Thread by @KlasfeldReports

Good morning from New York.

Closing arguments will begin shortly in the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, and a new tranche of exhibits have been released by the government — among them, Jeffrey Epstein's flight logs.

I'll be covering the proceedings live for @LawCrimeNews.

A couple of notations about the logs:

* They're 118 pages.
* They span from April 1991 to Jan. 2006.
* They're signed by Epstein's ex-chief pilot David Rodgers.
* They appear to be pretty lightly redacted, including—we learned in court—by shielding the names of the accusers.

Judge Nathan: "Bring in the jury."

"All rise."

The jury enters.

Judge Nathan explains how summations will work. Arguing for the government will be Assistant U.S. Attorney Alison Moe.

Then, Laura Menninger for the defense after an early lunch.

AUSA Moe's opening lines:

"Ghislaine Maxwell was dangerous. She was a grown women who preyed on vulnerable kids" [...]

"She targeted a girl whose father had just died. She targeted a girl whose mother was an alcoholic."

Calling Maxwell a "sophisticated" predator, Moe tells jurors: "She caused deep and lasting harm to young girls. It is time to hold her accountable."

AUSA Moe:

"The proof is in. It's clear. It's consistant and it points to only one conclusion: Maxwell is guilty."

Moe says of Epstein and Maxwell: "They were partners in crime who exploited young girls together."

Moe: "Epstein liked underage girls. He liked to touch underage girls. Maxwell knew it."

"Make no mistake:" Maxwell was "crucial" to the whole scene.

She says that Maxwell made Epstein's otherwise "creepy" behavior seem "legitimate" to victims and "silence" the "alarm bells."

Moe: "Maxwell was the key to the whole operation."

"They were close. They were partners. They were rarely apart."

(She shows photos of them to the jury.)

Prosecutors introduced a flood of photographs over the years. Though undated, the photos show a range in time, the AUSA noted.

"They're getting older. Their haircuts change."

Moe: "That's Maxwell massaging Epstein's foot with her breasts. She's smiling." lawandcrime.com/live-trials/gh…

Moe: "You learned that she was the 'lady in the house.'"

That was how Epstein's former house manager Juan Alessi testified Maxwell introduced herself. lawandcrime.com/live-trials/gh…

Moe refers to the Household Manual as evidence that Alessi was right and Maxwell knew what was going on there.

"This manual makes crystal clear who mattered in that house in Palm Beach," the prosecutor says, emphasizing it was Maxwell and Epstein.

Alessi talked about having to "wash off dildos after the massages."

The Household Manual shows Maxwell's awareness of every detail of the "so-called massages," down to the oils, the prosecutor said.

"She was in on the whole thing," Moe said.

Moe tells jurors it is "not an accident" that Maxwell's alleged victims largely came from struggling, single-parent households.

Moe says that Maxwell normalized Epstein's abuse:

"Again and again throughout this trial, you heard how these girls were asked to perform sexualized massages on Jeffrey Epstein."

She also notes that three witnesses accused Maxwell of touching their breasts.

Speaking of allegations by three different women that Maxwell touched their breasts, the prosecutor said:

"It's not an accident. It happened again and again and again. It is powerful evidence of Maxwell's guilt."

Moe rattles off corroboration of "Jane's" testimony:

* Flight records from the initial encounter at Interlochen, the prestigious academy in Michigan.
* "Jane" said she saw Maxwell topless by the pool, and the prosecutor said now, so has the jury because of photos in evidence.

Moe shows "Jane's" appearances on the flight records to the jury, listed under her real first name. The defense suggested that the true name was the same one as another key person in Epstein's orbit.

But the prosecutor noted an ex-pilot undermined that defense.

That pilot, David Rodgers, testified that the other woman who shared "Jane's" name didn't go on the plane until much later flights.

Moe talks about "Jane's" testimony about group sexual encounters involving women named "Eva," "Michelle" and others.

The defense called Eva Dubin and Michael Healey, in part, to deny it.

Moe notes "Jane" never said their last names.

Also, Moe says of Jane's memory of this account:

"It's not like she's taking ID's while she's being sexually assaulted."

Referring to Annie Farmer's testimony that Maxwell instructed her massage Epstein's foot, Moe told jurors that their "common sense" tells them that's "not normal"

"They were confusing her boundaries. They were moving the line slowly and gradually for what would happen next."

Moe describes Farmer's testimony that she hid in the bathroom after Epstein tried to get in the bed to cuddle her.

Maxwell turned cold after that because she had no more use for her, the prosecutor added.

Moe refers to the nude photos in Epstein's Palm Beach home before telling jurors: "Ladies and gentlemen, this was not a space for therapeutic massages."

It was a site of sexual abuse, she says.

Moe argues that the jury can tell Carolyn is telling the truth that her account echoes "Jane's" in significant ways.

Both said Maxwell touched their breasts.

Both said Epstein used sex toys and masturbated to completion during "massages."

Moe called Epstein's "Little Black Book," with the victims' names in it, a "powerfully incriminating document."

Moe says that the book illustrates how the sexual "Pyramid scheme" operated: "One girl would bring another who would bring another."

It also shows Maxwell's knowledge of the scheme, the prosecutor said.

The prosecutor turns to the money Epstein paid Maxwell.

Moe notes that evidence showed Epstein gave Maxwell more than $30 million, broken down:

* $18.3 million
* $5 million.
* $7.4 million

The prosecutor describes these as payments for committing "terrible crimes."

Moe: "Maxwell recruited Virginia Roberts at Mar-a-Lago."

Moe: "Take a moment to reflect on how deeply strange this situation was."

For years, Maxwell watched a "parade" of teenage girls in Epstein's plane and house, which was filled with nude photos.

"Ladies and gentlemen, look at the big picture and use your common sense."

The prosecutor then zooms in on the individual counts, starting with the first involving "Jane."

Moe tells the jury that Maxwell "enticed" and "induced" her to travel for interstate commerce, a key element of the charge.

Moe: "The crime happened the moment they crossed state lines."

Pictured: Where "Jane" makes her appearance in Count 1, anonymized here as "Minor Victim-1."

In Count 6—the sex trafficking charge—prosecutors need to prove a "commercial sex act" to commit.

Here, Moe says, that element is met by the hundreds of dollars Carolyn testified she received by being enticed to give Epstein sexualized massages.

She's "Minor Victim-4."

Moe counters defense line that Maxwell's being prosecuted for Epstein's acts: "Let me be very clear: The evidence at this trial showed that Ghislaine Maxwell made her own choices."

"She's a grown woman who knew exactly what she was doing," Moe adds.

Turning to the comment by Maxwell's attorney Bobbi Sternheim during opening statements that the case is about "memory, manipulation, and money."

"Defense counsel was exactly right, but not in the way she intended," Moe adds.

Emphasizing this is a case about money, Moe points to the hundreds of dollars given to Carolyn for "sexual abuse."

As for memory, Moe said the witnesses "told you about searing memories of childhood sexual abuse."

Moe speaks about the "haunting" memories of "trauma" the witnesses testified about:

"You remember an adult woman groping your breasts. You remember a middle-aged men touching your vagina."

Moe slams the testimony by the defense's expert Elizabeth Loftus as biased and a distraction:

"She has made a name for herself as a 'Witness for the Defense' in high-profile trials," the prosecutor said of Loftus, quoting the title of her book.

Yet Moe notes that Loftus backed up a crucial part of the prosecution's argument:

For memories involving trauma, the peripheral details may change, but the core memories remain stronger, Loftus told jurors.

(Moe recapped that testimony.)

The defense argued that the witnesses were financially motivated based on their multimillion-dollar settlements with a fund meant to compensate Jeffrey Epstein's victims.

Moe notes that those civil cases are over.

She says that jurors' "common sense" tells them that the witnesses are not just all lying.

Their common sense also tells them that Maxwell is guilty, Moe says.

With that, she concludes the government's summations.

The jurors have been excused for an early lunch. They will return after recess for the defense's closing argument.

Here's DEVELOPING recap of the government's summation. Much more to come as the day progresses. lawandcrime.com/live-trials/gh…

Service advisory:

I was unable to live-tweet the defense summation, but I am currently working on a story about it.

The jury appeared very much engaged with the closing statement by Maxwell's attorney Laura Menninger, inspecting evidence on their screens and taking notes.

The prosecution's rebuttal is coming up next.

They go up first and last—because they have the burden of proof in any criminal case.

"Some things you never forget because they're seared into your brain forever."

— Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey said during rebuttal summations.

AUSA Comey scoffs at the defense theory: "They're all liars."

“In order for the defense to be right […] witness after witness after witness must have lied to you.”

Comey:

If the witnesses wanted to "frame Maxwell," the witnesses would have put her in "way deeper."

She notes that Annie Farmer, for example, alleged that Maxwell touched her breasts but added that Maxwell didn't touch her nipples.

Comey scorches the defense argument that Maxwell's alleged victims just wanted a civil payout form the Epstein fund:

"If money was all they wanted, they would have walked away as soon as the check cleared."

"These women put themselves through hell" to testify, she said.

Comey says of their stories:

"Did that look fun? Why would they put themselves through that, when they've already gotten millions of dollars?"

"They did it for justice, for the hope that the defendant would be held accountable for her role in shattering their lives."

Comey said they thought "who would believe" Kate, Jane, or Carolyn over Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, who "rubbed shoulders" with "presidents," and "celebrities" and "business leaders."

The judge is currently instructing the jury. Standby for a story on the closing of summations, coming soon at @LawCrimeNews.

You can read the developing story on the defense and rebuttal summations here:

https://twitter.com/lawcrimenews/status/1473033583749210123?s=20

The jury charge is 80 pages, and the verdict sheet follows it in the filing.

So these instructions have been taking some time for Judge Nathan to recite. They are publicly available here, uploaded by @InnerCityPress. documentcloud.org/documents/2116…

Judge Nathan says jurors can deliberate as long into the evening as they agree to—

—[internal monologue: Whew!]

Judge Nathan:

"Members of the jury, you may begin your deliberations."

It officially begins.

The judge commends all of the lawyers for their "zealous advocacy," adding that she's learned a lot from all of the counsel.

Judge Nathan: "We received a note that says, 'We're leaving at 5:30.'"

(Laughter in the courtroom)

No late night tonight.

* man

Typo