EFTA00161219.pdf

Epstein Associate Maxwell Charged With Trafficking Minors. The AP (7/2, Musfian) reports that on Thursday in New Hampshire, "British socialite" Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested on charges she helped lure at least three girls — one as young as 14 — to be sexually abused by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of victimizing dozens of girls and women over many years." According to the indictment, Maxwell "facilitated his crimes and on some occasions joined him in EFTA00161225 sexually abusing the girls." The AP reports that Maxwell "has, for years, been accused by many women of acting as a madam for Epstein, helping him scout young girls for abuse, then hiring them to give him massages, during which the girls were pressured into sex acts." CNBC (7/2, Mangan, 3.62M) says on its website that Maxwell's arrest "following a six-count criminal indictment issued Monday in Manhattan federal court comes just days before the first anniversary of the now-dead Epstein's arrest on child sex trafficking charges." Federal prosecutors "formally asked a judge Thursday detain the 58-year-old Maxwell without bail." On the CBS Evening News (7/2, story 3, 2:45, Brennan, 4.37M), Mola Lenghi reported that prosecutors say Maxwell poses "an extreme flight risk." On ABC World News Tonight (7/3, story 6, 2:23, Llamas, 6.84M), correspondent Adrienne Bankert reported "the government is calling Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite accused of helping Jeffrey Epstein recruit and groom teenage victims, an extreme flight risk." Following her arrest, 'prosecutors argued Maxwell had tried to avoid detection, had a fake name for mail, and moved millions of dollars among at least 15 bank accounts. The new allegations stretched back to the mid-90s." Bankert added that Maxwell "has denied all wrongdoing. Her arrest sending shock waves across Britain, as pressure mounts on her old friend, Prince Andrew, to talk to the FBI." Attorney Sigrid McCawley, who's representing Epstein accusers, said, 1 think Prince Andrew should be very concerned. He has been asked by the government to give testimony, which, is my understanding, he has refused to give. Someone who has nothing to hide would not be refusing to cooperate." CNN (7/2, Hayes, 83.16M) reports, "Audrey Strauss, acting US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, explained the process that led to Maxwell's arrest: 'an eye was being kept, and information was being collected and then the indicted was just recently voted and filed and that is when we were able and prepared to move to arrest her.' Sweeney said that indictment alleges that from 1994 until 1997, Maxwell assisted Epstein in committing crimes against minors. He said she would 'recruit, entice, groom, and abuse' Epstein victims who were under 18. He added that FBI also 'alleged Ms. Maxwell lied under oath.'" The New York Times (7/2, Hong, Weiser, Zaveri, 18.61M) reports that William Sweeney, the head of the FBI's office in New York, 'said...authorities had been 'discreetly keeping tabs' on Ms. Maxwell's whereabouts and recently learned that she had moved to a 'gorgeous mansion' in the state." According to the Times, "The federal indictment charged Ms. Maxwell with six counts, including enticing minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts and transportation of a minor with intent to engage in sexual activity and perjury." Stephanie Gosk said on NBC Nightly News (7/2, story 3, 2:30, Holt, 6.2M) that Maxwell, "a socialite who hobnobbed with the rich and famous, including Donald Trump and Bill Clinton," has 'denied accusations made in multiple lawsuits that she helped orchestrate a sex ring of underage girls for Epstein and his friends." Reuters (7/2, Valdmanis) reports from Bradford, New Hampshire, "Ghislaine Maxwell was hiding out in style: her luxury timber-framed home perched on 156 acres of New Hampshire pine and oak forests boasts dramatic views of Mount Sunapee's foothills, but is secluded enough to have kept her out of eyeshot of the tight-knit locals. It was not until Thursday that other residents of this rural corner of New England knew her whereabouts, after FBI agents arrested her on charges she lured underage girls for the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse. 'I had no clue she was there,' said Laurie Colbum, 53, whose home is within a mile of Maxwell's compound on the outskirts of Bradford, a town of less than 2,000 people defined by its white colonial homes, horse farms, stone walls and a historic covered bridge." The Independent (UK) (7/5, Gregory, 1.36M) reports, "Ms Maxwell is currently being held in New Hampshire, where more than 20 armed FBI agents and police officers conducted a raid on her secluded 156-acre hideout — named Tucked Away — on Thursday morning.° The Independent adds, 'Spy planes are reported to have monitored the property for four hours prior to the 8:20am raid to ensure the daughter of late and controversial media mogul and MP Robert Maxwell was unable to flee. Armed law officers allegedly broke down the building's front door to find the former socialite 'strangely' passive and subdued as she was placed in handcuffs, putting an end to a 'high-stakes game of cat and mouse' which spanned the year following Epstein's death in a Manhattan jail cell and cost the FBI 'millions of dollars', according to one agent." The Washington Times (7/2, Mordock, 492K) reports, "Epstein, a registered sex offender, was arrested last summer and accused of exploiting dozens of underage girls in New York, Florida and New Mexico. He committed suicide last year in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. In a 2016 deposition, Epstein repeatedly refused to answer whether Ms. Maxwell had helped him procure underage girls." The Washington Post (7/2, Jacobs, Barrett, 14.2M) reports that "the investigation into Epstein's conduct continued after his jailhouse death, and has ensnared Britain's Prince Andrew, another old friend of the late financier," and on Thursday, Strauss "made dear prosecutors still want to talk to him." Eva Pilgrim of ABC World News Tonight (7/2, story 2, 3:50, Llamas, 7.26M) cited "a source dose to the Prince" who said 'that his team has reached out to the Department of Justice twice in the last month. They have not heard back." EFTA00161226 The New York Post (7/3, Steinbuch, 4.57M) reports, "British Prime Minister Boris Johnson denied Friday that the FBI has contacted him for assistance in interviewing Prince Andrew about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, according to a report. 'No such approach has been made and otherwise it is really is a matter for the royal family. ... It is a hypothetical question,' Johnson said amid reports that Queen Elizabeth II is anxious about the crisis involving her son, the Daily Mail reported." The Post adds, "Meanwhile, Andrew's legal team said Friday that the royal is 'bewildered' by allegations that he is stonewalling the probe about Maxwell and the late pedophile. 'The duke's team remains bewildered given that we have twice communicated with the DOJ in the last month and to date we have had no response,' an unnamed source on his legal team was quoted as saying by the Press Association, Agence France-Presse reported." Politico (7/2, 4.29M), Reuters (7/2, Freifeld, Hosenball, Lynch), and Bloomberg (7/2, 4.73M) provide similar coverage. Prince Andrew Sought Lobbyist To Help With Epstein Case. The New York Times (7/5, Vogel, 18.61M) reports Prince Andrew's lawyers tad discussions with a Washington lobbyist with ties to the Trump administration about the possibility of assisting the prince with fallout from his relationship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein." Lawyers from the London- based firm Blackfords "consulted the lobbyist, Robert Stryk, who represents international figures with sensitive legal or diplomatic issues, in recent weeks about Prince Andrew's situation, according to a person familiar with the circumstances." However, it is "not clear precisely what type of assistance Blackfords might have been seeking from Mr. Stryk, who is not a lawyer, or what he could do to help Prince Andrew." EFTA00161227