What We Learned From Ghislaine Maxwell’s Unsealed Deposition

(Bloomberg) -- The release of a 465-page transcript of Ghislaine Maxwell’s 2016 deposition in a civil case yielded no new names linked to Jeffrey Epstein. It did, however, offer us a glimpse into her life as Epstein’s employee and sometime girlfriend.

The deposition was part of a lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre, who accused Maxwell of defamation for saying that she was lying about being sexually trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell while underage. It also plays a role in the criminal charges that got Maxwell arrested in July -- prosecutors allege she perjured herself when she gave the 2016 testimony.

A few things we learned from the materials unsealed Thursday by a New York judge:

Epstein Bought Her a Car and Loaned Her Money for a New York Townhouse

In the deposition, Maxwell says she can’t recall what Epstein paid her for her services, which she says consisted of helping with construction projects and “decorating houses and in hiring staff to help run those houses.”

When pressed for a range of her salary, she says she believes “it was between 100 and $200,000.”

Asked if she received gifts from Epstein worth more than $50,000, Maxwell says she can’t recall, before adding, “I believe he did buy me a car, I don’t recall how much it cost.” She later pushes back on a question about whether Epstein purchased a townhouse for her. “I worked for it and I had a loan, we did loans,” she says. Maxwell sold a townhouse in New York City for $15 million in 2016, according to documents from her criminal case.

Epstein Suggested She Offer a ‘Reward’ to Those Willing to Contradict Giuffre

In a Jan. 12, 2015, email to Maxwell, Epstein told her she could “issue a reward to any of Virginia’s friends, aquaints, family, that come forward to help prove her allegations are false,” according to the deposition.

“Absolutely not,” Maxwell responds when asked if she ever offered such a reward. She says she had “no idea” if Epstein ever offered a reward. “I was not coordinating with Jeffrey,” she says when asked if she was working with Epstein to malign Giuffre.

Her Testimony Prompted Lawyers to Push for a 2nd Interview

After Maxwell sat for the April 22, 2016, deposition, Giuffre’s lawyers Sigrid McCawley and David Boies wrote to the court saying that she’d been so evasive during the session that they needed to question her again. They said that she’d claimed any sexual interactions were with adults and not underage girls and asked that she be ordered to answer their questions.

“The court should compel defendant to answer all these questions,” they wrote.

U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet in Manhattan later granted their request, and Maxwell sat for a second interview in July 2016. That transcript was not among the documents unsealed Thursday.

She Uses the Word ‘Never’ a Lot

In response to questions about her own behavior and Epstein’s, Maxwell was adamant that she didn’t recruit underage girls to have sex with him and that she didn’t see anything inappropriate with minors during the 16-17 years she worked for the disgraced financier. At various points in the deposition she says:

I have never seen anybody have sexual intercourse with Jeffrey, ever.

I never saw any inappropriate underage activities with Jeffrey ever.

I have never instructed Virginia to have sex with anybody ever.

I never had nonconsensual sex with anybody ever, at any time, at anyplace, at any time, with anybody.

I never ever at any single time at any point ever at all participated in anything with Virginia and Jeffrey.

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