Politics
Ghislaine Maxwell denied bail for a THIRD time as judge says alleged Epstein ‘madam’ still poses flight risk
GHISLAINE Maxwell has been denied bail for a third time as a judge said Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged “madam” still poses a flight risk.
A New York judge shut down the British socialite’s latest attempt to be let out of a Brooklyn prison until her trial, which is due to start this summer.
Maxwell is accused of recruiting underage girls for Jeffrey Epstein[/caption]
The British socialite has been denied bail for a third time[/caption]
Maxwell, 59, has denied charges that she recruited underage girls for disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself while in jail in 2019.
Manhattan federal court judge Alison Nathan said there was “no combination of conditions that can reasonably assure her appearance” if Maxwell were to be granted bail.
The socialite even offered to give up her British and French passports to get bail, but the judge still shut the attempt down.
Last week, Judge Nathan agreed with Maxwell’s lawyers that some details about her sex trafficking case should not be made public because they were too “sensational and impure.”
Maxwell’s brother recently said the conditions in the Brooklyn prison she’s staying at are ‘grotesque’[/caption]
“Those portions of the transcript, which were redacted in the civil matter, concern privacy interests and their disclosure would merely serve to cater to a ‘craving for that which is sensational and impure,’” the judge ruled on Thursday.
Her attempts at bail, however, continue to get denied. She was first denied in July and then again in December.
Maxwell has repeatedly denied her involvement in Epstein’s sex trafficking scheme.
Her legal team filed 12 motions in January requesting that the court dismiss all charges related to her alleged role in recruiting young girls for Epstein.
Epstein and Maxwell pose at a party at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago in the 1990s[/caption]
Maxwell has denied being involved with sex trafficking[/caption]
The socialite’s brother, Ian Maxwell, also recently spoke out advocating for her release due to the “grotesque” conditions at the prison she is in.
“Ghislaine has been in prison now for nearly 250 days and counting. She is in effective isolation in a cell that measures 6ft by 9ft and which includes a concrete bed and a toilet,” Ian told BBC Radio 4’s Today earlier this month.
“There is no natural light. She is under 24-hour, round-the-clock surveillance with ten cameras including one that moves and tracks her movements. That is her existence.
“The water that is provided through the prison is brown and the food that she’s given is very highly microwaved and basically inedible,” he continued.
“She is resolute, she’s strong in her spirit and undaunted, but obviously this is very, very wearing physically.”
Ian later added that he is worried about his sister’s “health and her ability to concentrate and to mount her defense.”
Maxwell was arrested by the FBI at a secluded $1million house in New Hampshire last July.
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She faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted in the criminal case, which covers alleged offenses from 1994 to 1997.
She is also charged with perjury in relation to a 2016 sworn testimony in which she denied trafficking alleged Epstein victim Virginia Roberts.
Roberts claims that she was forced to sleep with Prince Andrew of the British royal family – a claim he denies.
