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Case 18-2868, Document 280, 08/09/2019, 2628232, Page47 of 74
about her history of having been sexually assaulted as a minor constitutes more
than a general denial, it alleges something deeply disturbing about the character of
an individual willing to be publicly dishonest about such a reprehensible crime.
Defendant’s statements clearly imply that the denials are based on facts separate
and contradictory to those that Plaintiff has alleged.” Jd.
Defendant argues that somehow the “context” of the entire statement “tested against the
understanding of the average reader” should be the press release as a whole being read only by
journalists. This is an unreasonable construct because the ultimate audience for a press release is
the public. Indeed, the purpose of a press release is to reach readers. Unsurprisingly, Defendant
cites no case that holds that journalists might somehow believe statements of fact are opinion
while others do not.
This Court has previously covered this ground when it clearly stated:
Sexual assault of a minor is a clear-cut issue; either transgression occurred or it
did not. Either Maxwell was involved or she was not. The issue is not a matter of
opinion, and there cannot be differing understandings of the same facts that justify
diametrically opposed opinion as to whether Defendant was involved in Plaintiff's
abuse as Plaintiff has claimed. Either Plaintiff is telling the truth about her story
and Defendant’s involvement, or Defendant is telling the truth and she was not
involved in the trafficking and ultimate abuse of Plaintiff.
Giuffre v. Maxwell, 165 F. Supp.at 152 (S.D.N.Y. 2016). The same conclusion applies now. At
the motion to dismiss stage, Defendant had not yet produced the statement she issued to the
press. That statement is now in evidence, so there is no ambiguity as to what defendant released
to the press.
The absurdity of Defendant characterizing his statements calling Ms. Giuffre a liar as
mere “opinion” is revealed by the fact that Defendant was the one who was sexually trafficking
and otherwise abusing Ms. Giuffre. No reasonable person in any context would construe that as
Defendant’s mere “opinion” on the subject, since Defendant knew she was abusing Ms. Giuffre.
Indeed, this argument is contradicted by Defendant’s own deposition testimony:
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Document Details
| Filename | DocumentCloud_Epstein_Docs_p00866.png |
| File Size | 322.7 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 95.6% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 2,339 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-04 12:26:44.118821 |