Ghislaine Maxwell could not contain frustration as she ‘pounded’ desk during bad tempered deposition

Ghislaine Maxwell's deposition was unsealed in New York

Credit:  Patrick McMullan

Ghislaine Maxwell could not hide her frustration during an increasingly heated and bad tempered legal deposition that was unsealed in New York.

Several times during the seven-hour exchange, which took place over two days, her anger boiled over as she was forced to answer repeated questions about allegations made by a woman she insisted was a serial liar.

At one point, unable to contain her emotions, Miss Maxwell “very inappropriately and very harshly” pounded the desk, forcing them to take a break.

She was being quizzed about Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s claim that she was just 15 when she was first introduced to Jeffrey Epstein at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, which she furiously insisted had been fabricated to make the story “more exciting.”

“Can we agree she was not the age she said…  that is obviously, manifestly, absolutely, totally a lie,” Miss Maxwell said.

Sigfrid McCawley, for Ms Roberts Giuffre, interjected, stating for the record that Miss Maxwell had banged the desk “in an inappropriate manner.”

“I ask she take a deep breath and calm down,” she said.

“I know this is a difficult position but physical assault or threats is not appropriate so no pounding, no stomping, no.”

Ghislaine Maxwell was asked repeatedly about this photograph taken in her London home

Miss Maxwell later apologised for her behaviour, explaining that it was “borne out of years of feeling the pressure of  this entire lie that (Ms Roberts Giuffre) has perpetrated.”

She added: “I hope you forgive me sincerely because it was just the length of time that that terrible story has been told and retold and rehashed when I know it to be 100 percent false.”

Earlier, she had described her accuser’s version of events in Florida with the most forceful language she could muster. 

“What I know is her story, about how she claims that initial situation happened, is so egregiously false and such a giant fat enormous, repulsive, disgusting, inappropriate, vile lie, that that I can testify to,” she said.

About half way through the deposition, after being asked ten times in a row whether she believed Jeffrey Epstein had abused minors, Jeff Pagliuca, Miss Maxwell’s lawyer, asked the opposing counsel: "Ask your next question. Don’t keep asking the same question."

Ms McCawley responded: "You are now shouting, I want the record to reflect that you are interrupting the deposition.

"I ask you to calm down, take a deep breath and please let me ask my questions. Your behaviour is inappropriate."

Miss Maxwell said: “Let’s move on,” to which the lawyer responded: “I’m in charge of the deposition. I say when we move on and when we don’t.”

On another occasion, when Miss Maxwell attempted to object, she was told: “You don’t get to object.”

She often asked the lawyers to repeat questions multiple times, claiming not to understand what they were asking.

The heated exchanges offer the first glimpse of Miss Maxwell’s state of mind and her own feelings about the raft of allegations made by Miss Roberts Giuffre since they were first made in 2011 and then repeated over the last nine years.

The 58-year-old, who is  currently on remand at Brooklyn’s federal jail, has found herself increasingly isolated, following Epstein’s suicide last summer, with the mounting allegations of sexual impropriety, trafficking and perjury showing no sign of abating.