Maxwell Request for Sex-Abuse Accuser’s Teenage Diary Denied

(Bloomberg) -- Ghislaine Maxwell’s request to review the teenage diary kept by one of the women accusing her of engaging in a sex-trafficking scheme with Jeffrey Epstein was rejected by a federal judge.

Excerpts of the diary describing interactions with Epstein, including a trip to a New York and a visit to his residence, were previously provided to Maxwell, but the British socialite had asked to see the whole thing in its original form. U.S. District Court Judge Alison Nathan said Friday that the rest of the diary wasn’t relevant to Maxwell’s case and called her request “little more than a fishing expedition.”

Prosecutors say the alleged victim stopped writing in her diary shortly after meeting Epstein, and the parties agree Maxwell isn’t mentioned in it.

The judge said Maxwell appeared to want the diary to try to argue that her absence from it proves her innocence and also to attack the alleged victim’s credibility. Maxwell had made “strained” arguments for how the diary might contradict the alleged victim’s possible testimony, including “entirely speculative and unsubstantiated” claims that the diary was altered, Nathan said.

Laura Menninger, a lawyer for Maxwell, didn’t immediately return an email seeking comment about the court’s ruling.

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