A former friend of Ghislaine Maxwell says the accused accomplice of disgraced billionaire Jeffrey Epstein likely has a secret stockpile of potentially compromising tapes, a British paper reported Monday.
Christopher Mason, a British television star and journalist who has known Ms. Maxwell since the 1980s, told the Daily Mail that she will use those tapes to cut a deal.
“The secret stash of sex tapes I believe Ghislaine has squirreled away could end up being her get-out-of-jail card if authorities are wiling to trade,” Mr. Mason told the paper. “She has copies of everything Epstein had. They could implicate some twisted movers and shakers.
“If Ghislaine goes down, she’s going to take the whole damn lot of them with her,” he continued.
Ms. Maxwell was arrested last week in New Hampshire and on Monday was moved to a Brooklyn detention center while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
Federal prosecutors in New York say she helped procure underage girls by Epstein’s alleged sex-trafficking empire.
Some of Epstein’s alleged victims say they were trafficked to high-profile political and business leaders. One accuser, Virginia Giuffre, said in an unsealed deposition that she was trafficked to Prince Andrew, former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and others.
All have denied wrongdoing.
But given Mr. Epstein’s connections to the rich and powerful, Mr. Mason said there are likely some well-known names who could be implicated in the Maxwell case.
“Not only did Epstein like to capture himself with underage girls on camera, he wanted to make sure he had something to hold over the rich and powerful men who took advantage of his largesse,” Mr. Maxwell said in the interview.
“I’ll bet anything that once it comes that Ghislaine has those tapes, these men will be quaking in their Italian leather boots,” he said.
Ms. Maxwell is being held without bail. Her next court appearance is Friday in New York.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.