Ghislaine Maxwell arrest over Jeffrey Epstein crimes will have Prince Andrew and Palace sweating
As we speak, Maxwell is being transferred to the state of New York where she will take up residence in prison on remand. The chances of her receiving bail would have to be considered remote.
Conspiracy theories almost invariably start around rich, powerful figures appearing to be above the law. The Jeffrey Epstein case is the mother of them all. A wealthy investor with powerful friends who was alleged to have procured and had sex with minors was charged with offences that would see him spend the rest of his in jail. Later, he is found hanged in his cell.
The official verdict is Epstein committed suicide but that won’t withstand any of the speculations of dedicated conspiracy theorists.
Conspiracy theories are dangerous
Among these is QAnon, almost a cult now that believes an anonymous figure, Q, is prominent in government and holds the key to certain murky ‘truths’ about the deep state. Most of these theories are conspicuous only for completely lacking in credibility. But the Epstein case serves to give even some of the wilder tales some credit.
Conspiracy theories are dangerous. In 2016, in the heat of the presidential election campaign, one deep state conspiracy theory known as Pizzagate, centred around bizarre stories of child trafficking from a family-friendly pizza parlour in Washington DC, Comet Pizza. It was said Hillary Clinton was in on it as were many within the Democratic national Committee.
It was put about widely enough for it to be believed by many in a post-truth America.
A month after Donald Trump was elected 45th President of the United States, a 28-year-old North Carolina man, Edgar Welch entered Comet Pizza with an AR-15 assault rifle, firing shots into the walls. Mothers, fathers, grandparents, and children fled the building. The sight of a man brandishing an assault rifle will do that in the US.
Welch, who later stated that he was looking to save children from sexual abuse, came across a locked door which he presumed would lead down to a cellar, where, as the conspiracy theory went, children were being held for the sexual pleasure of Washington D.C.’s political elite.
There is no cellar at Comet Pizza. Welch fired a shot into the door and opened it, only to find a small storeroom.
Police surrounded the restaurant and Welch surrendered. He is currently serving a four-year prison sentence. He apologised for his actions in court, putting the episode down to “bad intel.” He did not, however, denounce the conspiracy theory about child trafficking at Comet Pizza.
Epstein’s powerful friends
The search for the truth in a country addicted to contrived fantasies is a difficult business but the arrest yesterday of Ghislaine Maxwell offers the chance to establish certain facts about who did what and when in the Epstein saga.
Among other powerful figures, Epstein counted two presidents of the United States as his friend: President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton.
Flight logs reveal President Trump flew on one of Epstein’s planes on at least one occasion, while Clinton made several trips overseas on Epstein’s private jet. Epstein was also a donor to the Clinton Foundation.
We need to be cautious about this sort of information. Those facts do not, of themselves, educe guilt on the part of Trump or Clinton. There are no substantive allegations that either man had knowledge of or engaged in sex with minors. However, this is not the case with the Duke of York, the second son of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Andrew.
Maxwell has been charged with six felony counts. The first four relate to events occurring more than twenty years ago where Maxwell is alleged to have conspired to entice, enticed, transported, and engaged in sex acts with minors. Prosecutors allege these crimes occurred between 1994 and 1997.
It is counts five and six that bring us forward to a more recent past. They relate to evidence provided by Maxwell in a deposition under oath relating to a civil lawsuit brought against her by Virginia Giuffre. Prosecutors say Maxwell perjured herself in evidence in 2016.
Prince Andrew’s denial
In the two perjury counts no other individuals are named besides Maxwell, Giuffre, and Epstein.
But Virginia Giuffre has alleged that she had sex with Prince Andrew when she was 17. There is a photograph, too, now notorious, which was taken at Maxwell’s London home showing Giuffre in the company of Andrew with Ghislaine Maxwell in the background.
Giuffre alleges Maxwell that just after that photo was taken, Maxwell told the teenage girl she was required to “do for (Prince Andrew) what you do for Epstein.”
The Duke of York denies having met Giuffre and has suggested the photo was doctored. He has put forward an alibi that he was at a Pizza Express restaurant with his children on the night in question.
His denials en masse were part of a BBC interview generally regarded as a train wreck for Andrew’s cavalier responses and general lack of empathy for Epstein’s victims.
Maxwell was the conduit between Epstein and Andrew. She had known the Duke of York for years. She had attended Andrew’s 40th birthday party. It was Maxwell who introduced Epstein to the Duke of York.
Maxwell faces up to 35 years in jail if convicted on all counts. The reality is that under federal sentencing guidelines she would serve less time in prison. It is however, not beyond the realms of possibility that a woman at 58 years of age and accustomed to a life of luxury and privilege would be inclined to reduce the time she might spend behind bars.
She may rollover. The prosecutor might trade a lighter prison sentence for Maxwell’s assistance in prosecuting other figures in Epstein’s orbit.
So, is the prosecutor looking to cut a deal, possibly on the perjury counts?
At the announcement of Maxwell’s arrest Audrey Strauss, the acting US lawyer for the Southern District, at least suggested that prospect exists.
“People can go on from there and become co-operators. … so, I’m not concerned about that. In the event that she were (sic) to become a cooperator, I think that we can deal with that,” Strauss said.
The allegations against Maxwell are serious, almost as serious as those levelled against Epstein himself. She was described by William Sweeney, the assistant director of the FBI’s New York field office, as “a villain.” She is likely to face the full force of the law.
For all that, there is great pressure on Buckingham Palace right now. The palace will do whatever it can to keep Prince Andrew from the clutches of the FBI but now the Duke of York must provide a statement. The search for truth, so often derailed in the US, demands it.
This time it won’t be a fumbling, inept performance on television. It must be a statement made under oath, subject to the laws of perjury.
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