U.S. appeals court stays release of Ghislaine Maxwell deposition

A U.S. appeals court on Friday temporarily delayed the release of a 2016 deposition about Ghislaine Maxwell's sex life, after she argued it could destroy her ability to get a fair trial against criminal charges she aided the late financier Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse of girls.

A U.S. appeals court on Friday temporarily delayed the release of a 2016 deposition about Ghislaine Maxwell's sex life, after she argued it could destroy her ability to get a fair trial against criminal charges she aided the late financier Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse of girls. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the order after a series of last-ditch scrambles by Maxwell to keep potentially embarrassing information, which her lawyer said could make it "difficult if not impossible" to find an impartial jury, out of the public eye.

Maxwell's appeal will be heard on an expedited basis, with oral argument scheduled for Sept. 22. The deposition was taken in April 2016, and had been scheduled for release on Monday.

It came from a now-settled civil defamation lawsuit against the British socialite by Virginia Giuffre, who had accused Epstein of having kept her as a "sex slave" with Maxwell's assistance. Lawyers for Maxwell and Giuffre did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Maxwell, 58, has pleaded not guilty to helping Epstein recruit and eventually abuse three girls from 1994 to 1997, and committing perjury by denying her involvement under oath. She was arrested on July 2 and has been held in a Brooklyn jail after a judge denied bail, calling her a flight risk. Maxwell's trial is scheduled for next July.

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