List of High and Mighty Who May Fall if Epstein's Associate Ghislaine Maxwell
The arrest and mysterious death of financier as well as
convicted paedophile and sex trafficker Jeffery Epstein made a lot of noise in
the media, as he was well connected with prominent personalities around the
world who have everything to lose should they be found to have used his
services.
US prosecutors are going to great lengths to see British
socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who has been accused of helping financier Jeffery
Epstein groom underage girls for sex trafficking, face trial and possibly
testify regarding the clients of Epstein's network. She has been placed under
special observation at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in New York and
stripped of means to commit suicide, with prosecutors demanding that her
request for $5 million bail be declined.
Investigators believe that the notorious financier had video
recordings of his clients' visits that were shot using hidden cameras, as well
as records in a personal notebook that might help implicate them in having sex
with and abusing girls as young as 14. But this evidence has never been
located, while Maxwell, who is believed to have been Epstein's key accomplice,
could be the last person to know where it is following the death of the
financier. The potential names in the records could make major headlines.
The fact that the apparent suicide of Jeffery Epstein in
jail is surrounded by a multitude of speculations and conspiracy theories is
not accidental – the sex offender made quite a few acquaintances with famous
politicians, lawyers, pundits, and businessmen. Virtually all of them have now
come under suspicion of using the financier's sex trafficking services,
although in most cases without any solid proof.
One of the most famous names on the list of people who might
have, according to proponents of the theories, wanted Epstein to remain quiet
is incumbent US President Donald Trump. POTUS repeatedly visited many of
Epstein's estates and was a passenger on his private plane, dubbed the
"Lolita Express".
"I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy. He’s
a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much
as I do, and many of them are on the younger side", Trump said of him back
in a 2002 interview, long before Epstein was first convicted of procuring an
underage girl for prostitution and subsequently serving an 18-month sentence.
Despite Trump's ambiguous characterisation of the financier,
one of the key witnesses in the case against Epstein and Maxwell, who is also
an alleged victim of their abuse, Virginia Giuffre, said that Trump never took
part in the "orgies" that Epstein organised and did not engage
sexually with any of the financier's girls.
The list of Epstein's powerful friends doesn't end with
Trump, however. The Duke of York, Prince Andrew, has been attempting for over a
year to distance himself from the financier after one of his alleged victims,
Virginia Roberts, said the member of the British royal family had used
Epstein's services. Prince Andrew often visited the sex trafficker's private
island (also known as "Paedophile Island"), according to the accounts
of alleged victims, but was not alone in doing so – former US President Bill
Clinton and renowned American lawyer Alan Dershowitz were also purportedly
frequent guests.
Prominent American hedge fund manager Glenn Dubin also came
under suspicion after Virginia Giuffre indicated that he was the man she was
assigned to "service" by Epstein, while Dubin's wife defended the
financier following his first sex offence charges. A former head of Harvard
University and adviser to Barack Obama, Lawrence Summers, is also mentioned as having
been a brief guest on board the "Lolita Express" and was reportedly
behind the idea of naming a math programme, financed by Epstein, after the
financier.
Many people who knew Epstein well or even called him a
"friend" in the past have also fallen under suspicion of using the
financier's sex trafficking services, despite a lack of evidence in support of
such notions. Nonetheless, knowing the financier was enough, for example, to
bury all prospects for Israel Democratic Party leader Ehud Barak’s bid to
become Israeli prime minister. Photos of him leaving one of Epstein's houses
quickly hijacked the discourse around his 2019 campaign, despite Barak denying
having used the sex trafficker's services.
The possibility of landing in hot water for merely being
acquainted with the financier prompted many of those who knew or met him to
publicly denounce being friends with him or even visiting his parties. Namely,
former US Democratic Senator George Mitchell and former Governor of New Mexico
Bill Richardson both denied allegations made by Giuffre that they had attended
Epstein's parties, which had underage girls present, or even having met their
accuser. Leslie Wexner, the founder and chairman of L Brands - which owns
famous labels such as Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works, denounced
his friendship with Epstein, accusing the latter of misappropriating vast sums
of money during his work as a financial adviser. However, he did not address
accusations made against him of trafficking underage girls allegedly provided
by Epstein.
After Maxwell's Arrest Prince Andrew's Only Option is to
Cooperate With US Prosecutors, Scholars Say
For now, the future of the array of allegations against many
of Epstein's "friends" depends heavily on what Ghislaine Maxwell will
and will not reveal to US authorities. As many of the existing accusations are
mostly based on the accounts of alleged victims and have no solid evidence to
substantiate them, the potential cases against Epstein's acquaintances and
their prospects remain in question.
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