Epstein accuser Giuffre's family urges Trump to keep Maxwell in prison
Ms Giuffre's family also said it was "shocking" to hear Mr Trump say this week that Epstein had poached Mr Giuffre from the Mar-a-Lago club, where she worked at the spa in 2000.
The family said Mr Trump's comment raised questions about whether he was aware of Mr Epstein's sexual abuse at the time.
Mr Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing.
Ms Giuffre said she was a victim of Epstein's sex trafficking from 2000 to 2002, starting when she was 16.
She died by suicide in April at age 41.
The family's statement comes as Mr Trump has faced pressure to make public documents from the federal investigations into Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, and his longtime girlfriend Maxwell, who was convicted of sex trafficking in 2021.
Deputy US Attorney-General Todd Blanche, Mr Trump's former personal lawyer, last week met with Maxwell.
Maxwell's lawyer David Markus has called on Mr Trump to grant her relief, but Mr Trump has said he has not thought about whether to pardon her.
A senior Trump administration official said no leniency for Maxwell was being given or discussed.
"That's just false," the official said.
Mr Markus did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr Trump and Epstein socialised in the 1990s and 2000s, before what Mr Trump has called a falling out.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Tuesday, Mr Trump said he told Epstein to "stay the hell out" of Mar-a-Lago after finding out Epstein was poaching Mr Trump's workers, including Ms Giuffre.
"He stole her," Mr Trump said.
In their statement, Ms Giuffre's family said Maxwell recruited her from Mar-a-Lago in 2000.
The family said that was years before Epstein and Mr Trump had their falling out, pointing to a 2002 New York magazine article in which the president was quoted calling Epstein a "terrific guy" who liked women "on the younger side".
"It makes us ask if he was aware of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's criminal actions," Ms Giuffre's family said, referring to Mr Trump's Air Force One comments.
Asked by a reporter on Thursday if he knew why Epstein was taking his employees, Mr Trump said he did not.
"I didn't really know really why, but I said if he's taking anybody from Mar-a-Lago, if he's hiring or whatever he's doing, I didn't like it and we threw him out," Mr Trump said.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement earlier on Thursday that Mr Trump had been responding to a reporter's question about Ms Giuffre and did not bring her up.
"President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club for being a creep to his female employees," Ms Leavitt said.
At Maxwell's trial in 2021, Juan Alessi, the former manager of Epstein's Palm Beach home, testified that he drove with Maxwell to meet Ms Giuffre at nearby Mar-a-Lago.
He said he then saw Ms Giuffre at Epstein's home for the first time that evening, and saw her at the home many times thereafter.
Reuters
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The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Russian, Chinese navies hold drills in Sea of Japan
The Russian and Chinese navies are carrying out artillery and anti-submarine drills in the Sea of Japan as part of scheduled joint exercises, the Russian Pacific Fleet says. The drills are taking place two days after US President Donald Trump said he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in "the appropriate regions" in response to remarks by former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. However, they were scheduled well before Trump's action. Interfax news agency quoted the Pacific Fleet as saying Russian and Chinese vessels were moving in a joint detachment including a large Russian anti-submarine ship and two Chinese destroyers. It said diesel-electric submarines from the two countries were also involved, as well as a Chinese submarine rescue ship. The manoeuvres are part of exercises titled "Maritime Interaction-2025" which are scheduled to end on Tuesday. Interfax said Russian and Chinese sailors would conduct artillery firing, practise anti-submarine and air defence missions, and improve joint search and rescue operations at sea. Russia and China, which signed a "no-limits" strategic partnership shortly before Russia went to war in Ukraine in 2022, conduct regular military exercises to rehearse co-ordination between their armed forces and send a deterrent signal to adversaries. Trump said his submarine order on Friday was made in response to what he called "highly provocative" remarks by Russia's Medvedev about the risk of war between the nuclear-armed adversaries. Russia and the United States have by far the biggest nuclear arsenals in the world. It is extremely rare for either country to discuss the deployment and location of its nuclear submarines. Trump's comments came at a time of mounting tension with Moscow as he grows frustrated at the lack of progress towards ending the Ukraine war. The Russian and Chinese navies are carrying out artillery and anti-submarine drills in the Sea of Japan as part of scheduled joint exercises, the Russian Pacific Fleet says. The drills are taking place two days after US President Donald Trump said he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in "the appropriate regions" in response to remarks by former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. However, they were scheduled well before Trump's action. Interfax news agency quoted the Pacific Fleet as saying Russian and Chinese vessels were moving in a joint detachment including a large Russian anti-submarine ship and two Chinese destroyers. It said diesel-electric submarines from the two countries were also involved, as well as a Chinese submarine rescue ship. The manoeuvres are part of exercises titled "Maritime Interaction-2025" which are scheduled to end on Tuesday. Interfax said Russian and Chinese sailors would conduct artillery firing, practise anti-submarine and air defence missions, and improve joint search and rescue operations at sea. Russia and China, which signed a "no-limits" strategic partnership shortly before Russia went to war in Ukraine in 2022, conduct regular military exercises to rehearse co-ordination between their armed forces and send a deterrent signal to adversaries. Trump said his submarine order on Friday was made in response to what he called "highly provocative" remarks by Russia's Medvedev about the risk of war between the nuclear-armed adversaries. Russia and the United States have by far the biggest nuclear arsenals in the world. It is extremely rare for either country to discuss the deployment and location of its nuclear submarines. Trump's comments came at a time of mounting tension with Moscow as he grows frustrated at the lack of progress towards ending the Ukraine war. The Russian and Chinese navies are carrying out artillery and anti-submarine drills in the Sea of Japan as part of scheduled joint exercises, the Russian Pacific Fleet says. The drills are taking place two days after US President Donald Trump said he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in "the appropriate regions" in response to remarks by former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. However, they were scheduled well before Trump's action. Interfax news agency quoted the Pacific Fleet as saying Russian and Chinese vessels were moving in a joint detachment including a large Russian anti-submarine ship and two Chinese destroyers. It said diesel-electric submarines from the two countries were also involved, as well as a Chinese submarine rescue ship. The manoeuvres are part of exercises titled "Maritime Interaction-2025" which are scheduled to end on Tuesday. Interfax said Russian and Chinese sailors would conduct artillery firing, practise anti-submarine and air defence missions, and improve joint search and rescue operations at sea. Russia and China, which signed a "no-limits" strategic partnership shortly before Russia went to war in Ukraine in 2022, conduct regular military exercises to rehearse co-ordination between their armed forces and send a deterrent signal to adversaries. Trump said his submarine order on Friday was made in response to what he called "highly provocative" remarks by Russia's Medvedev about the risk of war between the nuclear-armed adversaries. Russia and the United States have by far the biggest nuclear arsenals in the world. It is extremely rare for either country to discuss the deployment and location of its nuclear submarines. Trump's comments came at a time of mounting tension with Moscow as he grows frustrated at the lack of progress towards ending the Ukraine war. The Russian and Chinese navies are carrying out artillery and anti-submarine drills in the Sea of Japan as part of scheduled joint exercises, the Russian Pacific Fleet says. The drills are taking place two days after US President Donald Trump said he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in "the appropriate regions" in response to remarks by former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. However, they were scheduled well before Trump's action. Interfax news agency quoted the Pacific Fleet as saying Russian and Chinese vessels were moving in a joint detachment including a large Russian anti-submarine ship and two Chinese destroyers. It said diesel-electric submarines from the two countries were also involved, as well as a Chinese submarine rescue ship. The manoeuvres are part of exercises titled "Maritime Interaction-2025" which are scheduled to end on Tuesday. Interfax said Russian and Chinese sailors would conduct artillery firing, practise anti-submarine and air defence missions, and improve joint search and rescue operations at sea. Russia and China, which signed a "no-limits" strategic partnership shortly before Russia went to war in Ukraine in 2022, conduct regular military exercises to rehearse co-ordination between their armed forces and send a deterrent signal to adversaries. Trump said his submarine order on Friday was made in response to what he called "highly provocative" remarks by Russia's Medvedev about the risk of war between the nuclear-armed adversaries. Russia and the United States have by far the biggest nuclear arsenals in the world. It is extremely rare for either country to discuss the deployment and location of its nuclear submarines. Trump's comments came at a time of mounting tension with Moscow as he grows frustrated at the lack of progress towards ending the Ukraine war.
News.com.au
4 hours ago
- News.com.au
Idaho murders: Prosecutor reveals why he believes killer Bryan Kohberger left 2 of 6 friends alive
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In an interview with local newspaper Idaho Statesman, prosecutor Bill Thompson, who put off retirement to see the case through, said Ms Mortensen's recollection of seeing a man in black with a face mask and bushy eyebrows walking towards the second-floor sliding glass door was consistent over several interviews. 'From what Dylan described, I have a hard time imagining that the killer did not see Dylan,' Mr Thompson told the newspaper. 'At that point, he'd been in the house probably longer than he planned, and he had killed more people than he planned … It wouldn't surprise us that the killer was scared at that point and decided they had to leave, not knowing if law enforcement already had been called.' Mr Thompson told Idaho Statesman the order of the victims' death is not entirely clear. It is believed Ms Goncalves or Ms Mogen may have been who Kohberger was targeting because it appears he immediately went to the third floor. The house had three floors. The top floor was where Ms Goncalves and Ms Mogen lived. Ms Mortensen and Ms Kernodle lived on the second floor, and Ms Funke lived on the first floor in the 'basement'. Mr Chapin was Ms Kernodle's boyfriend. Ms Mortensen had moved from her room to stay in Ms Funke's room in the basement during the night after seeing a strange man in the house. Late in the morning, she called Emily Alandt, a friend who lived across the road, and asked her to come check out the house, saying something strange had happened during the night but she didn't know if she was dreaming. 'She was like, 'something weird happened last night, I don't really know if I was dreaming or not but I'm really scared, can you come check out the house?'' Ms Alandt said on Amazon Prime's docuseries One Night in Idaho: The College Murders. Ms Alandt and two other friends, Josie Lauteren and Hunter Johnson, met Ms Mortensen and Ms Funke outside the house. Mr Johnson went into the house and found bodies, telling them to call 911. 'What if it happens again?': Survivor speaks publicly for first time An emotional Dylan Mortensen spoke publicly for the first time since the brutal murders at Kohberger's sentencing. 'What happened that night changed everything,' Ms Mortensen said through tears. She described her friends as 'beautiful, genuine, compassionate people' and did not address Kohberger by name. 'He didn't just take them from the world. He took them from me. My friends. My people who felt like my home. The people I looked up to and adored more than anyone,' the now 21-year-old said. 'He took away my ability to trust the world around me. 'What he did shattered me in places I didn't know could break. 'I was barely 19 when he did this. We had just celebrated my birthday at the end of September. I should have been figuring out who I was. I should have been having the college experience and starting to establish my future. Instead, I was forced to learn how to survive the unimaginable.' She continued: 'I had to sleep in my mom's bed because I was too terrified to close my eyes. Terrified that if I blinked, someone might be there. I made escape plans everywhere I went. 'If something happens, how do I get out? What can I use to defend myself? And who can help?'' She went on to describe debilitating panic attacks — 'the kind that slam into me like a tsunami out of nowhere'. 'I can't breathe, I can't think, I can't stop shaking,' she said. 'All I can do is scream because the emotional pain and grief is too much to handle. My chest feels like it's caving in. 'Sometimes I drop to the floor with my heart racing, convinced something is very wrong. 'It's far beyond anxiety. It's my body reliving everything over and over again. My nervous system never got the message that it is over, and it won't let me forget what he did to them.' Ms Mortensen said she is forced to scan every room she enters and flinches at sudden sounds. 'He stole parts of me I may never get back. He took the version of me who didn't constantly ask 'what if it happens again? what if next time I don't survive?'' She referred to Kohberger as 'a hallow vessel, something less than human, a body without empathy, without remorse'. 'He chose destruction. He chose evil. He feels nothing. He tried to take everything from me: my friends, my safety, my identity, my future,' she said. She said speaking was her way of getting justice for Ms Mogen, Ms Goncalves, Ms Kernodle and Mr Chapin. 'He may have taken so much form me but he will never get to take my voice,' she said. 'He will never take the memories I had with them. He will never erase the love we shared, the laughs we had, or the way they made me feel seen and whole. Those things are mine.' She said she would go on to live her life while he would stay 'empty, forgotten and powerless'. 'Why did I get to live?' While fellow surviving housemate Bethany Funke did not speak, a statement was read out on her behalf by friend Emily Alandt. 'I thought that we were going to wake up and go upstairs see them and tell them how they had scared us and they were going to tease us about how we are constantly scaredy cats and make jokes about it as we would go to Taco Bell as always,' Ms Funke said in her statement. She said she woke up with 'no idea what happened' but it turned out to be her 'worst nightmare'. 'I still carry so much regret and guilt for not knowing what happened and not calling (911) right away even though I understand it wouldn't have changed anything, not even if the paramedics had been right outside the door,' she said. Kohberger was not arrested until more than a month after the quadruple murder. In the meantime, strangers online turned on the surviving housemates and their friends. Ms Funke said she received death threats and attacks online while 'trying to survive emotionally and grieve'. She also noted she was scared that the murderer would come for her next. She expressed feeling survivor's guilt. 'I hated and still hate that they are gone but for some reason I am still here and I got to live,' she said. 'I still think about this every day: Why me? Why did I get to live and not them? For the longest time, I could not even look at their families without feeling sick with guilt.' She said she had not slept through a single night in years, constantly waking up in a panic. 'I slept in my parent's room for almost a year. I made them double lock every door, set an alarm, and still check everywhere in the room just in case someone was hiding, and I still check my room every night,' she said. She said while she is still scared to go out in public, she forces herself to live for her late friends and does everything with them in mind.
News.com.au
5 hours ago
- News.com.au
Devil's Den murder suspect Andrew James McGann would ‘tickle' girls, parent at his former school says
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