Virginia Giuffre has long fought for justice for herself and countless other women allegedly abused by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Her latest legal victory advances that important work.
The win allows a number of documents related to Giuffre's 2015 civil suit against Maxwell to be unsealed. A deposition from Giuffre detailing her experiences at Epstein's and Maxwell's hands was released. The details Giuffre describes of what she was forced into as a teenager are terrible. It's haunting to hear the extent of the psychological impact on her, in her own words.
Throughout the deposition, Giuffre is questioned about the men she was trafficked to. She mentions some high-profile names, although some names remain redacted. She notes the depraved process Epstein and Maxwell turned into a science with the goal of exploiting young girls. The information released is certainly something that Maxwell's lawyers will be forced to reckon with as they move toward her trial date next year.
Virginia Giuffre's 2016 deposition on her experience as one of the young women allegedly sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell has been released. Despite appeals from Maxwell's attorneys, the documents have been unsealed. The deposition sees Giuffre naming names and describing the abuse she endured as a teen.
In the deposition, Giuffre recalls meeting Epstein and Maxwell at the age of 16 in 2000. She was working a summer job at Mar-a-Lago, where her father was employed. By her next birthday, she was already traveling with the couple.
"I remember spending a birthday with them on Jeffrey Epstein's island called Little Saint Jeff's. I wouldn't say it was a party. It was just Ghislaine, me, Jeffrey," Giuffre recalled.
She'd also spend the next two birthdays with the couple. While she couldn't recall her 18th birthday, her 19th was marked by a surprise.
"My 19th birthday, we celebrated it early, earlier than my actual date of birth. And that's when he surprised me with tickets to Thailand," she recalled.
"He didn't hand me the tickets at that time, but he told me he had booked me in for massage training at an institute in Chiang Mai."
Giuffre was asked about the first time she was approached by Maxwell. "Just outside the locker room, sitting where the other girl that works there usually sits," she recalled.
"She was away from the desk. I was reading a book on massage therapy … She was very interested in the book I was reading."
Later, she elaborated. "Well, she noticed I was reading the massage book. And I started to have chitchat with her just about, you know, the body and the anatomy and how I was interested in it. And she told me she knew somebody who was looking for a traveling masseuse."
"And I said, 'Well I don't have any accreditations. This is the first book I've ever read. She goes, 'That's okay. I know somebody. We can train you. We can get you educated. You know, we can help you along the way if you pass the interview,'" she continued.
"If the guy likes you then, you know, it will work out for you. You'll travel. You'll make good money. You'll be educated, and you'll finally get accredited one day.
"She finished off by, you know, giving me her number. And I told her I'd have to ask my dad. And I called my dad. I ran over, actually, to see my dad, talked to him. He said it would be okay. I used the phone from Mar-a-Lago to call her and tell her that I was allowed to come over."
Giuffre's dad drove her there after work. "She shook hands with my dad. Like, she briefly opened the door. She stepped out, shook hands with my dad. Told her (sic) she'd look after me and she'd make sure I get a ride home."
That night, she would be abused by Epstein for the first time. He and Maxwell each separately urged her to return the next day, and so she did.
Aside from the alleged abuse of Giuffre, Maxwell also is believed to have taught Giuffre how to recruit other girls. She recalled a particular instance of this training that occurred in France.
"She walked up to this French girl to show me how easy it was for her to procure girls. I wasn't very good at it. And, you know, it was part of my training to bring in other girls.
"So she walked up to her. Within five minutes, she had her number and that girl came over later that night to the hotel and serviced Jeffrey. I didn't see Ghislaine with her. I just know she told me what happened and Jeffrey told me what happened."
As the subject progressed to the alleged sex trafficking, Giuffre expressed how many people she had been "lent out to."
"You have to understand that Jeffrey and Ghislaine are joined hip by hop, okay? So they both trafficked me. Ghislaine brought me in for the purpose of being trafficked. Jeffrey was just as a part of it as she was. She was just as a part of it as he was. They trafficked me to many people. And to be honest, there is people I could name and then there's people that are just a blur. There was so much happening."
Giuffre named a number of prominent figures she was allegedly trafficked to. Those names included billionaire hedge fund manager Glenn Dubin, Prince Andrew, attorney Alan Dershowitz, former Senator George Mitchell, French modeling scout Jean-Luc Brunel, former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, and more. Giuffre also noted that these are only the people she remembered, but knows she was sent out to many more.
"Look, I've given you what I know right now. I'm sorry. This is very hard for me and very frustrating to have to go over this. I don't — I don't recall all of the people. There was a large amount of people that I was sent to.
"You know, I was told to do something by these people constantly, told to — my whole life revolved around just pleasing these men and keeping Ghislaine and Jeffrey happy. Their whole entire lives revolved around sex. They call massages sex. They call modeling sex."
During the deposition, Giuffre also makes mention of former President Bill Clinton spending time on Epstein's island.
"Ghislaine told me that she flew Bill Clinton in. And Ghislaine likes to talk a lot of stuff that sounds fantastical. And whether it's true or not, that is what I do recall telling Sharon Churcher," she explained, referring to interviews with reporter Sharon Churcher in 2011.
Giuffre recalled asking Epstein why Clinton was on the island. "I remember asking Jeffrey what's Bill Clinton doing here kind of thing, and he laughed it off and said well he owes me a favor," she said.
"He never told me what favors they were. I never knew. I didn't know if he was serious. It was just a joke."
All the men named by Giuffre have denied abusing her or involvement of such kind with Jeffrey Epstein. While that will likely continue to play out as more details arise from a trial, it's becoming harder to distance Maxwell from Epstein's actions. By all accounts, she was not only aware but a willing participant in the alleged abuse.
Giuffre has fought hard to bring her story to life and get justice. Although that process is as complicated as it's ever been, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel for Giuffre and other survivors. It is the hope that Maxwell will give up others involved in the supposed operation, providing justice and closure for even more of the survivors. Only time will tell.
