Showing posts with label Jeffrey Epstein. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeffrey Epstein. Show all posts

Friday, August 1, 2025

Victim’s Haunting Words Which Show Ghislaine Can Never Be Truly Free; The Daily Beast, August 1, 2025

, The Daily Beast;  Victim’s Haunting Words Which Show Ghislaine Can Never Be Truly Free

"Though Giuffre is unable to voice an objection now, she leaves us with a statement her attorney read at Maxwell’s sentencing on June 28, 2022. Giuffre addressed the statement directly to Maxwell.

“Ghislaine: Twenty-two years ago, in the summer of 2000, you spotted me at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, and you made a choice: You chose to follow me and procure me for Epstein. Just hours later, you and he abused me together for the first time. Together you damaged me physically, mentally, sexually and emotionally. Together you did unthinkable things that still have a corrosive impact on me to this day. I want to be clear about one thing: Without question, Jeffrey Epstein was a terrible pedophile, but I never would have met Jeffrey Epstein if not for you.

“For me, and for so many others, you opened the door to hell, and then, Ghislaine, like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, you used your femininity to betray us and you led us all through it. When you did that, you changed the course of our lives forever."

Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell moved to new prison amid fight over answers, immunity; Fox News, August 1, 2025

Julia Bonavita , David Spunt , Fox News ; Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell moved to new prison amid fight over answers, immunity

"The former girlfriend and convicted accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein is now at a new prison facility, Fox News Digital has learned. 

Ghislaine Maxwell has been transferred from a federal prison facility in Tallahassee, Florida, to the Bureau of Prisons at the Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Bryan, Texas, her attorney confirmed to Fox News Digital. 

Neither the Bureau of Prisons nor Maxwell’s attorney provided an explanation for the move. 

Maxwell's new life behind bars comes with an upgrade, with the FPC Bryan location serving as a minimum-security prison that also houses Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and celebrity housewife Jen Shah. The prison has roughly 600 female inmates and is primarily home to non-violent offenders convicted of white collar crimes. 

The move was criticized Friday by the family of Virginia Giuffre, an Epstein accuser who died by suicide earlier this year."

Jeffrey Epstein victims and family blast Trump for Ghislaine Maxwell prison transfer; CNBC, August 1, 2025

 Dan Mangan, CNBC; Jeffrey Epstein victims and family blast Trump for Ghislaine Maxwell prison transfer

"Two sexual abuse victims of Jeffrey Epstein and the family of late Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre on Friday blasted President Donald Trump after learning that Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell had been transferred to a less restrictive prison in Texas from Florida.

“This move smacks of a cover up,” Epstein victims Annie Farmer and Maria Farmer, as well as Giuffre’s relatives said in a statement.

“President Trump has sent a clear message today: Pedophiles deserve preferential treatment and their victims do not matter,” the statement said, noting that the two women and Giuffre’s family had not been notified of Maxwell’s transfer before media reports of it.

Maxwell’s transfer to minimum security camp in Bryan, Texas, came after two days of meetings she and her lawyer had last week in Tallahassee, Florida, with a top Justice Department official.

That official, Deputy Attorney Todd Blanche, is Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer.

Trump is a former friend of Epstein and Maxwell."

Ghislaine Maxwell transferred to less restrictive prison after DOJ meeting; Politico, August 1, 2025

 ERICA ORDEN, Politico; Ghislaine Maxwell transferred to less restrictive prison after DOJ meeting

"Days after sitting down with one of the highest-ranking members of the Justice Department, Ghislaine Maxwell has been transferred to a less restrictive, minimum-security federal prison camp in Texas, her attorney said.

As a convicted sex offender, Maxwell would not normally be eligible for a minimum-security prison. According to a Bureau of Prisons policy, people with a sex offender determination known as a “public safety factor” are required to be housed in at least low-security prisons unless they receive a waiver from an arm of the bureau that designates inmates. Low-security prisons are more restrictive than minimum-security ones."

Ghislaine Maxwell Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison For Conspiring With Jeffrey Epstein To Sexually Abuse Minors; U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York, June 28, 2022

Press Release, U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York;Ghislaine Maxwell Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison For Conspiring With Jeffrey Epstein To Sexually Abuse Minors

"Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that GHISLANE MAXWELL was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court by United States Circuit Judge Alison J. Nathan to 240 months in prison for her role in a scheme to sexual exploit and abuse multiple minor girls with Jeffrey Epstein over the course of a decade.  MAXWELL was previously found guilty on December 29, 2021, following a one-month jury trial, of conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors to participate in illegal sex acts, transporting a minor to participate in illegal sex acts, sex trafficking conspiracy, and sex trafficking of a minor.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said:  “Today’s sentence holds Ghislaine Maxwell accountable for perpetrating heinous crimes against children.  This sentence sends a strong message that no one is above the law and it is never too late for justice.  We again express our gratitude to Epstein and Maxwell’s victims for their courage in coming forward, in testifying at trial, and in sharing their stories as part of today’s sentencing.”

According to the allegations in the Indictment, court documents, and evidence presented at trial:

From at least 1994, up to and including in or about 2004, GHISLAINE 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 18.  The victims were as young as 14 years old when they were groomed and abused by MAXWELL and Epstein, both of whom knew that their victims were in fact minors.  As a part and in furtherance of their scheme to abuse minor victims, MAXWELL and Epstein enticed and caused minor victims to travel to Epstein’s residences in different states, which MAXWELL knew and intended would result in their grooming for and subjection to sexual 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.  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.  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.  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. 

Ultimately minor victims were subjected to sexual abuse that included, among other things, the touching of a victim’s breasts or genitals, placing a sex toy such as a vibrator on a victim’s genitals, directing a victim to touch Epstein while he masturbated, and directing a victim to touch Epstein’s genitals.  MAXWELL and Epstein’s victims were groomed or abused at Epstein’s residences in New York, Florida, and New Mexico, as well as MAXWELL’s residence in London, England.

In the earlier phase of the conspiracy, from at least approximately 1994 through approximately 2001, MAXWELL and Epstein identified vulnerable girls, typically from single-mother households and difficult financial circumstances.  This earlier phase required the defendant and Epstein to identify one girl at a time to target for grooming and abuse.  In the later phase, from approximately 2001 until at least approximately 2004, MAXWELL and Epstein enticed and recruited, and caused to be enticed and recruited, minor girls to visit Epstein’s Palm Beach Residence to engage in sex acts with Epstein, after which Epstein, MAXWELL, or another employee of Epstein’s would give the victims hundreds of dollars in cash. MAXWELL and Epstein encouraged one or more of those victims to travel with Epstein with the intention that the victim engage in sex acts with Epstein.  Moreover, and in order to maintain and increase his supply of victims, 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.

*                *                *

In addition to the prison sentence, MAXWELL, 60, was sentenced to five years of supervised release and ordered to pay a $750,00 fine.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maurene Comey, Alison Moe, Lara Pomerantz, and Andrew Rohrbach are in charge of the prosecution."

Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Stephen Colbert Latches Onto One Disturbing Word in Trump’s Epstein Defense; The Daily Beast, July 28, 2025


Michael Boyle , The Daily Beast; Stephen Colbert Latches Onto One Disturbing Word in Trump’s Epstein Defense

"Stephen Colbert was baffled by Donald Trump’s attempts to downplay his former friendship with Jeffrey Epstein—especially the claim that the president had “never had the privilege” of going to Epstein’s island. 

Colbert played the clip of Trump saying this to his audience, who groaned at Trump’s choice of words. “I’m sorry,” Colbert said. “What? You never had the privilege of going to Epstein’s island?""

Friday, June 6, 2025

Trump and Musk’s Unlikely Alliance Breaks Down in Rapid and Public Fashion; The New York Times, June 5, 2025

Tyler Pager and  , The New York Times; Trump and Musk’s Unlikely Alliance Breaks Down in Rapid and Public Fashion


[Kip Currier: In the words of fictional billionaire Logan Roy from TV's Succession, these "are not serious people." As George Dillard wrote in a 2024 "We Are Not Serious People" piece for Medium:

"There were a lot of memorable lines in Succession, but Logan’s line is the one I often find myself repeating in my head, because there are not a lot of serious people left in America anymore." 

https://worldhistory.medium.com/we-are-not-serious-people-00ca768240e3

These are not individuals of good character or emotional intelligence whom reasonable, thinking, morally-grounded people with sound judgment would want leading them, working for them, or in a relationship with any family member they care about.

Even more, Trump and Musk et al are not people you want with access to the nuclear codes or in charge of spacecraft and satellites your country depends upon. They care nothing about the well-being of anyone other than themselves and perhaps a tiny handful of people in their immediate oligarchic circles. They are rich in assets and bankrupt in any semblance of decency or dignity.

And yet...here we are. Remember this at election time in 2026 and 2028.]


[Excerpt]

"The sparring swiftly devolved into threats on their respective social media platforms, as Mr. Trump threatened to cut the billions in dollars in federal government contracts with Mr. Musk’s companies. For his part, Mr. Musk unleashed a tirade of attacks on the man he had once lavishly praised. He suggested it might be time to create a new political party, claimed there were references to Mr. Trump in government documents about the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and indicated his support for a post calling for the president’s impeachment."

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

For Jeffrey Epstein, MIT Was Just a Safety School; Wired, May 4, 2020

Noam Cohen, Wired; For Jeffrey Epstein, MIT Was Just a Safety School

"The MIT and Harvard reports are most illuminating when read together. They overlap in revealing ways and share certain observations...

In part, we can chalk up the difference to bad timing. Harvard came first in Epstein’s mind, which, I suppose, says something about its reputation among status-obsessed faux-intellectuals. When Harvard was accepting Esptein’s donations, it was dealing with a disreputable character; MIT, by contrast, was dealing with a convicted sex offender...

What remains is the hard-baked irony that MIT, which got relatively little from Epstein, drew the bad headlines; whereas Harvard, which took 10 times as much of Epstein’s money, could almost claim its hands were clean. MIT announced last year that it would be donating to a charity benefiting sexual-abuse survivors all of its Epstein monies ($850,000 collected before and after his conviction). Harvard on Friday announced that it would be donating to organizations that support victims of human trafficking and sexual assault exactly what was left over from Epstein’s multimillion-dollar donations: $200,937."

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Harvard’s Epstein corruption deserves a full airing — even amid a pandemic; The Washington Post, May 4, 2020

Charles Lane, The Washington Post; Harvard’s Epstein corruption deserves a full airing — even amid a pandemic

[Kip Currier: Fortuitous to see this story -- and the call for this "cautionary" real world case study to be investigated  -- as I’ve included this as a case study in the syllabus for my new graduate course, The Information Professional in the Community, launching next week.


In one of the course’s weekly units, we'll be exploring Harvard's deeply concerning ties to the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and, in columnist Charles Lane's parlance, "the cutting of ethical corners", within the broader context of critically examining Fiscal Considerations, Legal/Ethical/Policy Issues, and Risk Management in Collaborations and Partnerships.] 

"Such grotesque money-grubbing at the pinnacle of U.S. academia — a school, to be sure, that has positioned itself an ethical leader, especially in the movement against sexual assault and gender bias on campus — deserves a full airing, even amid the novel coronavirus pandemic...

It joins a lengthening list of cautionary tales of fundraising excess, such as the admissions-for-cash episode involving athletic teams at Yale, Stanford, the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of Southern California and Georgetown, among others...

The need for cash is probably at or near an all-time high, and so is the risk, reputational and otherwise, of cutting ethical corners to raise it.

Professors and administrators can ill afford the moral arrogance that characterized the dealings of some at Harvard with Epstein, or their sloppiness, or their cluelessness...

Not everyone at Harvard — much less everyone in higher ed — is to blame for this sorry episode. Every college and university can learn from it."

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

How an Élite University Research Center Concealed Its Relationship with Jeffrey Epstein; The New Yorker, September 6, 2019

Ronan Farrow, The New Yorker;

How an Élite University Research Center Concealed Its Relationship with Jeffrey Epstein

New documents show that the M.I.T. Media Lab was aware of Epstein’s status as a convicted sex offender, and that Epstein directed contributions to the lab far exceeding the amounts M.I.T. has publicly admitted.

 

"Current and former faculty and staff of the media lab described a pattern of concealing Epstein’s involvement with the institution. Signe Swenson, a former development associate and alumni coordinator at the lab, told me that she resigned in 2016 in part because of her discomfort about the lab’s work with Epstein. She said that the lab’s leadership made it explicit, even in her earliest conversations with them, that Epstein’s donations had to be kept secret...

Swenson said that, even though she resigned over the lab’s relationship with Epstein, her participation in what she took to be a coverup of his contributions has weighed heavily on her since. Her feelings of guilt were revived when she learned of recent statements from Ito and M.I.T. leadership that she believed to be lies. “I was a participant in covering up for Epstein in 2014,” she told me. “Listening to what comments are coming out of the lab or M.I.T. about the relationship—I just see exactly the same thing happening again.”"

He Who Must Not Be Tolerated; The New York Times, September 8, 2019

Kara Swisher, The New York Times;

He Who Must Not Be Tolerated

Joi Ito’s fall from grace for his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein was much deserved. But his style of corner-cutting ethics is all too common in tech. 

"Voldemort? 

Of all the terrible details of the gross fraud that the former head of the M.I.T. Media Lab, Joichi Ito, and his minions perpetrated in trying to cover up donations by Jeffrey Epstein to the high-profile tech research lab, perhaps giving a pedophile a nickname of a character in a book aimed at children was the most awful.

“The effort to conceal the lab’s contact with Epstein was so widely known that some staff in the office of the lab’s director, Joi Ito, referred to Epstein as Voldemort or ‘he who must not be named,’ ” wrote Ronan Farrow in The New Yorker, in his eviscerating account of the moral and leadership failings of one of the digital industry’s top figures."

The Moral Rot of the MIT Media Lab; Slate, September 8, 2019

Justin Peters, Slate; The Moral Rot of the MIT Media Lab

"Over the course of the past century, MIT became one of the best brands in the world, a name that confers instant credibility and stature on all who are associated with it. Rather than protect the inherent specialness of this brand, the Media Lab soiled it again and again by selling its prestige to banks, drug companies, petroleum companies, carmakers, multinational retailers, at least one serial sexual predator, and others who hoped to camouflage their avarice with the sheen of innovation. There is a big difference between taking money from someone like Epstein and taking it from Nike or the Department of Defense, but the latter choices pave the way for the former."