Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide while in police custody last year, and Ghislaine Maxwell, arrested by the FBI on Thursday, photographed together in 2005. (Photo: Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images)
Jul 02, 2020
With last year's jailhouse suicide of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein--the billionaire and politically influential investor who killed himself after being arrested on federal sex trafficking charges--still looming in the air, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday said that the safety of his longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, must be assured after Maxwell's arrest for allegedly aiding and abetting Epstein's criminal operation by grooming and recruiting underage girls for exploitation.
\u201cMaxwell\u2019s arrest is a significant development.\n\nI hope the SDNY and all relevant parties have conducted an extensive review of the failures of Epstein\u2019s custody to ensure Maxwell\u2019s safety as this case bears out.\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1593714020
According to the New York Times:
In an indictment, Ms. Maxwell was accused of helping Mr. Epstein "recruit, groom and ultimately abuse" multiple girls, including one as young as 14.
The arrest came nearly a year after Mr. Epstein was charged in a federal indictment with sexually exploiting and abusing dozens of underage girls at his mansion in Manhattan, his estate in Palm Beach, Fla., and other locations.
Mr. Epstein hanged himself in August in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan, where he had been jailed pending trial on the federal sex-trafficking charges. After his death, federal prosecutors said they would continue to investigate his associates.
After Epstein's suicide last year, which a coroner ruled was not suspicious of foul play, Ocasio-Cortez was among the first demand accountability and an investigation into what happened to the powerful and influential figure.
"We need answers," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted at the time. "Lots of them."
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
With last year's jailhouse suicide of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein--the billionaire and politically influential investor who killed himself after being arrested on federal sex trafficking charges--still looming in the air, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday said that the safety of his longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, must be assured after Maxwell's arrest for allegedly aiding and abetting Epstein's criminal operation by grooming and recruiting underage girls for exploitation.
\u201cMaxwell\u2019s arrest is a significant development.\n\nI hope the SDNY and all relevant parties have conducted an extensive review of the failures of Epstein\u2019s custody to ensure Maxwell\u2019s safety as this case bears out.\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1593714020
According to the New York Times:
In an indictment, Ms. Maxwell was accused of helping Mr. Epstein "recruit, groom and ultimately abuse" multiple girls, including one as young as 14.
The arrest came nearly a year after Mr. Epstein was charged in a federal indictment with sexually exploiting and abusing dozens of underage girls at his mansion in Manhattan, his estate in Palm Beach, Fla., and other locations.
Mr. Epstein hanged himself in August in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan, where he had been jailed pending trial on the federal sex-trafficking charges. After his death, federal prosecutors said they would continue to investigate his associates.
After Epstein's suicide last year, which a coroner ruled was not suspicious of foul play, Ocasio-Cortez was among the first demand accountability and an investigation into what happened to the powerful and influential figure.
"We need answers," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted at the time. "Lots of them."
With last year's jailhouse suicide of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein--the billionaire and politically influential investor who killed himself after being arrested on federal sex trafficking charges--still looming in the air, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday said that the safety of his longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, must be assured after Maxwell's arrest for allegedly aiding and abetting Epstein's criminal operation by grooming and recruiting underage girls for exploitation.
\u201cMaxwell\u2019s arrest is a significant development.\n\nI hope the SDNY and all relevant parties have conducted an extensive review of the failures of Epstein\u2019s custody to ensure Maxwell\u2019s safety as this case bears out.\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1593714020
According to the New York Times:
In an indictment, Ms. Maxwell was accused of helping Mr. Epstein "recruit, groom and ultimately abuse" multiple girls, including one as young as 14.
The arrest came nearly a year after Mr. Epstein was charged in a federal indictment with sexually exploiting and abusing dozens of underage girls at his mansion in Manhattan, his estate in Palm Beach, Fla., and other locations.
Mr. Epstein hanged himself in August in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan, where he had been jailed pending trial on the federal sex-trafficking charges. After his death, federal prosecutors said they would continue to investigate his associates.
After Epstein's suicide last year, which a coroner ruled was not suspicious of foul play, Ocasio-Cortez was among the first demand accountability and an investigation into what happened to the powerful and influential figure.
"We need answers," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted at the time. "Lots of them."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.