The trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, the alleged former madam of the late billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, kicked off on Monday.
That same day, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) accidentally revealed over 2,000 flight records linked to Epstein, with 704 of them being previously unknown.
Insider filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in January of last year, asking the FAA to reveal records tied to Epstein’s private jets, one of which has been nicknamed the Lolita Express. While this request was denied because of a legal exemption designated by Congress known as “Exemption 7,” the FAA accidentally sent the outlet a large chunk of Epstein’s flight data, including departures and arrivals, because of an unrelated FOIA request that was filed earlier this year.
The flight records include data on around 2,300 flights on Epstein’s private jets that were taken between 1998 and 2020.
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The Federal Aviation Administration accidentally provided Insider with its internal flight records for Jeffrey Epstein's private jets, revealing more than 704 previously unknown flights https://t.co/J0qbYaTuiF
— Insider (@thisisinsider) November 29, 2021
The 704 previously unknown trips on Epstein’s private jets include flights taken between 2013 and 2016. The data released by the FAA does not include names of passengers, but it’s been revealed in the past that Maxwell was on board the planes at times, as were former Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton.
CNBC reported that after Maxwell’s trial began on Monday, Epstein’s former pilot was called the first witness. According to Florida law enforcement files, Larry Visoski flew Epstein’s Boeing 727 on multiple occasions over the years. When asked where Maxwell stood in the hierarchy of Epstein’s world, Visoski replied that she “was the Number 2,” adding that “Epstein was the big Number 1,” according to ABC News.
Maxwell is on trial for charges related to her allegedly grooming young girls for sex with Epstein and sometimes participating in the abuse herself. Epstein reportedly committed suicide in prison in August of 2019 while awaiting trial on his own sex crime charges. Maxwell has been in custody since July of last year and has pled not guilty to all charges, and her trial is expected to last about six weeks.
Bobbi Sternheim, Maxwell’s defense lawyer, tried to paint the 59-year-old former socialite as a victim of Epstein’s in her opening statement.
“Ever since Eve was accused of tempting Adam for the apple, women have been blamed for the bad behavior of men, and women are often villainized and punished more than the men ever are,” Sternheim argued, according to The Guardian. “The charges against Ghislaine Maxwell are for things that Jeffrey Epstein did. But she is not Jeffrey Epstein. She is not like Jeffrey Epstein – and she is not like any of the other men, powerful men, moguls, media giants, who abuse women.”
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Bobbi Sternheim seems to be plagiarizing Satan from that scene to which she eludes.