Ghislaine Maxwell denies trafficking Prince Andrew accuser to London for sex

Jeffrey Epstein Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell
Formerly sealed documents in which Ghislaine Maxwell was asked about her knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking operations have been published in the US for the first time.

Formerly sealed documents in which Ghislaine Maxwell was asked about her knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking operations have been published in the US for the first time.

The name Prince Andrew does not appear, there are many redacted names and sections, but Maxwell is asked about the claims by Epstein victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre that she was trafficked to London to have sex with the prince.

The deposition, running to more than 460 pages, was made in 2016 and Ms Maxwell's legal team had been trying to prevent them being made public.

Lawyers for Virginia Roberts Giuffre were questioning Maxwell as part of a defamation case.

Ms Roberts Giuffre claims she was trafficked and forced to have sex with Prince Andrew on three occasions.

Prince Andrew categorically denies those claims and said in a television interview last year that he never remembers even meeting Virginia Roberts Giuffre.

Prince Andrew was friends with Ghislaine Maxwell for many years and he also had a friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that he terminated in 2010.

Audrey Strauss, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Credit: John Minchillo/AP

Many sections of the 465 page document have been redacted to protect certain names and details.

In one section, Ms Maxwell is asked: "Did BLANK ever tell you that he had sex with Virginia Roberts [Giuffre]?"

Maxwell replies: "He did not."

She is then asked by Ms Roberts Guiffre's lawyer: " Did Jeffrey Epstein ever tell you that BLANK had sex with Virginia Roberts?"

Maxwell gives the same reply: "He did not."

During questions about a time in London, Ghislaine Maxwell is asked: "Do you recall Virginia being at your London town home?"

She replies: "I do not."

Questions are being asked over Prince Andrew's former friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Another question: "Do you recall going to dinner with BLANK, Jeffrey Epstein and Virgin Roberts in London at any time?"

Maxwell: "I do not".

After a lengthy five lines are redacted, Ghislaine Maxwell's does on to reply: "I do not have any recollection of it happening and I doubt it actually happened."

Maxwell was then asked if she observed "BLANK" go into a room with Ms Roberts Giuffre "alone" in her town house.

Ghislaine Maxwell said: "I cannot recall.

Those questions on London are significant, because Virginia Roberts, who now also uses the name Giuffre, claims that she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew in 2001, when she was 17, in the Belgravia townhouse owned by Ghislaine Maxwell.

"It didn't happen. I can absolutely categorically tell you it never happened", Prince Andrew said in his BBC Newsnight interview last November.

A photograph of Prince Andrew, Maxwell and Roberts, has been widely published and was taken at Maxwell's London home.

Virgina Guiffre on Panorama Credit: BBC Panorama/PA

Prince Andrew denies he ever met Ms Roberts Giuffre and has "absolutely no memory" of the photograph.

When shown a photo during her deposition, Maxwell did say the surroundings looked "familiar".

Given Roberts Giuffre has previously claimed she was in a room with Prince Andrew and the Spitting Image puppet of himself, the next section appears to be questions about that.

Question: "Do you recall ever giving BLANK a gift of a puppet that was in the same - that looked like him?"

Maxwell answered: "I never gave him a gift of a puppet."

She was then asked: "Did Jeffrey ever give him a gift of a puppet?"

Maxwell: "No, not that I am aware of".

Ghislaine Maxwell is currently awaiting trial on charges of helping Epstein recruit, groom and sexually abuse under age girls as young as 14.

Maxwell, the daughter of British media tycoon Robert Maxwell, was charged by federal prosecutors in July.

She has pleaded not guilty and is currently being held in a prison in Manhattan.

Maxell called Virgina Roberts Giuffre's claims as "absurd" and "one giant tissue of lies".

Maxwell also said: "I have never seen anybody have sexual intercourse with with Jeffrey, ever" and added: "I never saw any inappropriate underage activities with Jeffrey ever."

Asked about her own role in any alleged sexual acts, Ms Maxwell replied: "I never had non-consensual sex with anybody ever, at any time, ay any place, at any time, with anybody".

She refused to answer any questions about consensual sex.

Maxwell was also vague about the state of her relationship with Epstein.

"Did you ever consider yourself his girlfriend" asked the lawyer for Virginia Roberts.

"That's a tricky question," replied Maxwell, "There were times when I would have liked to think of myself as his girlfriend ... probably in the early '90s."

As for what Maxwell knew or saw what was going on at Jeffrey Epstein's properties including New York, Palm Beach, Florida and his ranch in New Mexico, she said: “I had an office with a door so the door would be shut and I would be working. I’m not responsible for what Jeffrey does and I don’t always pay attention to what happens in the house”.

The defamation case for which Ghislaine Maxwell gave the deposition was settled in 2017 but the legal documents had been sealed until a court ordered their released today.