Private Jet / Matt Biddulph / Flickr / copyright © 2008 / CC BY-SA 2.0
In the past week, the Ghislaine Maxwell trial has seen 4 witnesses/accusers take to the stand to deliver their tale of what ‘really’ happened during their time involved with Jeffrey Epstein Ghislaine Maxwell.
The first of which was Epstein’s former pilot Larry Visoski – who testified to flying powerful figures such as Bill Clinton and Trump in Epstein’s private jet.
During his first day of testifying, he recounted details of the high-profile passengers he flew, and his experience working as Epstein’s pilot from the beginning in 1991.
He described Maxwell and Epstein’s relationship as more personal than it was business-like, but not actually romantic. Maxwell was often seen as Epstein’s “number two”, and facilitated most of the travel plans with Visoski in Epstein’s stead.
As the prosecution’s first witness, Visoski described to the court his duties as pilot, including how he logged passenger names as best he could on all flights. If he didn’t know a passenger’s name, then he identified them by gender.
Visoski also testified that during his time as pilot, he “never saw any sexual activity,” and when he was asked whether or not he’d seen any sex acts with underage girls he said, “absolutely not.”
Epstein would often introduce his flight guests to Visoski before takeoff, and also invited his pilots to pass freely through the cabin for coffee or the restroom – without being instructed to act a certain way around guests.
Visoski also testified that he never saw used condoms, sex toys, or any clothing that would indicate that sexual activity took place on the plane…
Prosecutors brought their second witness to the stand – a woman at the heart of the sex trafficking case against Maxwell who was introduced to the jurors under the pseudonym “Jane”.
She recounts detailed sexual encounters during the time frame of 1994-1997 – during which she says that she was recruited by both Maxwell and Epstein, and forced into situations of sexual abuse where Maxwell and Epstein were both involved.
The witness said that she first met Epstein and Maxwell while attending a music camp in 1994, where she was approached by Maxwell and then Epstein – before sending her and her mother an invitation to their home in Palm Beach Florida.
‘Jane’ recounts the first interaction when the sexual abuse began, when Epstein took her by the hand abruptly and brought her to a pool house in the home where he proceeded to pull down his pants and “proceeded to masturbate,” she said.
During the cross-examination, defense lawyer Laura Menninger attacked the witness’s credibility, asking about her delay in reporting her case to law enforcement, and why she failed to mention Maxwell’s involvement in earlier accounts she gave to close friends and family about Epstein’s behavior.
The witness only responded saying she remembered being uncomfortable about the details at the time.
The trial is expected to last over the course of the next 6 weeks.
