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Case 1:20-cr-00330-PAE Document 336-4 Filed 09/07/21 Page 12 of 22 far, and she was ready to tell me everything she knew. She had researched me before I arrived and knew about all the work that I had done to shed light on the case. She admired that I had given a voice to the victims of people whom she felt were the most evil human beings on the planet. I didn’t fully appreciate how much my commitment to seeing her in person meant to her until I understood her background and how Maxwell and Epstein had affected her life and her career. Additionally, she had been fearful about what Epstein might do to her when Vicky Ward had discovered her in 2002, and she still felt some of that worry now. When she decides to do something, Maria is one of these people who is all in. She either trusts you or she doesn’t. After Vanity Fair broke her trust, it took a long time for her to open up again. But she took a chance with me. She thinks fast. And talks fast. She’s an eccentric artist who certainly doesn’t think like a lawyer, which allowed her to share her whole narrative rather than only the specifics that a lawyer would need to know. Maria and I spent hours that day going through photos and other mementos she had collected from her time with Epstein and Maxwell. Maria was in her early twenties when she met New York socialite Eileen Guggenheim (unrelated to the Guggenheim Museum). Eileen recognized Maria’s extraordinary artistic abilities. While Maria was in art school, Eileen got her a job with her sister, Barbara Guggenheim, who is married to the successful entertainment lawyer Bert Fields. Maria was hired by Barbara and Bert to perform mundane tasks around their home in New York. Wanting to help her find a job in her chosen field, Burt or Eileen spoke to Epstein because he was known as an art aficionado who could no doubt advance Maria’s artistic career. Sure enough, Epstein called Maria and offered her a job at his mansion in New York City. Which, in turn, led to Maria’s DOJ-OGR-00005167