Ghislaine Maxwell: 10 things we learned from the deposition

The 2016 deposition of Ghislaine Maxwell, part of a defamation case with Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Guiffre, was unsealed on Thursday.

The documents provided an unprecedented look into Ms Maxwell's relationship with convicted child sex abuser Epstein who killed himself in his jail cell while awaiting federal trial in August 2019. 

Here are our top takeaways from the first 200 pages of the 465-page deposition.

On whether Epstein had underage girls massaging him…

When asked if she ever witnessed Epstein receive a massage from a girl under the age of 18, or if she had given Epstein a massage alongside a girl under the age of 18, Maxwell responded: "No."

On using the phrase "the younger the better" when speaking of recruiting masseuses for Epstein...

Ms Maxwell was presented with a police report documenting the sex crime investigation into Epstein, and pointed to a section in which an 18-year-old girl claimed that she was instructed to recruit other girls for the financier’s massages, "the younger, the better".  

The British-born socialite claimed that she had never heard Epstein use the phrase, and said she did not recall ever using the phrase herself.  

She also claimed that she never asked Ms Giuffre to recruit other girls.  

On her earnings while working for Epstein...

Ms Maxwell initially said that she did not remember what she earned while working for Epstein.  

After she was asked if it fell in the range of $100,000 and $500,000, she was able to narrow the field of her earnings from Epstein.  

She said that she made somewhere between $100,000 and $200,000 while in his employ.  

On Ms Giuffre's trip to London and Prince Andrew...

Ms Maxwell was questioned about a trip that she, Epstein and Ms Giuffre took to London in 2001. A fourth individual involved in the trip had their name redacted.  

Ms Maxwell was asked if she bought clothing for Ms Giuffre in London in preparation for meeting the individual whose name was redacted. She was then presented with a photo, which was reportedly taken in her London home.  

The interrogator asked her if the photo was taken in her townhouse. She said that she was not sure, but said the home looked "familiar".  

Based on the timeline and context of the discussion, it is likely the photo that Ms Maxwell was presented with was a well-known photograph of herself, a young Ms Giuffre, and Prince Andrew, whose arm is around Ms Giuffre.  

Prince Andrew's name does not appear anywhere in the highly-redacted document, and he has vehemently denied any involvement with Ms Giuffre.  

On the puppet allegedly used in a sexual assault...

At one point during the deposition, Ms Maxwell was questioned about the use of a puppet in a sexual assault.  

The interrogator described a puppet which Ms Maxwell eventually called a "caricature" of an individual whose name was redacted. 

The interrogator asked if the person wearing the puppet put their hand on the breast of a woman, and if Ms Giuffre was asked to sit on the lap of the unnamed person who used the puppet.  

Ms Maxwell said that she remembered the puppet but said she did not recollect anything occurring as described by the interrogators.  

In 2019 Prince Andrew was accused of groping a young woman in an incident involving a “puppet”. Prince Andrew has categorically denied the accusations.

On her appearance in the Epstein flight log...

The interrogator presented Ms Maxwell with a flight log detailing flights that Epstein took on his private planes. The logs included the initials JE and GM along with the names of other individuals.  

The socialite was asked if she was the GM on the logs and if she recalled the flights. Ms Maxwell said that she could not be sure if she was the GM on each of the flights mentioned in the log. She said GM could be anyone with those initials.  

She was then asked if she knew anyone else with the initials GM who took hundreds of flights with Epstein during the time period in question. She said that she had no recollection of anyone specific, but refused to agree that GM on the flight logs was an indicator that she was on the plane.  

On President Bill Clinton's alleged visit to Little Saint James...

Ms Maxwell insisted that Ms Giuffre was "totally lying" about former president Bill Clinton and herself being on Epstein's island, Little Saint James, at the same time.  

Ms Maxwell offered up the defense of Mr Clinton without prompting from the interrogator.  

She did admit to flying on Epstein's private plane with the former president.

Ms Maxwell was reluctant to categorise Mr Clinton and Epstein as "friends".

Mr Clinton, through a spokesman, has previously denied Ms Giuffre’s allegations that he visited the island. In a statement to Newsweek in July, Angel Ureña said the former president has "never been to Little St James Island."

"He'd not spoken to Epstein in well over a decade," Mr Urena said. "Well before his terrible crimes came to light."

On whether she arranged for Ms Giuffre to have sex with anyone...

Ms Maxwell categorically denied ever arranging for Ms Giuffre to have sex with anyone.  

The interrogator asked Ms Maxwell about Little Saint James, and asked if there were underage girls on the island. Ms Maxwell claims there were no women on the island other than kitchen and housekeeping staff.  

She was then pressed on whether she ever arranged for Ms Giuffre to have sex with anyone.  

"Just for the record, I have never at any time, at any place, in any moment, ever asked Virginia Roberts or whatever she is called now, to have sex with anybody," she said.  

On underage girls calling Epstein's house and leaving messages...

The interrogator presented Ms Maxwell with a notebook filled with messages presumably taken from callers to Epstein's house. After establishing what it was, the interrogator points to several messages that appear to be left by underage girls for Epstein.  

In one message, someone who signed their name as Ghislaine Maxwell took a message from a 15-year-old girl. Ms Maxwell denied taking the message and claimed the handwriting was not hers. The message appears to be scheduling someone to visit the house for some purpose.  

Another message appears to be left by a 13-year-old girl. The message reads: "I have a female for him".  

On the final page of the notepad, a message claims the caller "has a teacher for you to teach you how to speak Russian. She is two times eight years old. Not blond. Lessons are free and you can have your first today if you call".  

Ms Maxwell denied any knowledge of any of the messages.  

On why she continued her relationship with Epstein following his sex crimes conviction...

After an exhausting 17-page duel in which the interrogator tried to get Ms Maxwell to say she believed Epstein was a sexual abuser of children, Ms Maxwell is asked if she was aware Epstein was a registered sex offender.  

She said yes, and was asked why she continued contact with him despite knowing about his crimes.

"I'm a very loyal person and Jeffrey was very good to me when my father passed away, and I believe that you need to be a good friend in people's hour of need and I felt that it was a very thoughtful, nice thing for me to do to help in a very limited fashion which was helping if he had any issue with his homes, in terms of the staffing issues," she said. 

"It was very, very minor but I felt it was thoughtful in somebody's hour of need."