Ghislaine Maxwell trial: Accused ‘bragged about links to Trump, Prince Andrew’
Ghislaine Maxwell allegedly boasted to a teenager who was given a schoolgirl outfit about her friendships with Donald Trump and Prince Andrew.
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Ghislaine Maxwell gave a teenage girl a schoolgirl outfit at Jeffrey Epstein’s Palm Beach, Florida, mansion and requested she serve him tea while wearing the costume, the woman said in court on Monday local time.
The witness, identified only as “Kate” to protect her child, said the pleated skirt, white socks and shirt were laid out for her on a bed when she arrived at the mansion with the duo in the early 1990s.
“I thought it would be fun for you to take Jeffrey his tea in this outfit,” Maxwell told her when she asked about it.
Maxwell then gave her a tray, which she took to Epstein, who then engaged in sex acts with her near his pool, she testified.
Under questioning from the prosecution, Kate alleged that she was 17 when she was introduced to Maxwell by a boyfriend on a trip to Paris.
“She was very sophisticated and very elegant,” Kate said of Maxwell during questioning by prosecutors. “She was very impressive.”
Kate said she gave Maxwell her phone number, and she was invited to tea a few weeks later at her home in London.
“I felt really special,” Kate said. “I felt that I had found a new connection that could be really meaningful to me. Like somebody wanted me, like somebody wanted to be my friend.”
Kate said she told Maxwell about her difficult home life. She lived in London with her mother, who was ill.
Maxwell, she said, “told me amazing things about her boyfriend,” that he was a philanthropist and “liked to help young people.”
“She said that he was going to love me,” she said.
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A few weeks later, Maxwell invited Kate to meet Epstein at her London home, she said.
Kate said she was asked by Maxwell to “give his feet a little squeeze” and rub his shoulders.
A few weeks later Kate was invited back to give Epstein a massage. She said Epstein disrobed in a dimly lit room with a massage table in Maxwell’s London home. Maxwell left and closed the door.
The massage turned into sex act, Kate said, after which Maxwell asked: “How did it go? Did you have fun? Was it good? You’re such a good girl.’”
“She sounded really pleased, and I was pleased that she was pleased,” Kate said.
“Later Maxwell told me to find someone to give Epstein a b***job,” Kate claimed, and said Maxwell told her he needed to have sex “three times a day”.
Kate also testified that Maxwell “bragged” about her friendships with Prince Andrew and Donald Trump. She also told the court she was given gifts including a Prada handbag on her 18th birthday, after having sex with Epstein.
Prosecutors have long described gifts from Maxwell as part of the grooming process.
Before Kate gave evidence, Judge Alison Nathan told the jury that because she was over the age of consent at the time she is “not a victim” of the alleged crimes.
Judge Nathan said that the jury cannot convict Maxwell based on Kate’s evidence and cannot use it for assessing Maxwell’s “character”.
The jury can only use it for things that are “relevant to the issues before you”, Judge Nathan said.
As such, Kate was not asked the particulars of her encounters with Epstein.
Prosecutors also submitted into evidence never-before-seen photos of the inside of Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion.
Among the photos are Epstein’s bedroom and the massage table the accusers claim they used to give him sexual massages.
Several drawings of naked women can be seen hanging on the walls, as well a drawing of Maxwell.
The 59-year-old Maxwell is accused of grooming teenage girls for abuse by the late convicted sex offender and financier. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges against her.
Originally published as Ghislaine Maxwell trial: Accused ‘bragged about links to Trump, Prince Andrew’
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