(Los Angeles) Women who claim to have been attacked by Jeffrey Epstein are skeptical and worried about the management by the Department of Justice of the files relating to this condemned sexual offender. Some people argue in favor of greater public disclosure, a long -awaited transparency measure, while others express concerns about their privacy and the motivations of the Trump administration.
In letters addressed this week to the New York Federal Judges, several victims or their lawyers said they would support the publication of the testimonies before the Grand Jury who led to the indictment of Epstein and his ex-partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, if the government agreed to authorize them to examine these documents and to expurgate sensitive information.
Photo tabled in court, Agency France-Presse
Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein
The Department of Justice has asked the court to take the rare measure to make public transcriptions of this secret testimony, in particular to appease those who think that the government has hidden certain information on the misdeeds of Epstein.
Other victims, on the other hand, accused President Donald Trump of marginalizing the victims in order to divert the attention of Epstein, who committed suicide in 2019 while he was waiting for his trial for sexual abuse. Some feared that the administration, anxious to extinguish the scandal, will give Maxwell the Clemence, the immunity against future prosecution or better conditions of detention within the framework of an agreement aimed at constraining it to testify before the Congress.
I am not a pawn in your political war. What you have done and continue to do for me day after day, helping to perpetuate this story.
Extract from a letter from an alleged victim given to the court by his lawyer this week
Another victim added, in an anonymous letter submitted on Wednesday: “All this is very exhausting. »»
Maxwell was found guilty in 2021 to have helped Epstein to sexually abuse minors and are currently serving a 20 -year prison sentence. A senior official of the Department of Justice, the deputy prosecutor Todd Blanche, questioned Maxwell for nine hours at the end of last month, saying that he wanted to hear everything she had to say about the misdeeds committed by Epstein or other people. After this interview, Maxwell was transferred from a Florida federal prison to a low -security detention camp in Texas.
Alicia Arden, who said he was sexually assaulted by Epstein in the late 1990s, held a press conference on Wednesday in Los Angeles. She said that she would support the publication of additional documents related to the case, including a transcription of Maxwell’s interview with Todd Blanche.
It has also expressed its indignation at the possibility that Maxwell could benefit from a grace or other preferential treatment within the framework of this procedure, adding that the approach of the Department of Justice has been “very disturbing” so far.
Files at the heart of rumors
The Trump administration had to face for weeks for the fury of certain segments of the president’s political base, which demanded the public disclosure of the files related to Epstein. Epstein has long been the subject of conspiracy theories because of his links with rich and powerful personalities, including Donald Trump himself, Prince Andrew and former President Bill Clinton.
Last month, the Department of Justice announced that it would not publish other files related to the survey of sexual trafficking involving Epstein.
The prosecutors then asked for the publication of the Grand Jury transcriptions, although they indicated to the court that they contained little information which had not already been made public. Two judges, who will decide on the publication of transcriptions, then asked the victims to give their opinion on the issue.
In a letter given to court on Tuesday, lawyers Brad Edwards and Paul Cassell, who represent many victims of Epstein, wrote: “For the survivors who courageously testified, the feeling that Mme Maxwell is legitimized in public speech has already led to a new trauma. »»
The lawyer of Mme Maxwell, David Oscar Markus, said this week to oppose the publication of the Grand Jury transcriptions.
“Jeffrey Epstein is dead. Ghislaine Maxwell is not, he wrote. Whatever public interest in Epstein, this interest cannot justify a generalized damage to the secrecy of the Grand Jury in a case where the accused is alive, his legal appeals are valid and his rights to regular procedure are preserved. »»
The Department of Justice has not responded to a request for comments on victims’ statements.
