Maxwell "was in love with" Epstein. Photo / US District Court handout
Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyers and family members have long denied her proximity to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.
"The idea that somehow Ghislaine would spend any time at all in this horrible sleazy, shitty world that we now know [Epstein] was attracted to, is absurd," Ian Maxwell told Insider ahead of his sister's sex trafficking trial, which kicked off in New York last week.
"The idea that she would be some kind of a madam — it really is grotesque. Jeffrey Epstein, it seems to me, led an immensely compartmentalised life," he said.
During opening statements, a member of her defence team, Bobbi C Sternheim, told jurors the British socialite is nothing more than "a scapegoat for a man who behaved badly".
But as the 59-year-old's trial progresses — and details from life in Epstein and Maxwell's orbit emerge — the argument that she wasn't privy to the convicted sex offender's more sinister behaviours looks more and more unlikely.
While her brother argued that Maxwell only had an intimate relationship with Epstein for a few years — during which time they were neither a "conventional" or "loved-up" couple — a document found on a hard drive, collected from Epstein's Manhattan mansion and shared before the jury on Tuesday, begged to differ.
The file, created on a desktop computer by someone logged in as the user "GMax" on October 14, 2002, was discovered by the FBI during a raid on the home in 2019, digital forensic examiner for the bureau, Stephen Flatley, told the court.
"Jeffrey and Ghislaine have been together as a couple for the last 11 years," the document, whose author wasn't revealed, began.
"They are, contrary to what people think, rarely apart, I almost always see them together."
Maxwell, it declared, was "highly intelligent and great company with a ready smile and an infectious laugh", who put people at ease.
"Jeffrey and Ghislaine share many mutual interests and they have a lot of fun together," it continued, adding, "they compliment each other really well."
"On top of being partners they are also best of friends."
Since Epstein's arrest in 2019 — and subsequent jail cell suicide — the nature of his relationship with Maxwell, the favourite daughter of embezzling UK press baron Robert Maxwell, has remained largely unknown. But Maxwell's trial is anticipated to shed even more light on the dynamics of it.
As well as the fawning document, jurors were shown dozens of never-before-seen pictures, also recovered during the FBI mansion raid, of the pair together.
A series of the images showed Maxwell massaging Epstein's feet, while others were of the couple kissing in various locations.
Last week, Larry Visoski — the pilot who flew Epstein and his prominent friends all over the world — told jurors that in Epstein's Palm Beach, New York and the Virgin Islands households, Maxwell was second in command only to Epstein himself.
She was his "No 2", Visoski said.
Prosecutors have described her as his "right hand", saying she was involved in "every detail of Epstein's life". She imposed strict rules for the staff and enforced a "culture of silence", allowing the abuse of minors to remain hidden.
The pair became involved in the early 1990s, when Maxwell arrived in New York from England, mourning the death of her father.
They swiftly embarked on a mutually beneficial relationship — she flew on Epstein's private jet and settled into his mansions, earning herself the title of "lady of the house", while he was introduced to Maxwell's friends in high places, including Prince Andrew.
"Ghislaine was in love with Jeffrey the way she was in love with her father," one person close to Maxwell told Vanity Fair in 2019.
"She always thought if she just did one more thing for him, to please him, he would marry her."
This willingness to do anything for Epstein, the case against her alleges, led Maxwell to befriend young girls, take them shopping and to the movies, and then deliver them to her former boyfriend to be abused.
Not only was she allegedly part of the sex trafficking ring, two of the three victims who have so far testified have all said Maxwell was also a sexual participant.
Maxwell "walked the girls into a room where she knew that man would molest them", Lara Pomerantz said in the prosecution's opening statement.
"She knew what was going to happen to those girls."
The trial continues.
!["On top of being partner's [sic] they are also best of friends." Photo / Handout, US District Court](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/X5B4AGJ46Q6ED6ETU4HPMYK3ZA.jpg?auth=c5dc73966e5a6a395892a4e9cf27f879bd73578838bc4602babeae6e631f51b1&width=16&height=9&quality=70&smart=true)