeking the material.
“That is how grand jury subpoenas and investigations frequently work,” prosecutors wrote. “Defense counsel’s overheated rhetoric notwithstanding, there is simply nothing nefarious about the government obtaining materials through grand jury subpoena process, let alone anything about the manner in which the government obtained these materials that warrant the relief requested.”
Ghislaine Maxwell is charged with procuring underage girls for Jeffrey Epstein and perjury.
(Getty)
The civil lawsuit against Maxwell was brought by Giuffre, who claims she was sexually abused by Epstein and Maxwell. The suit was settled in 2017 but the pair have engaged in a legal battle over whether the unsealed files should be made public.
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Giuffre claims Maxwell recruited her to have sex with Epstein and forced by him and Maxwell to have sex with Prince Andrew and other famous friends of the pair.
