Ghislaine Maxwell loses court battle to hide Epstein case testimony

Jeffrey Epstein's confidante Ghislaine Maxwell has lost her fight to keep testimony about Epstein a secret.

A federal appeals court ruled against Maxwell in two combined cases on Monday, the Miami Herald reports. A lower court had ruled Maxwell's 2016 testimony regarding Epstein could be released, and the Second Circuit court agreed.

In question was a 418-page deposition Maxwell gave in April 2016 in a now-settled civil lawsuit regarding Epstein, the disgraced financier who died in jail after being accused of running a minor sex ring. The suit came from Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre. The transcripts "could shed new light on the Epstein empire," as Maxwell is alleged to have aided Epstein for years, the Miami Herald suggests. The Herald, which has published groundbreaking reporting on Epstein and Maxwell, had sued to get the documents released.

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Maxwell was arrested over the summer and is awaiting trial for charges of sexually trafficking minor girls. Maxwell's lawyers argued releasing the documents' "intimate, sensitive, and personal" information could jeopardize Maxwell from having a fair trial. Maxwell has denied the charges against her.