The Prince and the lady
That would be the alleged underage sex scandal swirling around convicted felon Jeffrey Epstein and a host of famous names, including Britain’s Prince Andrew, Harvard lawyer Alan Dershowitz and, of course, former president Bill Clinton. From — where else? — Britain’s Daily Mail, which asks: “Is she telling the truth?” —
It is the most extraordinary story of sex, power, influence and the abuse of young girls and it has already sent Jeffrey Epstein, one of the richest men in America, to jail.
And today this sordid saga erupted once again with Prince Andrew sensationally forced to deny having any sexual contact with the woman whose claims have dogged him for years. Last week, the Prince was accused of abusing ‘Jane Doe 3’ – an anonymous name used in American court papers – at an orgy where she was being used as a sex slave. Jane Doe 3 is Virginia Roberts, whose story was first uncovered in 2007 by The Mail on Sunday following a painstaking investigation by our reporter Sharon Churcher, who tracked her to Australia.
The story Miss Roberts told was extraordinary – how she spent three years as an under-age ‘sex slave’ working for billionaire Epstein, a friend of the Prince, and paid to give erotic massages to the tycoon and his associates. She also claimed that Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of disgraced tycoon Robert Maxwell, acted as Epstein’s ‘madame’.
The allegations by Miss Roberts are threatening the reputation of the Queen’s second son. The Palace has emphatically denied that the Prince has had relations with underage girls.
You can find details about the alleged romps with one of the scions of the House of Saxe-Coburg und Gotha courtesy of the Mirror, which helpfully divulges some alleged toe-licking piquancies, as well as the possibility that some of the amorous encounters may have been filmed. Buckingham Palace has just issued its second denial of the story, calling the allegations “false and without any foundation.” Lest you think this just another Brit tabloid story, though, there’s more from the Wall Street Journal:
A British royal and a famed U.S. lawyer have each vigorously denied an anonymous claim that they were involved in the sex scandal that led to jail time for Jeffrey Epstein, a Florida financier who pleaded guilty to soliciting an underage prostitute. The claims against Prince Andrew, the son of Queen Elizabeth II, and Alan Dershowitz, one of the most recognizable names in American law, surfaced this week in a civil lawsuit over a deal that U.S. prosecutors struck with Mr. Epstein in 2008.
The Journal story is now behind a paywall, but the Daily News chimes in here:
The allegations against Andrew were detailed in court papers filed Tuesday at the Miami federal courthouse. In them, Jane Doe #3, and another woman identified as Jane Doe #4, asked to be included in a six-year-old lawsuit against Epstein brought by two other unnamed women. The women object to how the feds handled Epstein’s case, and want authorities to reconsider a plea deal that allowed the money man to avoid much more serious federal charges and potentially longer prison time.
They claim both the Prince and famed lawyer Alan Dershowitz lobbied the feds to give Epstein “a more favorable plea deal,” the papers state. Jane Doe #3 also claimed she was forced to have sex with Dershowitz.
“It’s totally false,” Dershowitz told The Daily News. “I don’t know this woman and never had any sexual contact with her or any other underage person.” Dershowitz said his accuser is “a serial fabricator” who also accused Bill Clinton of attending the same supposed orgy cited in the court papers, even though Secret Service records showed he was not there.
Dershowitz has repeatedly, vehemently and publicly denied the allegations, and is threatening legal action:
Attorney Alan Dershowitz is swinging back at what he describes as fabricated claims, alleged in a U.S. court document, that he was involved in a prostitution ring connected to the Jeffrey Epstein sex scandal. The claims against one of the most recognizable names in American law surfaced this week in a lawsuit over a deal that U.S. prosecutors struck with Mr. Epstein, a U.S. financier and former client of Mr. Dershowitz’s.
Mr. Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to a state felony charge of solicitation of prostitution involving a minor. He was released from jail in 2009 after serving about 13 months behind bars…
“It’s a completely, totally fabricated, made-up story,” Mr. Dershowitz told Law Blog in an interview Friday. “I have never had sex with an underage woman. They made up this story out of whole cloth. I’m an innocent victim of an extortion conspiracy.” Mr. Dershowitz said he would deny the claims in a sworn affidavit, “subjecting me to criminal prosecution if I’m lying.” He vowed to initiate disbarment proceedings against the two lawyers representing the alleged victims. “I’m prepared to put my liberty and my reputation at risk by swearing under oath that it didn’t happen,” Mr. Dershowitz said.
You can read more details about Epstein in this New York Post story from 2011:
Billionaire pervert Jeffrey Epstein is back in New York City — and making wisecracks about his just-ended jail stint for having sex with an underage girl. “I’m not a sexual predator, I’m an ‘offender,’ ” the financier told The Post yesterday. “It’s the difference between a murderer and a person who steals a bagel,” said Epstein.
Epstein’s flippant reasoning aside, a New York judge ruled at a hearing last month that the moneyman is the most dangerous kind of sex offender: a Level 3. That means, according to the state, Epstein is at “high risk” to repeat his offense and poses “a threat to public safety.”
But Epstein doesn’t seem bothered by the designation. “The crime that was supposedly committed in Florida is not a crime in New York,” he said.
Britain’s Guardian takes a longer and more balanced look at the man here. As for Clinton, Hillary! is just going to love having this story from last year boomerang back now:
A new lawsuit has revealed the extent of former President Clinton’s friendship with a fundraiser who was later jailed for having sex with an underage prostitute. Bill Clinton’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, who served time in 2008 for his illegal sexual partners, included up multiple trips to the onetime billionaire’s private island in the Caribbean where underage girls were allegedly kept as sex slaves…
Flight logs pinpoint Clinton’s trips on Epstein’s jet between the years 2002 and 2005, while he was working on his philanthropic post-presidential career and while his wife Hillary was a Senator for their adopted state of New York. ‘I remember asking Jeffrey what’s Bill Clinton doing here kind of thing, and he laughed it off and said well he owes me a favor,’ one unidentified woman said in the lawsuit, which was filed in Palm Beach Circuit Court.
What a mess. Stay tuned.
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