British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell’s previous “extremely personal” testimony regarding her sex life as the alleged madam of deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein may soon be made public following a decision by a U.S. appeals court on Monday.
Reuters reports the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said there was a presumption the public had a right to see Maxwell’s 418-page deposition, which was taken in April 2016 for a now-settled civil defamation lawsuit against her.
In an unsigned order, the court also said U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan did not abuse her discretion in rejecting Maxwell’s “meritless arguments” that her interests superseded that presumption.
Maxwell’s lawyers have previously said the deposition concerns attempts to “compel Ms Maxwell to answer intrusive questions about her sex life.”
They have called the questioning “extremely personal, confidential and subject to considerable abuse by the media.”
As Breitbart News reported, federal authorities have held Maxwell without bail since she was arrested at secret New Hampshire compound on July 2.
U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan previously ruled she was a flight risk, citing the fact she faces 35 years in prison if convicted.
Maxwell, 58, has pleaded not guilty to helping Epstein recruit and groom underage girls as young as 14 to engage in illegal sexual acts in the mid-1990s, and not guilty to perjury for having denied involvement in the deposition.
A trial is scheduled for next July.
Maxwell, who is currently locked up in a Brooklyn detention center, is said to believe Epstein was murdered in his prison cell and fears she will be next, a family friend of the alleged madame told The Sun.
“Everyone’s view, including Ghislaine’s, is Epstein was murdered. She received death threats before she was arrested,” the former friend also told the British tabloid paper.
Maxwell is the daughter of the late British media magnate Robert Maxwell and was frequently seen at Epstein’s side in a high-profile social life among leading figures from the worlds of politics and the arts.
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