By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein, on Thursday urged a U.S. appeals court to block the release of a deposition about her sex life, saying it could destroy her ability to get a fair trial against criminal charges she aided the late financier’s sexual abuse of girls.
Maxwell filed the request with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan one day after a federal judge rejected her claim that her need for confidentiality outweighed the public’s right to see the April 2016 deposition, which was taken in a separate civil defamation trial.
“Absent a stay from this court, it will forever let the cat out of the bag,” Maxwell’s lawyers wrote.
The deposition is scheduled for release on Aug. 3, unless the appeals court orders a stay or requests further arguments.
British socialite 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.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
