SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Dec 2 – Ghislaine
Maxwell,
charged with
sex
trafficking
and other
charges, faces
a November 29,
2021 trial today, after
the
November 23
final-final
pre trial conference,
vlog here.
On October 29
and again on November 12
Maxell
and the US
Attorney's
Office for the
Southern
District of
New York filed
a flurry of
motions in
limine,
heavily
redacted; the
Government
argued that
trial exhibits
are not public
and will be
withheld.
Inner City
Press opposed
and opposes
the continued
secrecy.
The
entire morning
of Day 1 was
devoted to
the final selection
of the jury.
Inner City
Press live
tweeted it here
(vlog on way in here;
podcast
midway through
here)
At 2 pm, the
government's
opening
statement.
Inner City Press
live tweeted
here.
Then
Maxwell's
opening, which
Inner City
Press live
tweeted here:
(podcast here)
First
of Day 2 was
the US witness,
Epstein pilot
Larry Visoski,
Inner City
Press live
tweeted his Day
1 here
(podcast here)
and his Day 2
with cross
examination here
(podcast here)
(vlog here)
In the
afternoon of
Day 2, things
got real, with
pseudonymous
witness Jane describing
rape. Inner
City Press,
wincing, live
tweeted here
(podcast here).
On December
1
in the
morning,
Maxwell's lawyer
Laura A. Menninger continued
her cross
examination. Inner
City Press
live tweeted
here (podcast
here)
(9 am
vlog here)
On the
afternoon of
December 1,
there was
Jane's ex-boyfriend
"Matt," and an
accountant
from the Interlochen music
school in
Michigan.
Inner City
Press live
tweeted both
here.
After
court on December
1, Ghislaine
Maxwell's
brother held a
no-question
press
conference (Video
I, Video
II) in
front of the
courthouse,
citing a hype
and
hypocritical
complaint to
the UN
(whose
Secretary
General Antonio Guterres
had a
representative,
Amir Dossal,
on the board
of directors
of Ghislaine
Maxwell's
Terramar
Foundation.
On the
morning
of December 2,
the US put on
another
school
administrator,
and then their
grooming expert. Inner
City Press
live
tweeted here
(podcast here,
9 am
vlog here)
On the
afternoon of
December 2,
longtime house
maintenance
man Juan
Alessi
testified on
direct. Inner
City Press
live tweeted
here,
podcast here:
Next US witness is Juan Patricio
Alessi. AUSA: Where do you come from? Alessi:
Quito, Ecuador. AUSA: When did you move to
Florida? Alessi: Early 1984. I worked for a
wealthy family in Palm Beach, I was a
maintenance guy. Then I worked for Mister
Jeffrey Epstein
AUSA: How did you meet Epstein? Alessi:
I was working on Mister Wexner's mother's
house. [!] AUSA: Who is in this photo? Alessi:
Mr. Jeffrey Epstein.
AUSA: When Mr. Epstein was in Palm
Beach, where did you sleep? Alessi: I had a
room there. AUSA: Who else worked there?
Alessi: I brought my wife to help me. And
other girls.
AUSA: How did things changed after Ms.
Maxwell got involved? Alessi: Things were less
cordial. Less conversation. I was not allowed
to see Mr. Epstein anymore, unless he asked me
question. Ms. Maxwell said, Don't look at his
eyes, "look at another part of him."
And with that, and a blue print of the house
on the screens, Judge Nathan says: The jurors'
lunch has arrived. Let's break. [Programming
note: thinking break was at 1, will be on Las
Vegas radio at 1:10. But will find a way to
resume thread when Alessi continues
AUSA: How many times did you see females by
Mr. Epstein's pool? Alessi: 100s. AUSA: How
often were they topless? Alessi: 75% of the
time.
AUSA: How about Little St. James?
Alessi: I was on a cruise with my wife to St.
Thomas. They picked us up & showed us
Little St. James. It was huge.
AUSA: Did you visit any Ms Maxwell property?
Alessi: Her townhome in London. She invited
us. It had a red front door
AUSA: What conversations did you have with Ms.
Maxwell about this booklet? Alessi: I told her
I could not do this checklist, with all my
other work. AUSA: Show them Gov Exhibit 606.
AUSA: How long is this book? Alessi: 58
pages. AUSA: What is it? Alessi: List of
what were supposed to do to maintain the
house.
Now Maxwell's lawyer will question
Alessi about the book of instructions.
Maxwell's lawyer: When you left, you didn't
have this in your possession did you? Alessi:
No I did not. Maxwell's lawyer: But this book
was created after you left, at least by the
date on it.
Maxwell's lawyer: We object to 606. AUSA: He
identified pages. Judge Nathan: I'm overruling
the objection. 606 is admitted. AUSA: We you
recognize the address at the bottom? ALessi:
Mr. Epstein's residence.
AUSA: There's a reference to the JE and
the GM telephone directories. What were they?
Alessi: Books with hundreds and hundreds of
names. Directions and addreses.
Alessi: They were 2 inches thick. Full of
names. AUSA [for some reason turning away from
the 2 black books, at least for now] Let's
turn to page 23, about Ms. Maxwell's desk.
What does it say?
Alessi: Please the directory to the right of
the phone. Assistant US Attorney: What is
this? Alessi: Instructions for serving
breakfast. Sometimes at 5 am. AUSA: Who else
worked there? Alessi: Chefs. My wife. Ms
Maxwell's assistant. Then Sarah Kellen.
Alessi: Two females seemed to be
underage. AUSA: Don't say their names. Jurors,
look at the binders under your chairs. GX 12.
Alessi: Can I have a cup of water? Then:
AUSA: Is that name the person we'll call Jane?
Alessi: Yes. I met Virginia Roberts too.
AUSA: I have a physical exhibit, GX 52. May I
approach the witness? Do you recognize it?
AUSA: What is it? Alessi: It is the directory.
AUSA: Did you review it last night? Alessi: I
did. AUSA: Every page? Alessi: Yes. AUSA: How
many names? Alessi: Many. Many. Many.
AUSA: Is this the same you saw when you were
that or a later version? Alessi: A later
version. AUSA: Pull up Exhibit 52a. It is a
sealed exhibit.
Judge Nathan: Let's take a break. [No snacks
mentioned. But tasty podcast coming soon
Wait, still no podcast - with jury out,
lawyers' arguments continue. Assistant US
Attorney says "We are not offering the full
exhibit 52 [the black book]. [Why not?] AUSA:
Is Sarah Kellen in this version? Objection -
leading. Judge Nathan: I'll overrule that.
[Long sidebar, after which Maxwell's lawyer
does the questioning] Maxwell's lawyer: As you
sit here today, 19 years later, you have no
idea where Exhibit 52 has been?
Maxwell's lawyer: You said the book was
two inches thick. But Exhibit 52 is a quarter
inch thick, correct? Alessi: Yes. Maxwell's
lawyer: The book you were talking about was
from New York, right? Alessi: Yes.
Maxwell's lawyer: And the PostIt(TM)
notes weren't there, right? Alessi: Right. But
it continues: AUSA: Did you take messages for
Mr. Epstein? How? Alessi: If he didn't want to
talk the call. Or wasn't there.
Maxwell's lawyer: There are a number of
pages without dates next to the names. Do you
know that? Alessi: I guess so. Judge Nathan:
Exhibits admitted. AUSA: They are sealed - not
to be put on screens, binders only. More
more questions: AUSA: What supplies did you
buy for the massages? Alessi: No oils, I was -
Maxwell's lawyer: Objection!
AUSA: Did Ms Maxwell give you supplies?
Alessi: Exotic oils for other countries. AUSA:
Was Mr. Epstein's door open during the
massages? Alessi: Never. Afterward I went in
with gloves. AUSA: Why? Alessi: To clean up.
AUSA: What did you see after the
massages? Towels? Alessi: Yes. But not all of
the massages. AUSA: Do any incidents
stand out in your mind? Alessi: I found a
large dildo. AUSA Comey: What did you do with
it? Alessi: Wash it up.
AUSA: Where did you put the dildo?
Alessi: In Ms. Maxwell's bathroom. In a
basket. AUSA: How did you know where to put
it? Alessi: I knew everything going on in the
house.
AUSA: What else was in the basket? Alessi: I
saw pornographic tapes. AUSA: How often did
you see the dildo? Alessi: At least five
times. AUSA: And the other one, the massager,
did the ball at the end vibrate? Alessi: Yes.
I would put it at the top of Mr. Epstein's
dresser.
AUSA Comey: What photos were in the house?
Alessi: Photos of Mr Epstein and Ms Maxwell
with important people.
AUSA: Like who?
Alessi: Donald Trust. The Pope, I think,
Fidel Castro.
AUSA: Were there photographs of naked women?
Alessi: Yes. But those were kept in Ms.
Maxwell's desk.
AUSA: Why did you leave Mr Epstein's employ?
Alessi: I was sick and tired. AUSA: Did
you sign a non-disclosure agreement? Alessi:
Yes. About both of them.
AUSA: Were you questioned by the police after
you took $6300 from Mr. Epstein? Alessi: Yes.
AUSA: Were you arrested?
Inner
City Press #CourtCaseCast
coverage
will continue.
On
November 23
there was a
final final
pre-trial
conference and
Inner City
Press live
tweeted it here
(podcast
here)
Likewise,
Inner City
Press opposes
censorship by
the UN, which
after it asked
why UN
Sec-Gen
Antonio
Guterres' head
of Partnerships
Amir Dossal
was
on the board
of Maxwell's
Terramar Foundation
was roughed up
and banned
from the UN,
summary here,
Quinn
Emanuel lawyers'
letter Q&A
here.
Now this: a
petition,
submitted
Monday to the
United Nations
Working Group
on Arbitrary
Detention,
filed by
international
criminal
lawyers
François
Zimeray and
Jessica
Finelle on
behalf of
Maxwell’s
three sisters
and three
brothers, arguing to
Maxwell's
partners at
the UN that
Maxwell’s
“abnormally
rigorous”
lock-up
conditions at
the
Metropolitan
Detention
Center in
Brooklyn are
horrific,
and thus
unlawful and
discriminatory.
The petition asks
the UN to call
on the US
government to
release
Maxwell
pending trial
and to urge an
independent
investigation
into her
“arbitrary
detention.”
This
while the UN
active covers up its own
peacekepers
child rapes.
This is
ghoulish.
On November
15, Judge
Nathan held a
conference
about jury
selection, Inner
City Press
live tweeted here
(and podcast here)
On the
morning of
November 16,
Judge Nathan
questioned prospective
jurors; Inner
City Press
live tweeted here
(podcast here); Nov 16
afternoon here.
Late on
November 16 it
emerged
that Judge Ali
Nathan is
being
nominated for
elevation to
the Second
Circuit Court
of Appeals by
Senator Chuck Schumer.
She
said, "If I am
nominated
I...will
continue to do
my day job,
which means
presiding over
this trial
until
completion and
handling the
hundreds of
other civil
and criminal
matters on my
docket."
So
it
appears she would
complete the
Maxwell trial.
But any
sentencing?
Would she
follow 2d
Circuit Judge
Richard J.
Sullivan in
keeping some
SDNY cases? (As
noted,
Judge Sullivan
is still
rightly allowing
call-in lines
to in-person
cases, here).
On
November 17,
jury selection
continued with
questions of
seized phones,
jail
conditions,
and the death
of Epstein, Inner
City Press
live tweeted here
(podcast here)
On the
afternoon of
November 17,
it continued,
Inner
City Press
live tweeted here
(podcast here)
Jury
(pre)
selection
ended on the morning
of November
18, Inner City
Press live
tweeted here
With so much
of the case,
and so many of
the victims, far
from Epstein's
Manhattan
townhouse, in Florida,
the Caribbean,
New Mexico,
the UK and by
private jet in
Africa, the lack
amid COVID of
a listen-only
call-in line during
the trial
proper would
be all the
more unfortunate.
On October 29,
after the flurry of redacted
motions, Inner City Press
filed formal requests with
SDNY District Judge Alison J.
Nathan, on DocumentCloud here.
On
November 12, while Maxwell and
DOJ still redacting and a
notice that after 50 people,
no more would be admitted even
on November 15, Inner City
Press filed again. This time,
both letters were docketed -
appreciated - but denied,
letter on CourtListener here.
"ENDORSED LETTER
as to Ghislaine Maxwell
addressed to Judge Alison J.
Nathan from Matthew Russell
Lee, dated 10/29/2021, re:
timely opposition to blanket
requests to seal portions of
motions in limine, trial
exhibits, public access.
ENDORSEMENT: The Court
received the attached letters
via email. This District no
longer permits public access
by telephone for in-court
criminal proceedings,
including trials. The
memorandum can be found here.
The Courts public access
orders for all proceedings in
the case can be found here.
The Court has implemented a
procedure for docketing
filings with proposed
redactions and is ruling on
the proposals as expeditiously
as possible. See Dkt. No. 401.
SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge
Alison J. Nathan on
11/12/2021)."
Earlier on
November 12, Inner City Press
called in to, and reported on,
a January 6 case in the
District for the District of
Columbia - and even other
in-person criminal matters in
the SDNY. For November 15,
only 50 people will be allowed
in. Meanwhile, for example,
the Kyle Rittenhouse in
Wisconsin state court is on
YouTube. While engaged and
appreciative on the
Federal / SDNY beat,
we'll have more on this.
Here was from the
October 29 request: Re: US v.
Maxwell, 20-cr-330 (AJN),
timely opposition to blanket
requests to seal portions of
motions in limine, trial
exhibits, public access
Dear Judge
Nathan: On
behalf of Inner City Press and
in my personal capacity, I
have been covering the
above-captioned case. This
concerns in the first instance
the flurry of motions in
limine filed earlier this
evening, replete with
redactions justified by a
conclusory reference to Lugosch
v. Pyramid Co. of Onondaga,
435 F.3d 110 (2d Cir.
2006).
The
Government's Justifications
for redaction (Docket No. 399,
docketed at 10:06 pm on Friday
Oct 29) cites Lugosch then
says "The Government also
seeks sealing of trial
exhibits, which are not
public." Inner City Press
immediately opposes
this.
As one
example within this motions of
limine, the Government has
redacted the entirety of its
Argument X, even the title and
the page number. And as to
trial exhibits, see for
example Judge Jed S. Rakoff's
order in US v. Weigand,
20-cr-188 (JSR), here.
There,
Judge Rakoff ordered the US
Attorney's Office to make
trial exhibit available to the
public at large. While this
was done, belatedly, in US v.
Parnas, it was refused in the
current US v. Cole. It cannot
be refused in this
case. Also,
Inner City Press understands
that the listen-only call-in
telephone lines available so
far in the case, there may be
an attempt to discontinue
them. The Court should take
judicial notice of continuing
COVID-19 issues, including
people's understandable
concerns about congregating
even in so-called overflow
rooms. Be aware that the
District for the District of
Columbia still allows public
phone access to all criminal
proceedings, even those held
in-person. That should happen
here. The loss of First
Amendment freedoms, even for a
short period of time,
unquestionably constitutes
irreparable injury. Elrod
v. Burns, 427 U.S. 347,
373
(1976).
Inner City Press
will cover the trial, and all
the comes before and after it;
#CourtCaseCast and song I,
Song
2, Song
3, fifth song
and now Nov
27 song
On October 18 the
US Attorney's Office opposed
the request, saying the the
voir dire questions should be
asked by Judge Nathan, and
that there should only be
sidebars on "sensitive
questions such as those that
relate to sexual abuse and
media exposure." Full letter
on Patreon here.
In a
conference on October 21 on
that as scheduling issues,
Judge Nathan denied the
request to seal. Inner City
Press live tweeted it
here (podcast here)
On October 22 the
draft jury questionnaire was
unsealed and Inner City Press
has immediately published it
on its DocumentCloud here,
including "Have you or a
family member ever supported,
lobbied, petitioned,
protested, or worked in
any other manner for or
against any laws, regulations,
or organizations relating to
sex trafficking, sex crimes
against minors, sex abuse or
sexual harassment?" Photo here.
After the death of Jeffrey
Epstein in the MCC prison, on
July 2 Acting US Attorney for
the SDNY Audrey Strauss
announced and unsealed in
indictment of Maxwell on
charges including sex
trafficking and perjury.
Inner City Press went to her
press conference at the US
Attorney's Office and asked,
Doesn't charging Maxwell with
perjury undercut any ability
to use testimony from her
against other, bigger
wrong-doers? Periscope here
at 23:07.
Strauss
replied that it is not
impossible to use a perjurer's
testimony. But how often does
it work?
At 3:30 pm
on July 2 Maxwell appeared in
the U.S. District Court for
the District of New Hampsire,
before Magistriate Judge Andrea
K. Johnstone.
Inner City
Press live
tweeted it
here.
(Also
live tweeted
bail denial of
July 14, here.)
In
the July 3 media coverage of
Maxwell, media all of the
world used a video and stills
from it of Maxwell speaking in
front of a blue curtain, like
here.
What they
did not mention is something
Inner City Press has been
asking the UN about, as under
UNSG Antonio Guterres with his
own sexual exploitation issues
(exclusive video
and audio)
it got roughed up and banned
from the UN: Ghislaine Maxwell
had a ghoulish United Nations
press conference, under the
banner of the "Terramar
Project," here.
On July 5,
after some crowd-sourcing,
Inner City Press reported on
another Ghislaine Maxwell use
of the United Nations,
facilitated by Italy's
Permanent Representative to
the UN, UN official Nikhil
Seth and Amir Dossal,
who also let into the UN and
in one case took money from
convicted UN briber Ng Lap
Seng, and Patrick Ho of CEFC
China Energy, also linked to
UN Secretary General Antonio
Guterres.
At the
Ghislaine Maxwell UN event,
the UN Deputy Secretary
General was directly involved.
List of (some of)
the participants on Patreon here.
Inner City
Press has published a phone of
Maxwell in the UN with Dossal,
here. But the connection runs
deeper: Dossal with "25 years
of UN involvement" was on
Terrarmar's board of
directors, one of only five
directors, only three not
related to Maxwell by blood
and name.
The directors:
Ghislaine Maxwell, Christine
Malina-Maxwell, Steven Haft,
Christine Dennison and... Amir
Dossal. Inner City Press is
publishing this full 990 on
Patreon here.
Dossal has
operated through the UN Office
of Partnership, with Antonio
Guterres and his deputy Amina
J. Mohammed, here.
And the links to
the world of UN bribery,
including Antonio Guterres
through the Gulbenkian
Foundation, runs deeper. More
to follow.
Antonio Guterres
claims he has zero tolerance
for sexual exploitation, but
covers it up and even
participate in it. He should
be forced to resign - and/or
have immunity waived.
Terramar
has been dissolved, even
though Maxwell's former
fundraiser / director of
development Brian Yurasits
still lists the URL on his
(protected) Twitter profile,
also here.
But now
Inner City Press has begun to
inquire into Ghislaine
Maxwell's other United Nations
connections, starting with
this photograph of another
day's (or at least another
outfit's) presentation in the
UN, here.
While co-conspirator Antonio
Guterres has had Inner City
Press banned from any entry
into the UN for two years and
a day, this appears to be in
the UN Economic and Social
Council (ECOSOC) chamber.
We'll have more on this, and
on Epstein and the UN. Watch
this site.
The case
is US v. Maxwell, 20-cr-330
(Nathan).
***
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