© Patrick McMullan via Getty ImagesA former friend of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, pictured in 2005, claimed they 'forced' him to watch the footage as they wanted to convince him of their 'power'
A federal appeals court Monday ordered the unsealing of a deposition related to Ghislaine Maxwell's sex life — after the defense fought tooth and nail to keep it secret.
A three-judge panel from the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals issued the brief, two-page ruling after hearing
arguments on the matter last week.
"We cannot conclude that the District Court abused its discretion in ordering the unsealing of the deposition materials," the panel wrote.
It's unclear when the documents will be released.
The seven-hour, 418-page deposition is from testimony Maxwell gave in April 2016 in a now-settled civil defamation lawsuit filed against her by Jeffrey Epstein
accuser Virginia Giuffre.
In the interview, Maxwell made statements about "consensual, and intimate conduct with other adults," according to court papers.
U.S. District Court Judge Loretta Preska
US District Judge Loretta Preska, who is overseeing the litigation over the release of the materials, had ordered the documents unsealed in July, but Maxwell's lawyers had appealed the decision.
Maxwell was
arrested over the summer on a six-count federal indictment charging her with grooming three underage girls to be sexually abused by her and Jeffrey Epstein.
The British socialite is charged with two counts of perjury for allegedly lying under oath during the deposition, in which she denied having any knowledge of Epstein's relationships with underage girls.
The late financier
committed suicide last year while in federal custody awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
Know anyone who gave a deposition? They'll complain about the inane and intrusive nature of such depositions. To have such events magically become public documents is clearly part of a plan to further and unfairly empower the state and prosecutors, which already have too many unfair powers - more than you can imagine.
I hope that they appeal to the USSC.
R.C.