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| Ghislaine Maxwell talks with her attorneys during her trial on charges of sex trafficking, in a courtroom sketch in New York City. Picture: Reuters |
Published: November 30, 2021
By: Luc Cohen
Jeffrey Epstein's pilot of almost 30 years recalled shuttling Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, Kevin Spacey and Donald Trump, among other well-known acquaintances of the disgraced financier on his private jet.
During the trial of Epstein’s ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, Lawrence Visoski Jr also testified to meeting one of the girls prosecutors say was just 14 when Epstein began abusing her.
Maxwell is charged with trafficking girls for abuse by Epstein and participating in some of the abuse herself. She has pleaded not guilty and denies all the charges.
Lawrence Visoski Jr. said on his second day testifying in the sex-trafficking trial of Epstein's ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell that a "mature woman" with striking blue eyes identified by prosecutors as "Jane" was brought by Epstein to the cockpit sometime in the mid 1990s in Palm Beach, Florida.
‘Jane’ also began giving evidence in the trial today.
Visoski also said that Epstein once asked him to fly the jet to Traverse City, Michigan, where the Interlochen Center for the Arts for gifted children is located, to pick up luggage.
Prosecutors say Jane, a singer, was about 14 when she met Epstein and Maxwell at Interlochen, while sitting on a park bench during a break.
The jury was shown flight logs and birth certificates of alleged victims.
Prosecutors are only identifying the alleged victims under pseudonyms and have argued Maxwell and Epstein met Jane at the camp in about 1994 and later lured her to his Florida home where he began sexually abusing her.
Under cross-examination by Maxwell's lawyer Chris Everdell, Visoski said he "never" saw any females who appeared to be under the age of 20 during the three decades he piloted Epstein's various planes nor any illegal activity aboard when he'd leave the cockpit to use the restroom.
He also testified to the high society that Epstein and Maxwell kept, naming several famous passengers that he flew – though the names aren't new. He recalled comedian Chris Tucker, actor Kevin Spacey, UK royal Prince Andrew, and former US presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.
Clinton flew on the Epstein planes "a couple of times" in the 1990s, and Trump, he said, flew more than once.
"I certainly remember the president," he said, also naming former Senator John Glenn and violinist Itzhak Perlman.
Visoski said he was asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement, "a fairly normal request for people who fly jets."
Under cross examination from defence counsel Christian Everdell, Mr Visoski was asked "Are you familiar with Prince Andrew, the Duke of York? He is the second son of the Queen. Did he ever fly on Epstein's planes?"
"Yes, he did," Mr Visoski replied.
The witness told jurors he could not recall the dates the duke flew.
Moving on to former president Trump, Mr Visoski said: "He flew on them a number of times."
He told the court he could not remember any of Mr Trump's family flying.
"The actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker?" Mr Everdell continued.
"Yes, I remember them as well," Mr Visoski replied.
The pilot recalled how he would have to make the aircraft "look nice" for ex-president Bill Clinton when he flew on Epstein's planes.
"You never saw any sexual activity on flights?" Mr Everdell asked.
"No," Mr Visoski responded.
"You never saw anyone engage in sexual activity with young girls?
"Absolutely not."
"If Mr Epstein was engaging in sex acts during the flight he probably would have told you not to leave the cockpit would he?"
"That's correct."
"You had no reason to believe that Epstein or anyone else was engaging in sex acts with underage girls on flights?"
"Absolutely not."
Later this afternoon, the accuser of Maxwell known by the pseudonym Jane began testifying in the British socialite's sex-abuse trial in Manhattan.
Maxwell, 59, faces sex trafficking and other charges for allegedly recruiting and grooming Jane and three other underage girls for deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein to abuse between 1994 and 2004. She has pleaded not guilty, and her lawyers have said she is being scapegoated for Epstein's alleged crimes.
Jane testified that she met Epstein in 1994 when she was 14 years old and had sexual contact with him multiple times while she was 14. Maxwell was in the room on some of those occasions, Jane said.
When asked by Assistant U.S. District Attorney Alison Moe whether she could identify Maxwell in the courtroom, Jane pointed toward the defendant and said, "Right there in the corner wearing sort of a beige turtleneck."
In opening statements, a defence attorney for Maxwell described Jane as a talented singer who received Epstein's financial assistance. The attorney said Jane never accused Maxwell of wrongdoing before Epstein died, and told the jury to listen for "internal inconsistencies" in Jane's testimony.
Ghislaine Maxwell was "number two" in the hierarchy of Jeffrey Epstein's employees, a former longtime pilot for the deceased financier testified on Tuesday at Maxwell's sex-abuse trial in Manhattan.
Pilot Lawrence Visoski, who is testifying for the government, recalled how Maxwell would often contact him to schedule flights for Epstein.
Prosecutors have charged Maxwell, who was also a onetime intimate partner of Epstein's, with recruiting and grooming four underage girls to give Epstein erotic massages, describing them as a "ruse" for sex abuse.
"Ms. Maxwell was number two. Mr. Epstein was a big number one," Visoski told jurors. "She was the one that pretty much handled most of the finance, my expenses, spending in the office."
Maxwell (59) has pleaded not guilty to eight counts of sex trafficking and other crimes, including two perjury charges that will be tried at a later date. She faces up to 80 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
Lawyers for Maxwell have said that the British socialite was being scapegoated for crimes Epstein committed. Epstein died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-abuse charges.
Visoski's testimony has provided the remaining jurors with a sense of the lifestyle Epstein and Maxwell lived between 1994 and 2004, the period in which prosecutors say Maxwell lured four underage girls for Epstein to abuse.
The pilot said he frequently shuttled Epstein and guests between Epstein's properties in New York, Florida, New Mexico, Paris and Caribbean islands.
In her opening statement on Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Pomerantz said prosecutors would present flight logs that included the names of Maxwell and some of the alleged victims.
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