Update (1557ET): Federal prosecutors say they aren't offering Ghislaine Maxwell a plea deal ahead of her sex-trafficking trial slated to begin next week. According to the NY Post, Judge Alison Nathan asked prosecutors as well as Maxwell's attorneys whether a plea deal had been offered, to which Assistant US Attorney Maurene Comey - the daughter of former FBI chief James Comey - replied "None were communicated."
Maxwell was in the courtroom Tuesday, exchanging greetings with her team of lawyers and occasionally sipping from a disposable coffee cup as her legal team hashed out trial logistics with the group of four prosecutors.
Among the issues raised was that Maxwell’s attorneys have subpoenaed a lawyer who represents a victim in the case, identified in the indictment against Maxwell as “Minor Victim-4.” -NY Post
Maxwell's attorneys, meanwhile, have been ordered to submit briefs over the potential witness, who she allegedly met when the victim was 14-years-old.
U.S. prosecutors chose not to bring charges in connection with Virginia Giuffre, who says Epstein and Maxwell flew her around the world when she was 17 and 18 for sexual encounters with billionaires, politicians, royals and heads of state.
She isn’t expected to be called as a witness in Maxwell’s trial, either. -AP
Instead, prosecutors will focus on four other women who say Maxwell recruited them as teenagers for Epstein and his associates to sexually abuse - however none of them have alleged the type of abuse by high-profile international figures that Guiffre has.
In other words, the one witness who can connect the dots between Epstein, the Clintons, Prince Andrew and others won't be making an appearance. But is there a good reason?