'My sister is no monster.' Ghislaine Maxwell's family launches website protesting her innocence and detailing her jail cell conditions as she prepares to appeal her thrice-rejected bail application
The family of Ghislaine Maxwell has launched a website in support of the British socialite, insisting she's 'no monster' and protesting her innocence, as she awaits trial on charges she procured underage girls for billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The site, realghislaine.com, went live on Friday, weeks before Maxwell is scheduled to appeal her thrice-rejected application to be freed on bail.
Her family invited people to 'get to know the real Ghislaine' on the website, where they shared biographical details, information about her upcoming trial, jail conditions, as well as the books she is reading behind bars.
'This website has been developed and is maintained by brothers, sisters, family & friends of Ghislaine Maxwell, the people who have known the real Ghislaine all her life, not the fictional one-dimensional character created by the media,' it states.
'We believe wholeheartedly in our beloved sister's innocence and encourage visitors to this site to sign up for updates from the family on her case by providing your e-mail address below in the strictest of confidence.'
Ghislaine Maxwell's older brother Ian spoke out in his sister's defense in a video on the family's new website, realghislaine.com
Ghislaine Maxwell, 59, in June 2019 with her six living siblings. Ian Maxwell, her older brother, top right, shared it this weekend. A month after it was taken, Jeffrey Epstein was arrested and Ghislaine went into hiding with her husband, Scott Borgerson. The siblings, L-R, are: Anne, 73, Kevin, 62, twins Isabel and Christine, 70, Philip, 71, and Ian, 64
The launch of the webpage is a notable shift in tone by the famously tight-lipped family, who appear to be trying to salvage Maxwell's reputation ahead of her trial in July.
Maxwell, 59, has been detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since her arrest last July and has been denied bail multiple times.
She has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking underage girls in the 1990s and early 2000s for Epstein, her one-time boyfriend.
In a video statement included on the site's home page, her brother Ian claimed she has been wrongfully detained in solitary confinement and said she is now preparing to appeal her denied application for bail.
'I and my brothers and sisters love her very much. We believe in her innocence and that she'll be exonerated in the end, which is why it's so hard for us to see her held in an American prison in solitary confinement without bail for over 260 days and counting,' he says.
'My sister is no monster. Ghislaine is a stepmother. A wife. A friend to many. A sister to me. No one deserves to be tortured when they're presumed innocent.'
Ian said his sister is awaiting trial 'based on allegations that date back 25 years by accusers whose names not even her own lawyers know.'
The launch of the webpage is a notable shift in tone by the famously tight-lipped family, who appear to be trying to salvage Maxwell's reputation ahead of her trial in July
The website also includes a 'FAQ' section detailing her jail conditions, as well as the books she's reading behind bars
He also claimed she has been unable to properly prepare for her defense because she is locked in a tiny cell for '12 hours a day.'
The website attempts to paint Maxwell in a positive light, describing her as 'kind and compassionate' and includes a biographical section with details of her family, work and accomplishments over the years.
It makes no mention of her husband, Scott Borgerson.
'Today, [Ghislaine] remains close to her family and friends. Like all detainees in these times of COVID, she is unable to receive their visits, but she is buoyed by their love and the knowledge of their support on the outside which is conveyed to her by their letters.
'Ghislaine is extremely grateful for the hundreds of beautiful and supportive letters from strangers some of whom write her on a daily basis.'
The family claims more than a dozen letters of support 'affirming her honesty and integrity' have been submitted to the court in a bid for Maxwell's release.
An FAQ section also provides details of her 'restrictive' jail conditions, which include multiple physical searches a day that involve guards looking inside in her mouth and pointing a flashlight into her cell 'every 15 minutes during the night, making sleep impossible for her.'
'There is no flat surface in her cell for her to work on the legal documentation for the long hours she is left to languish in there,' the website states.
'The drinking water is full of contaminants and the food is inedible. Food has been fed to her on plastic trays that have melted when exposed to microwaved heating, making the food inedible and unsafe.'
Ghislaine Maxwell, the alleged 'madam' for Jeffrey Epstein, was told off by guards at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn for failing to flush her toilet
Prosecutors said, in a letter filed in federal court, that the British socialite 'frequently did not flush her toilet after using it, which caused the cell to smell'
It also reveals Maxwell has been keeping busy behind bars by reading books including 'The Oregon Trail' by Rinker Buck, 'Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine,' by Gail Honeyman, 'The Black Swan', by Nicholas Taleb, among others.
Maxwell is the youngest of seven surviving siblings including Anne, 73, Kevin, 62, twins Isabel and Christine, 70, Philip, 71, and Ian, 64.
Prior to its launch, the family had promoted the website on a new Twitter account with the handle @RealGhislaine.
'We believe in Ghislaine's innocence and that she will be exonerated in the end. Get to know the real Ghislaine and get more facts, and information by visiting our website, live today!' they said in a tweet.
Just one day earlier, Maxwell refuted claims about her alleged behavior behind bars including that she doesn't flush the toilet in her cell.
In a filing on Tuesday, prosecutors said jail staff recently ordered Maxwell to clean her 'very dirty' cell, which smelled because she 'frequently did not flush her toilet after using it.'
Her lawyer Bobbi Sternheim responded to the claims, accusing prosecutors of trying to 'publicly embarrass and humiliate Ms. Maxwell in the hostile court of public opinion' and jeopardizing her right to a fair trial on charges.
'To suggest she willingly lives in squalor is absurd,' Sternheim wrote on Wednesday night to U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan, who oversees Maxwell's case.
retaliation for Maxwell's having complained about a routine pat-down search.
Sternheim countered that the sometimes 'overwhelming' stench resulted from toilets overflowing in a nearby cellblock.
'Due to lack of privacy, Ms. Maxwell refrains from using the toilet in the isolation cell and, as directed by the guards, she flushes frequently to avoid plumbing problems,' she wrote.
Sternheim said inmates, including Maxwell, must drink dirty tap water and are surrounded by mold, vermin, cockroaches and rodents.
She also rejected prosecutors' assurances that Maxwell, now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, is healthy and not suffering weight and hair loss, and said Maxwell's eyesight is 'failing.'
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