On Friday, the defense rested its case in the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, when the confidante and former girlfriend of deceased sex offender and millionaire Jeffrey Epstein declined to testify in her defense.
Maxwell told Judge Alison Nathan on Friday, "Your honor, the government has not established its case beyond a reasonable doubt, and thus I am not required to testify." The judge had inquired whether the defendant was aware of her rights.
Ghislaine Maxwell, 59, entered a not guilty plea to six federal charges, including sex trafficking of minors, persuading a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conveying a kid with the intent to participate in criminal sexual activity, and three counts of conspiracy. Maxwell was accused of "assisting, facilitating, and contributing" to Epstein's abuse of minors between 1994 and 1997, despite knowing that at least one girl was just 14 years old.
Maxwell's attorneys utilized days 11 and 12 of the trial to call witnesses in her defense. Eva Andersson-Dubin, a former model and doctor, married to hedge fund investor Glenn Dubin, testified before jurors that she dated Jeffrey Epstein between 1983 and 1990 or 1991 and never witnessed him engage in inappropriate behavior with teenage girls.
According to the defense, another witness identified "Kelly" as unable to be traced and had failed to reply to subpoenas. Judge Nathan began the hearings on Thursday by dismissing the defense's last-minute plea to allow three of their witnesses to speak anonymously.
Judge Nathan responded to the defense in a written opinion, describing the motion as unprecedented in legal history. Defense attorneys argued that their witnesses should have the same level of anonymity as three prosecution witnesses who accused Maxwell and Epstein of sexually abusing them as minors.
To disguise their identities, the women were permitted to use the pseudonyms "Jane" and "Kate" and the first name solely "Carolyn." According to Judge Nathan, the court was bound to defend their privacy and dignity.
The court explained her protection of the prosecution witnesses by noting, "If alleged victims of abuse are subjected to publicity, harassment, and embarrassment, other alleged victims of sex crimes may be discouraged from reporting abuse."
Judge Nathan stated that none of the defense witnesses intended to testify about sensitive personal matters or sexual activity and that refusing their request for anonymity would not affect other victims of sexual abuse reporting.
In response to the defendant's claim that denying the request jeopardized his right to a fair trial because some witnesses would be reluctant to testify, the judge stated that Maxwell's team should have anticipated these concerns and could have used subpoenas to compel testimony rather than filing their motion two days after the prosecution rested its case.
The conflict over the anonymity of defense witnesses was one manifestation of the defendant's case's extreme weakness following testimony by prosecution witnesses over the previous two weeks, including four women who testified they were sexually abused in the 1990s by Epstein with the assistance of Maxwell.
It is noteworthy that, in comparison to the #MeToo campaign and corporate media coverage of the prosecution of figures such as Harvey Weinstein—who was sentenced to 23 years in prison following a trail marked by a "mountain of doubt"—the trial of Maxwell has received a cursory mention and has been primarily buried in major news outlets such as the New York Times.
Despite widespread outrage about sexual assault against women, as previously documented on the World Socialist Web Site, #MeToo's unfounded and sensationalized allegations of sexual misbehavior have been abruptly shut down by July 2020.
The WSWS explained at the time that the Democrats' urgent electoral concerns may easily have contributed to their silence. "The allegations of sexual misbehavior levied against Joe Biden, the presumed Democratic Party presidential nominee, by former staffer Tara Reade in March were met with skepticism by the Times and the news media in general (except for its openly pro-Trump wing). Without a doubt, the #MeToo campaign and its tagline 'believe women' cut across the plans and policies of the Times, the New Yorker, Time, and the segments of the American governing elite to which they speak."
In this case, no word from #MeToo about Ghislaine Maxwell had been heard since her arrest more than 18 months ago, until the movement's Chief Vision Officer Tarana Burke and Chief Executive Officer Dani Ayers issued a joint press statement on December 1 expressing support for the Epstein accusers who had already begun testifying two days earlier.
While the #MeToo officers write about "survivors courageously sharing their stories in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial" and how "abusers will use their power and influence to attempt to discredit survivors and minimize the harm they caused," the names of Jeffrey Epstein and the entourage of wealthy and powerful individuals who assisted him in sexually abusing teenage girls are omitted entirely.
Julie K. Brown, an investigative journalist with the Miami Herald, has published a new book, Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story. She recounts crucial information concerning the events leading up to Maxwell's arrest and indictment in July 2020. The information provided in the Epilogue sheds light on the politics at work behind the scenes in what is without a doubt an attempt to conceal the ultra-wealthy governing elite's degeneracy and wickedness both within the United States and throughout the world.
"In the days preceding Maxwell's arrest, I had been closely following another dramatic story—the ouster of Geoffrey Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York," Brown writes. Berman, the prosecutor who oversaw Epstein's arrest in July 2019, was "hurriedly sacked by President Trump. His removal precipitated a public spat between Berman and Attorney General William Barr, who had previously announced Berman's resignation."
Brown asserts that Berman refused to leave and implied that Trump attempted to "delay or disrupt investigations in the SDNY's office in a clandestine manner." "While Berman never mentioned the Epstein-Maxwell case," she continues, "it's telling that Maxwell's arrest occurred so soon after Berman was fired." This chain of events sparked speculation about whether Trump and Barr wanted to appoint prosecutors who were "more politically friendly, not only to Trump, but also to others in his orbit, such as Maxwell, who were under investigation for criminal activity."
Two weeks later, during a White House news conference, Trump was questioned about Maxwell's detention and imprisonment in solitary confinement following her bond request being denied. "I just wish her the best," Trump stated, echoing the sentiments of many in the governing class with ties to Jeffrey Epstein. I've met her countless times throughout the years, mainly while I lived in Palm Beach, and I'm assuming they did as well. However, I wish her the best in any endeavor she undertakes."
Closing statements in the Southern District of New York trial are slated to begin Monday. Judge Nathan has indicated that she intends to allow the jury two days to deliberate before the start of the Christmas holiday on Thursday.
