‘A’ from Balmoral asked Ghislaine Maxwell for inappropriate friends, newly released documents show
“I just gave Andrew your telephone no. He is interested in seeing the Nazca Lines. He can ride but it is not his favorite sport ie pass on the horses,” she wrote.
“Some sight seeing some 2 legged sight seeing (read intelligent pretty fun and from good families) and he will be very happy. I know I can rely on you to show him a wonderful time and that you will only introduce him to friends that you can trust and rely on to be friendly and discreet and fun.
“He does not want to read about any trip in the papers whom or what he saw. Call me if you have any questions – otherwise you can expect a very English sounding gentleman on the phone to call up and say hi. I told him it would be best if he made his plans directly with you.
This photograph – redacted and released by the U.S. Department of Justice – shows Andrew laying across several people’s laps with Maxwell standing nearby.Credit: AP
“The only part that I am jealous about is that he will get to see you and that he will be in Peru and have you as his tour guide for a day.”
Then-Prince Andrew visited Peru just days later on a trip associated with Queen Elizabeth II’s golden jubilee. Mountbatten-Windsor has always denied wrongdoing and has not publicly commented on the release of the latest files. He quit his public duties five years ago and in October was stripped of his royal titles and honours.
The latest documents appeared in a large trove of new material published by the US Department of Justice to comply with laws requiring the full release of the so-called Epstein files.
Epstein, who was convicted of child sex offences in a 2008 plea deal, died in jail awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges in 2019. Maxwell was convicted and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.
Trump features more prominently in the latest tranche of documents, although the veracity of the material was questionable.
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A handwritten letter, purporting to be from Epstein to jailed child molester Larry Nassar in 2019, claimed that “our president [Trump] shares our love of young, nubile girls”.
According to a subsequent FBI handwriting analysis request – also released in the new Epstein files – the letter was postmarked August 13, 2019, three days after Epstein died in jail. It was also postmarked in Virginia, not New York, where Epstein was incarcerated.
After initially saying on Wednesday (AEDT) that it was investigating the letter, the Justice Department quickly relayed that the FBI had concluded it was fake, and the handwriting did not appear to match Epstein’s.
Trump was also the subject of several complaints to the FBI in 2020 alleging that he was involved in criminal activities, including rape. But there was no indication any of the claims had been substantiated.
The Justice Department said on Wednesday (AEDT) it had released nearly 30,000 pages of documents related to the criminal investigation into Epstein.
“Some of these documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election,” the department said.
“To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponised against President Trump already.
“Nevertheless, out of our commitment to the law and transparency, the DOJ is releasing these documents with the legally required protections for Epstein’s victims.”
Donald Trump and his now-wife, Melania, with Epstein and Maxwell at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2000.Credit: Getty
When contacted for comment, the White House referred to the Justice Department’s statement.
The Trump administration had been criticised by Democrats and some Republicans for failing to release all the files by the December 19 deadline, and for the large number of redactions in the released material. Trump, who was friends with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s, appeared relatively infrequently in the initial releases.
The latest disclosures, including their references to the president, did nothing to satisfy the Democrats, who maintained there was a “criminal White House cover–up” at play.
“We need answers from the president about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and why his DoJ continues to defy the law and hide documents,” said the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Robert Garcia. “They appear to be protecting powerful men who raped and abused women and girls.”
Trump has always denied wrongdoing or knowledge of Epstein’s crimes, and says he threw Epstein out of his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, for being a “creep”.
Speaking about the Epstein files’ release yesterday, Trump lamented the destruction of people’s reputations for merely being photographed with Epstein decades ago.
“Everybody was friendly with this guy [Epstein]. Either friendly or not friendly. But he was around, he was all over Palm Beach and other places,” Trump said.
National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
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