The federal court in New York that tried Jeffrey Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell for grooming and sex trafficking has now ordered Maxwell’s attorneys to search emails for specific words.
The search demand originated during the case brought against Epstein by Virginia Giuffre that concluded in 2015. The case brought to light reported recruitment and abuse of young girls and the revealing of A-lister connections to Epstein, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. Released photographs show Giuffre with Prince Andrew.
Maxwell’s lawyers fought to block the search, claiming some of the terms would reveal irrelevant information, a common legal tactic according to Frank Thornton, an expert in digital forensics, per Fox News.
Lawyers argued against the email searching for common first names, including Bill, would uncover numerous unrelated people that Epstein and Maxwell had discussed. Common words, lawyer names, and other keywords were also argued against.
“You derive things like these lists from talking to these witnesses who say, ‘Well, I have an email and used this term, this name was used,’” said Thornton to Fox News Digital. “The judge may have decided that, after reviewing it, a lot of it really doesn’t pertain to the case at all, no basis to turn it over to the other party.”
Among the words Giuffre’s lawyers pushed to search include phrases like “school girl,” “nipple,” and “sex toy.” The search request also included qualifiers, shown as “w/3,” which would identify terms within three words of one another. An example was “joint w/3 defend,” which Thornton explained would look for phrases such as “joint defense privilege.”
The latest information comes after the first batch of previously redacted documents was publically released. Maxwell and Guiffre settled in 2017, while Epstein purportedly committed suicide while in prison in 2019. A total of 191 documents of the 215 that will be made public have been released.
