In a legal saga marked by ominous silence, the late financier Jeffrey Epstein asserted his constitutional right against self-incrimination approximately 600 times during testimony for a lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre, who had accused him of sexual abuse.
Revelations of Epstein’s unyielding refusal to respond to queries in Giuffre’s legal battle against his longtime confidante Ghislaine Maxwell emerged in a filing on Friday at the federal court in Manhattan. This disclosure unfolded as part of the unveiling of documents, slated for this month, from the civil defamation case that reached a settlement in 2017.
The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides individuals with the right to remain silent to avoid self-incrimination.
In a filing from September 2016, Giuffre’s legal representatives detailed Epstein’s consistent use of the phrase “Fifth” during a deposition that month, responding to around 500 substantive questions from Giuffre’s side and another 100 from Maxwell’s attorneys.
Remarkably, Epstein’s silence extended to questions that posed minimal risk of self-incrimination, spanning from inquiries about his acquaintance with Maxwell to whether he had pleaded guilty in 2008 to a prostitution charge and even queries regarding his overall health.
Notably, the questions encompassed at least three regarding Epstein’s ties with former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
Epstein’s legal team, in a subsequent filing released on the same day, asserted that their client would have invoked the Fifth Amendment had he been called to testify at trial. Among the cited reasons were the anticipated “burdens” he would face and the potential “media circus” surrounding his personal appearance.
Epstein’s life came to a tragic end in August 2019 when he took his own life in a Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking.
The unsealed documents from Friday also shed light on others accused of aiding in Epstein’s wrongdoings, as they too invoked their rights against self-incrimination in various legal proceedings related to him.
Since Wednesday, over 180 documents, including depositions, legal briefs, and email exchanges from Giuffre’s lawsuit, have been made public under the order of U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan, who presided over the case.
These documents not only reveal the names of Epstein’s victims but also individuals who worked closely with the financier, along with a handful of celebrities and politicians linked to him. Prominent figures mentioned include actor Kevin Spacey, magician David Copperfield, and business executive Leslie Wexner. However, none of them faced accusations of wrongdoing in the disclosed documents.
A significant portion of the documents scrutinizes the alleged actions of Britain’s Prince Andrew, whom Giuffre accused of abusing her over two decades ago when she was 17. Despite Andrew’s denial of the accusations, he settled the case for a reported 12 million pounds ($15 million) in 2022.
Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted in December 2021 and sentenced to 20 years in prison for aiding in Epstein’s sexual abuses, is currently appealing her case. A federal appeals court in Manhattan may review her case as early as March.
