Attorney Alan Dershowitz urged “everyone” to “keep an open mind” about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s cohort Ghislaine Maxwell after the FBI arrested her Thursday.
Dershowitz, who has acted as an attorney for notable figures including both President Donald Trump and Epstein himself, spoke out in defense of Maxwell in a Friday op-ed for The Spectator.
Dershowitz formerly helped negotiate a plea deal that gave federal immunity to Epstein and his co-conspirators in 2008, requiring Epstein to serve 13 months in jail in Palm Beach with practically daily work release.
The former Epstein attorney has been accused of sexual abuse by Virginia Giuffre and Sarah Ransome in civil lawsuits that allege Dershowitz had sex with them through Epstein when they were teenagers. Dershowitz denies that he did so and sued Guiffre for defamation.
“Everyone should keep an open mind about Maxwell as they should about others who have been accused by Epstein’s alleged victims,” Dershowitz wrote in his American Spectator op-ed.
He continued: “The truth-testing mechanisms of cross-examination and confrontation must be employed against these witnesses, as they are against other accusers. Only after a full trial, in which both sides are presented should reasonable people come to conclusions about Ghislaine Maxwell.”
A grand jury indicted Maxwell on charges of conspiracy to entice minors to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors to these illegal sex acts, transportation of a minor to engage in illegal sex acts, and perjury.
The victims were as young as 14 years old, the indictment said, noting that both Maxwell and Epstein knew that certain victims were minors.
The indictment also described how Maxwell allegedly groomed multiple minors for Epstein, “knowing that he had a sexual preference for underage girls,” by befriending girls, taking them shopping, or to movies. Maxwell would then attempt to normalize sexual abuse to the victims, according to the indictment, by undressing in front of the young girls, discussing sexual topics, “being present when a minor victim was undressed,” and being present while Epstein and the victim were engaged in a sex act.
This “helped put the victims at ease because an adult woman was present,” the indictment said.
“During the time periods charged in this indictment, Ghislaine Maxwell, the defendent, had a personal and professional relationship with Epstein and was among his closest associates,” the indictment said. “In particular, between in or about 1994 and in or about 1997, Maxwell was in an intimate relationship with Epstein and was also paid by Epstein to manage his various properties.”
In his Friday op-ed, Dershowitz reminds readered that Maxwell is innocent until proven guilty: “Like every other arrested person, she must be presumed innocent.”
The former Epstein attorney highlights that he never saw Maxwell do anything “inappropriate” and that he often saw her in the presence of high-profile figures, such as former President Bill Clinton.
He warned that many in the public may view Maxwell unfavorably due to the recent Netflix documentary “Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich,” which he heavily criticized.
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“No one should believe anything they saw in that series, because it was based largely on the accounts of two women with histories of making dubious accusations,” he said, referring to Giuffre and Epstein accuser Sarah Ransome.
Dershowitz wrote that though he provided the production with information disproving aspects of Giuffre and Ransome’s accusations, the documentary did not include this information because “they did not want their viewers to see anything that challenged the credibility of the lying witnesses who were central to their one-sided narrative.”
Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Giuffre’s lawsuit accused Dershowitz of being “a participant in sex trafficking, including as one of the men to whom Epstein lent out Plaintiff for sex.”
She did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the DCNF, and Ransome could not be reached for comment.
Both women were formerly represented by attorney David Boies, who went on to sue Dershowitz as well, saying the former Epstein lawyer falsely accused him of conspiring with his clients in their allegations.
A judge removed Boies from Giuffre’s case in October 2019, saying that Boies would likely testify as a witness in Giuffre’s case against Dershowitz, Business Insider reported.
Story cited here.
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