Best of season 1 - Epstein / Maxwell - "THE ENABLER-IN-CHIEF: How Ghislaine Built a Sex Trafficking Empire"

0:00 Celebrity Trials is kicking off season two with a new host and new name. Hey, I'm Garrett Fisher, and starting March sixteenth, I'll be the new host on Daily Crime and Justice. It's the same great show, now with extra crime and extra justice in the meantime. Please enjoy this encore performance of one of Celebrity trials classic episodes. See you on March sixteenth. We'll miss you, Read Carter and wish you the best. Warning. This episode contains references to sexual situations that may be disturbing to some listeners. Please proceed with caution. Callarogas Shark Media. Good morning, I'm Read Carter, and welcome to Celebrity Trials, and today we begin a two part exploration of one of the most shocking criminal cases of our time. A story of wealth, power and systematic sexual abuse that reached into the highest echelons of society. This is the story of Jeffreyepp'stin and Galaine Maxwell and how their twisted partnership created a sex trafficking operation that exploited hundreds of young girls across multiple decades.

1:10 This isn't just another celebrity scandal. This is the story of how two sophisticated predators used private islands, luxury homes, and elite connections to build what prosecutors called a criminal enterprise designed for one purpose, the sexual exploitation of miners. Let me paint you the picture of how this nightmare began. In the early nineteen nineties, two worlds collided in the elite social circles of New York City. Jeffrey Epstein, a mysterious financier with connections to some of the world's most powerful people, and Gallaine Maxwell, the sophisticated daughter of British media magnate Robert Maxwell. Gallaine Noel Maxwell was born into privilege on December twenty fifth, nineteen sixty one. Born in France and raised in Oxford, she attended Balliol College, Oxford in the nineteen eighties and became a prominent member of London's social scene. Maxwell worked for her father, Robert Maxwell, until his death in nineteen ninety one. She then moved to New York City, where she continued living as a socialite.

2:21 Accounts differ on when Maxwell first met American financier Jeffrey Epstein. According to Epstein's former business partner Stephen Hoffenberg, Robert Maxwell introduced his daughter to Epstein in the late nineteen eighties. The Times reported that Maxwell met Epstein in the early nineteen nineties at a New York party following a difficult breakup with Count Gianfranco Chiconia Mozzoni. What happened next would define both of their lives and destroy hundreds of others. Maxwell had a romantic relationship with Epstein for several years in the early nineteen nineties, and remained closely associated with him for more than twenty five years until his death in twenty nineteen. But the nature of their relationship was far more complex than a simple romance. In a two thousand and nine deposition, several of Epstein's household employees testified that Epstein referred to her as his main girlfriend, who also hired, fired, and supervised his staff. Starting around nineteen ninety two. She has also been referred to as the lady of the house by Epstein's staff and as his aggressive assistant. Think about that for a moment. This wasn't just a girlfriend or even a business partner. Maxwell had become the operational manager of Epstein's entire lifestyle, including, as we would later learn, his systematic abuse of miners. Here's where this story becomes truly horrifying. In court documents, Epstein's accusers alleged that Maxwell acted as a recruiter, an instructor,

3:54 and in some cases, a participant in the abuse he practiced from at least nineteen ninety five four up to and including in or about two thousand and four, Maxwell assisted, facilitated, and participated in Jeffrey Epstein's abuse of minor girls by, among other things, helping Epstein to recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse victims known to Maxwell and Epstein to be under the age of eighteen. The victims were as young as fourteen years old when they were groomed and abused by Maxwell and Epstein, both of whom knew that their victims were in fact miners. Virginia Jeffrey, who claims that Maxwell recruited her on behalf of Epstein when Jeffrey was a sixteen year old SPA attendant at mar A Lago in Palm Beach, where Epstein has a home, said much of her grooming came from Maxwell herself. The training started immediately, she said in a video interview with The Miami Herald.

4:49 It was everything down to how to give a blowjob, how to be quiet, be subservient, give Jeffrey what he wants. A lot of this training came from Galaine herself. Being a woman. It kind of surprises you that a woman could let stuff like that happen, not only let it happen, but to groom you into doing it. Let me be clear about what Maxwell was doing. This wasn't passive enablement. This was active participation in systematic child abuse. Maxwell enticed and groomed minor girls to be abused in multiple ways. For example, Maxwell attempted to befriend certain victims by asking them about their lives, their schools, and their families, and taking them to the movies or on shopping trips. But these weren't innocent gestures. Maxwell also acclimated victims to Epstein's conduct simply by being present for victim interactions with Epstein, which put victims at ease by providing the assurance and comfort of an adult woman who seemingly approved of Epstein's behavior.

5:50 Maxwell also normalized and facilitated sexual abuse for a victim by discussing sexual topics undressing in front of the victim, being present when the victim was undressed, and encouraging the victim to massage Epstein. As Maxwell and Epstein intended, these grooming behaviors left minor victims vulnerable and susceptible to sexual abuse by Epstein. Maxwell was then present for certain sexual encounters between minor victims and Epstein, such as interactions where a minor victim was undressed, and ultimately was present for sex acts perpetrated by Epstein on minor victims. That abuse included sexualized massages during which a minor victim was fully or partially nude, as well as group sexualized massages of Epstein involving a minor victim where Maxwell was present. In some instances, Maxwell participated in the sexual abuse of minor victims.

6:46 But here's what makes this operation truly systematic. Maxwell and Epstein also paid certain victims to recruit additional girls to be similarly abused by Epstein. In this way, Maxwell and Epstein created a network of underage victims for Epstein to sexually exploit. Think about the psychological manipulation involved. These were vulnerable young girls, often from troubled backgrounds, who were made to feel special by sophisticated adults with tremendous wealth and connections. They were groomed to believe they were part of something exclusive, then systematically abused, and finally turned into recruiters themselves. Additionally, Epstein offered to help some victims by paying for travel and or educational opportunities, and Maxwell encouraged certain victims to accept Epstein's assistance. As a result, victims were made to feel indebted and believed that Maxwell and Epstein were trying to help them back in a moment. What made this operation particularly insidious was how Maxwell and Epstein used their elite connections to legitimize their behavior endlessly scrutinized, studied, and speculated over for years. Flight records from Jeffrey Epstein's private airplanes have been the subject of debate, conjecture, litigation, and conspiracy theory. Documenting flights from between nineteen ninety one through

8:21 the beginning of two thousand and six, the logs offer perspective about the cadre of politicians, musicians, models, and financiers who took to the skies on Epstein's plane. Former President Bill Clinton appears on the flight logs multiple times. On one of those trips, Clinton was a passenger along with supermodel Naomi Campbell, on September twenty one, two thousand and two, Epstein took Clinton, actor Kevin Spacey, and others from JFK Airport to an airport in the Azores, the autonomous Portuguese archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. Attorney Alan Dershowitz, credited with helping Epstein get the notorious plea deal in Florida in two thousand and eight, flew on his former client's plane several times between nineteen ninety eight and two thousand and five.

9:11 But here's what's crucial to understand. These associations provided cover for Maxwell and Epstein's operation. When victims saw powerful, famous people socializing with Epstein and Maxwell, it reinforced the idea that these were trustworthy, important people. It added legitimacy to what was actually a criminal enterprise. Prince Andrew's association with Epstein and Maxwell became particularly controversial. In testimony, Jeffrey claimed that she was directed by Maxwell to give erotic massages and engage in sexual activities with Prince Andrew, among others. The Prince has denied the allegations. But perhaps the most shocking aspect of this story is how the justice system initially failed these victims. Accusations against Epstein have lond long been obscured by legal maneuvers, such as a controversial non prosecution agreement he reached in two thousand and seven with federal prosecutors in Florida. That plea deal with then US Attorney Alex Acosta, exposed Epstein to state charges but prevented him and any co conspirators from being prosecuted for federal sex crimes in southern Florida. Under the deal, Epstein pleaded guilty in two thousand and eight to two counts of solicitation of prostitution, one with a minor under the age of eighteen, and was sentenced to eighteen months in a county jail. Eighteen months for systematically abusing dozens of underage girls.

10:40 This wasn't justice. This was a cover up that enabled Epstein and Maxwell to continue their operation for more than a decade. The two thousand and seven agreement specifically mentioned that it would protect potential co conspirators, language that Maxwell's lawyers now argue should have prevented her prosecution entirely. Here's the truly infuriating part. During those years when Epstein and Maxwell should have been in federal prison, they continued abusing victims. The systematic sexual exploitation continued, protected by a piece of paper that valued Epstein's connections more than his victim's lives. It wasn't until twenty nineteen, more than a decade after that sweetheart plea deal, that federal prosecutors finally took this case seriously. And when they did, it was the courage of the victims that made justice possible. Four women testified during Maxwell's trial that Epstein abused them and that Maxwell facilitated the abuse and sometimes participated in it as well.

11:40 These weren't abstract legal arguments. These were real people describing real trauma that had shaped their entire lives. Their role was really the most significant in the trial by far said former federal prosecutor Moira Penza. That was really the crux of the government's case. Here was the testimony of those four victims, while being corroborated by other witness testimony and other evidence. Annie Farmer, one of the victims who testified at trial, spoke out after Maxwell's conviction. I hope that this verdict brings solace to all who need it. Even those with great power and privilege will be held accountable when they sexually abuse and exploit the young. Here's what makes the Epstein Maxwell case so particularly disturbing. This wasn't opportunistic abuse. This was systematic, calculated, and industrial in its scope. Maxwell wasn't just Epstein's girlfriend or even his accomplice, as prosecutors proved, she was his enabler in chief, the sophisticated woman who used her charm, connections and maternal instincts to recruit vulnerable girls into a nightmare. The defense tried to paint Maxwell as a scapegoat, someone who was only being prosecuted because Epstein had escaped justice through suicide, but the evidence showed something far more sinister. Maxwell was an active, essential participant in every aspect of the operation. She recruited the victims, she trained them how to satisfy Epstein. She

13:11 was present during abuse, She participated an abuse, and she helped turn victims into recruiters, expanding the operation's reach. What's most chilling is how Maxwell used specifically feminine tactics to facilitate male predation. She understood that young girls would trust an older woman in ways they might not trust an older man. She exploited maternal instincts. And feminine trust to deliver children to a monster. Tomorrow, in Part two, we'll explore how this house of cards finally collapsed. Will examine the evidence that convicted Maxwell, her desperate attempts to escape responsibility, and the recent controversy over the so called client list that has divided the Trump administration and outraged his supporters.

13:56 We'll also look at why Maxwell's conviction raises troublingques questions about who else knew what was happening and why so many powerful people seem to have escaped consequences for their associations with this criminal enterprise. That's Part one of our Jeffrey Epstein series. I'm reed, Carter. Remember when the powerful prey on the vulnerable, it takes extraordinary courage from victims to bring them down. Justice isn't always swift, but it's absolutely riveting. See you tomorrow for Part two