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RE: Ghislaine Maxwell Redacted Documents

3
PARTIES

  1. Plaintiff Giuffre is an individual who is a citizen of the State of Colorado.
  2. Defendant Maxwell, who is domiciled in the Southern District of New York, is
    not a citizen of the state of Colorado.
    FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS
  3. Virginia Giuffre became a victim of sex trafficking and repeated sexual abuse
    after being recruited by Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein when Giuffre was under the age
    of eighteen.
  4. Between 1999 and 2002, with the assistance and participation of Maxwell,
    Epstein sexually abused Giuffre at numerous locations including his mansions in West Palm
    Beach, Florida, and in this District. Between 2001 and 2007, with the assistance of numerous
    co-conspirators, Epstein abused more than thirty (30) minor underage girls, a fact confirmed by
    state and federal law enforcement.
  5. As part of their sex trafficking efforts, Epstein and Maxwell intimidated Giuffre
    into remaining silent about what had happened to her.
  6. In September 2007, Epstein entered into a Non-Prosecution Agreement (“NPA”)
    that barred his prosecution for numerous federal sex crimes in the Southern District of Florida.
  7. In the NPA, the United States additionally agreed that it would not institute any
    federal criminal charges against any potential co-conspirators of Epstein.
  8. As a co-conspirator of Epstein, Maxwell was consequently granted immunity in
    the Southern District of Florida through the NPA.
  9. Epstein ultimately pled guilty to procuring a minor for prostitution, and is now a
    registered sex offender.
    Case 1:15-cv-07433-RWS Document 1 Filed 09/21/15 Page 3 of 12
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  1. Rather than confer with the victims about the NPA, the U.S. Attorney’s Office
    and Epstein agreed to a “confidentiality” provision in the Agreement barring its disclosure to
    anyone—including Epstein’s victims. As a consequence, the victims were not told about the
    NPA.
  2. On July 7, 2008, a young woman identified as Jane Doe No. 1, one of Jeffrey
    Epstein’s victims (other than Giuffre), filed a petition to enforce her rights under the Crime
    Victims’ Rights Act (“CVRA”), 18 U.S.C. ¶ 3771, alleging that the Government failed to
    provide her the rights promised in the CVRA with regard to the plea arrangement with Epstein.
    The litigation remains ongoing.
  3. On or about May 4, 2009, Virginia Giuffre—identified then as Jane Doe No.
    102—filed a complaint against Jeffrey Epstein in the United States District Court for the
    Southern District of Florida. The complaint included allegations made by Giuffre that pertained
    to Maxwell.
  4. In pertinent part, the Jane Doe No. 102 complaint described in detail how
    Maxwell recruited Giuffre (who was then a minor girl) to become a victim of sex trafficking by
    introducing Giuffre to Jeffrey Epstein. With the assistance of Maxwell, Epstein was able to
    sexually abuse Giuffre for years until Giuffre eventually escaped.
  5. The Jane Doe No. 102 complaint contained the first public allegations made on
    behalf of Giuffre regarding Maxwell.
  6. As civil litigation against Epstein moved forward on behalf of Giuffre and many
    other similarly-situated victims, Maxwell was served with a subpoena for deposition. Her
    testimony was sought concerning her personal knowledge and role in Epstein’s abuse of Giuffre
    and others.
    Case 1:15-cv-07433-RWS Document 1 Filed 09/21/15 Page 4 of 12

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  1. To avoid her deposition, Maxwell claimed that her mother fell deathly ill and that
    consequently she was leaving the United States for London with no plans of ever returning. In
    fact, however, within weeks of using that excuse to avoid testifying, Maxwell had returned to
    New York.
  2. In 2011, two FBI agents located Giuffre in Australia—where she had been hiding
    from Epstein and Maxwell for several years—and arranged to meet with her at the U.S.
    Consulate in Sidney. Giuffre provided truthful and accurate information to the FBI about
    Epstein and Maxwell’s sexual abuse.
  3. Ultimately, as a mother and one of Epstein’s many victims, Giuffre believed that
    she should speak out about her sexual abuse experiences in hopes of helping others who had also
    suffered from sexual trafficking and abuse.
  4. On December 23, 2014, Giuffre incorporated an organization called Victims
    Refuse Silence, Inc., a Florida not-for-profit corporation.
  5. Giuffre intended Victims Refuse Silence to change and improve the fight against
    sexual abuse and human trafficking. The goal of her organization was, and continues to be, to
    help survivors surmount the shame, silence, and intimidation typically experienced by victims of
    sexual abuse. Giuffre has now dedicated her professional life to helping victims of sex
    trafficking.
  6. On December 30, 2014, Giuffre moved to join the on-going litigation previously
    filed by Jane Doe 1 in the Southern District of Florida challenging Epstein’s non-prosecution
    agreement by filing her own joinder motion.
    Case 1:15-cv-07433-RWS Document 1 Filed 09/21/15 Page 5 of 12

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  1. Giuffre’s motion described Maxwell’s role as one of the main women who
    Epstein used to procure under-aged girls for sexual activities and a primary co-conspirator and
    participant in his sexual abuse and sex trafficking scheme.
  2. In January, 2015, Maxwell undertook a concerted and malicious campaign to
    discredit Giuffre and to so damage her reputation that Giuffre’s factual reporting of what had
    happened to her would not be credited.
  3. As part of Maxwell’s campaign she directed her agent, Ross Gow, to attack
    Giuffre’s honesty and truthfulness and to accuse Giuffre of lying.
  4. On or about January 3, 2015, speaking through her authorized agent, Maxwell
    issued an additional false statement to the media and public designed to maliciously discredit
    Giuffre. That statement contained the following deliberate falsehoods:
    (a) That Giuffre’s sworn allegations “against Ghislaine Maxwell are untrue.”
    (b) That the allegations have been “shown to be untrue.”
    (c) That Giuffre’s “claims are obvious lies.”
  5. Maxwell’s January 3, 2015, statement incorporated by reference “Ghislaine
    Maxwell’s original response to the lies and defamatory claims remains the same,” an earlier
    statement that had falsely described Giuffre’s factual assertions as “entirely false” and “entirely
    untrue.”
  6. Maxwell made the same false and defamatory statements as set forth above, in the
    Southern District of New York and elsewhere in a deliberate effort to maliciously discredit
    Giuffre and silence her efforts to expose sex crimes committed around the world by Maxwell,
    Epstein, and other powerful persons. Maxwell did so with the purpose and effect of having
    Case 1:15-cv-07433-RWS Document 1 Filed 09/21/15 Page 6 of 12

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others repeat such false and defamatory statements and thereby further damaged Giuffre’s
reputation.

  1. Maxwell made her statements to discredit Giuffre in close consultation with
    Epstein. Maxwell made her statements knowing full well they were false.
  2. Maxwell made her statements maliciously as part of an effort to conceal sex
    trafficking crimes committed around the world by Maxwell, Epstein and other powerful persons.
  3. Maxwell intended her false and defamatory statements set out above to be
    broadcast around the world and to intimidate and silence Giuffre from making further efforts to
    expose sex crimes committed by Maxwell, Epstein, and other powerful persons.
  4. Maxwell intended her false statements to be specific statements of fact, including
    a statement that she had not recruited an underage Giuffre for Epstein’s abuse. Maxwell’s false
    statements were broadcast around the world and were reasonably understood by those who heard
    them to be specific factual claims by Maxwell that she had not helped Epstein recruit or sexually
    abuse Giuffre and that Giuffre was a liar.
  5. On or about January 4, 2015, Maxwell continued her campaign to falsely and
    maliciously discredit Giuffre. When a reporter on a Manhattan street asked Maxwell about
    Giuffre’s allegations against Maxwell, she responded by saying: “I am referring to the statement
    that we made.” The New York Daily News published a video of this response by Maxwell
    indicating that she made her false statements on East 65th Street in Manhattan, New York, within
    the Southern District of New York.

Case 1:15-cv-07433-RWS Document 1 Filed 09/21/15 Page 7 of 12

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COUNT I
DEFAMATION

  1. Plaintiff Giuffre re-alleges paragraphs 1 - 37 as if the same were fully set forth
    herein. Maxwell made her false and defamatory statements deliberately and maliciously with the
    intent to intimidate, discredit and defame Giuffre.
  2. In January 2015, and thereafter, Maxwell intentionally and maliciously released to
    the press her false statements about Giuffre in an attempt to destroy Giuffre’s reputation and
    cause her to lose all credibility in her efforts to help victims of sex trafficking.
  3. Maxwell additionally released to the press her false statements with knowledge
    that her words would dilute, discredit and neutralize Giuffre’s public and private messages to
    sexual abuse victims and ultimately prevent Giuffre from effectively providing assistance and
    advocacy on behalf of other victims of sex trafficking, or to expose her abusers.
  4. Using her role as a powerful figure with powerful friends, Maxwell’s statements
    were published internationally for the malicious purpose of further damaging a sexual abuse and
    sexual trafficking victim; to destroy Giuffre’s reputation and credibility; to cause the world to
    disbelieve Giuffre; and to destroy Giuffre’s efforts to use her experience to help others suffering
    as sex trafficking victims.
  5. Maxwell, personally and through her authorized agent, Ross Gow, intentionally
    and maliciously made false and damaging statements of fact concerning Giuffre, as detailed
    above, in the Southern District of New York and elsewhere.
  6. The false statements made by Gow were all made by him as Maxwell’s
    authorized agent and were made with direct and actual authority from Maxwell as the principal.
    Case 1:15-cv-07433-RWS Document 1 Filed 09/21/15 Page 8 of 12

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  1. The false statements that Maxwell made personally, and through her authorized
    agent Gow, not only called Giuffre’s truthfulness and integrity into question, but also exposed
    Giuffre to public hatred, contempt, ridicule, and disgrace.
  2. Maxwell made her false statements knowing full well that they were completely
    false. Accordingly, she made her statements with actual and deliberate malice, the highest
    degree of awareness of falsity.
  3. Maxwell’s false statements constitute libel, as she knew that they were going to
    be transmitted in writing, widely disseminated on the internet and in print. Maxwell intended her
    false statements to be published by newspaper and other media outlets internationally, and they
    were, in fact, published globally, including within the Southern District of New York.
  4. Maxwell’s false statements constitute libel per se inasmuch as they exposed
    Giuffre to public contempt, ridicule, aversion, and disgrace, and induced an evil opinion of her in
    the minds of right-thinking persons.
  5. Maxwell’s false statements also constitute libel per se inasmuch as they tended to
    injure Giuffre in her professional capacity as the president of a non-profit corporation designed
    to help victims of sex trafficking, and inasmuch as they destroyed her credibility and reputation
    among members of the community that seeks her help and that she seeks to serve.
  6. Maxwell’s false statements directly stated and also implied that in speaking out
    against sex trafficking Giuffre acted with fraud, dishonesty, and unfitness for the task.
    Maxwell’s false statements directly and indirectly indicate that Giuffre lied about being recruited
    by Maxwell and sexually abused by Epstein and Maxwell. Maxwell’s false statements were
    reasonably understood by many persons who read her statements as conveying that specific
    intention and meaning.
    Case 1:15-cv-07433-RWS Document 1 Filed 09/21/15 Page 9 of 12

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  1. Maxwell’s false statements were reasonably understood by many persons who
    read those statements as making specific factual claims that Giuffre was lying about specific
    facts.
  2. Maxwell specifically directed her false statements at Giuffre’s true public
    description of factual events, and many persons who read Maxwell’s statements reasonably
    understood that those statements referred directly to Giuffre’s account of her life as a young
    teenager with Maxwell and Epstein.
  3. Maxwell intended her false statements to be widely published and disseminated
    on television, through newspapers, by word of mouth and on the internet. As intended by
    Maxwell, her statements were published and disseminated around the world.
  4. Maxwell coordinated her false statements with other media efforts made by
    Epstein and other powerful persons acting as Epstein’s representatives and surrogates. Maxwell
    made and coordinated her statements in the Southern District of New York and elsewhere with
    the specific intent to amplify the defamatory effect those statements would have on Giuffre’s
    reputation and credibility.
  5. Maxwell made her false statements both directly and through agents who, with
    her general and specific authorization, adopted, distributed, and published the false statements on
    Maxwell’s behalf. In addition, Maxwell and her authorized agents made false statements in
    reckless disregard of their truth or falsity and with malicious intent to destroy Giuffre’s
    reputation and credibility; to prevent her from further disseminating her life story; and to cause
    persons hearing or reading Giuffre’s descriptions of truthful facts to disbelieve her entirely.
    Maxwell made her false statements wantonly and with the specific intent to maliciously damage
    Giuffre’s good name and reputation in a way that would destroy her efforts to administer her
    Case 1:15-cv-07433-RWS Document 1 Filed 09/21/15 Page 10 of 12