Maxwell's Pre-Trial Civil Deposition Partially Unsealed
A court orders the partial unsealing of Ghislaine Maxwell's 2016 civil deposition in the Giuffre v. Maxwell case, releasing significant portions of Maxwell's sworn testimony to the public months before her criminal trial.
People Involved
Event Details
In April 2021, a federal judge ordered portions of Ghislaine Maxwell’s 2016 civil deposition in the case Giuffre v. Maxwell to be released publicly. The deposition had been taken as part of Virginia Giuffre’s civil suit against Maxwell but had been sealed, with Maxwell’s legal team arguing that releasing it would prejudice her then-pending criminal defense.
The released portions of the deposition showed Maxwell under oath denying knowledge of Epstein’s abuse, denying involvement in the recruitment or grooming of young women, and asserting she did not know about any illegal sexual activity.
The deposition was valuable to prosecutors in establishing Maxwell’s prior sworn statements, which they could use to demonstrate inconsistency with what witnesses and evidence would show at her criminal trial.
The deposition release generated significant public interest months before Maxwell’s November 2021 criminal trial, providing a preview of the claims Maxwell had made under oath and the questions the criminal trial would need to resolve.
The full deposition remained under seal; the publicly released portion represented a subset of the full testimony.