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                                                                                                 u.s. news Diamars 30 November 2021

                           Maxwell, Epstein were ‘partners in crime,’ prosecutor says


            (AP) — Ghislaine Maxwell                                  well,  wearing  a  cream-col-
            and  Jeffrey  Epstein  were  “She  was  in  on  it  from  the  ored sweater and black pants,
            “partners  in  crime”  who  start.  The  defendant  and  was at times writing and pass-
            made  the  sexual  abuse  of  Epstein  lured  their  victims  ing notes to her lawyers.
            teenage girls since at least  with a promise of a bright fu-
            1994 seem normal and ca-     ture, only to sexually exploit  A defense lawyer was to fol-
            sual, a prosecutor told ju-  them,” Pomerantz said.       low  the  prosecutor’s  open-
            rors Monday at the open-                                  ing.
            ing  of  Maxwell’s  sex  traf-  Maxwell  “was  involved  in
            ficking trial.               every detail of Epstein’s life,”  The  openings  came  in  the
                                         the prosecutor said. “The de-  afternoon, after hours in the
            Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara  fendant  was  the  lady  of  the  morning  were  lost  to  ques-
            Pomerantz  said  that  Epstein  house.”                   tions about whether two pro-
            and  Maxwell,  a  British  so-                            spective  jurors  could  work
            cialite, enticed girls as young  Even after Maxwell and Ep-  throughout the six weeks the
            as  age  14  to  engage  in  “so-  stein stopped being romanti-  trial is projected to last.
            called  massages”  by  shower-  cally  involved,  the  pair  “re-
            ing  them  with  money  and  mained  the  best  of  friends,”  During  the  morning,  Max-
            gifts  before  they  were  sexu-  Pomerantz said.         well  gazed  frequently  at  her
            ally abused.                                              sister, who was seated in the
                                         She  said  Maxwell  “helped  front row of a spectator sec-
            The  prosecutor  sought  to  normalize  abusive  sexual  tion  diminished  in  space  by
            make clear to a jury of 12 that  conduct”  by  making  the  coronavirus restrictions.
            there was no confusion about  teenagers feel safe and by tak-                          Beach,  Florida;  his  posh  family  say  she  was  Epstein’s
            whether  Maxwell,  Epstein’s  ing  them  on  shopping  trips  One  prospective  juror  was  Manhattan  townhouse;  a  pawn,  now  paying  “a  blood
            longtime companion, was his  and asking them about their  dismissed  after  he  acknowl-  Santa  Fe,  New  Mexico,  price” to satisfy public desire
            puppet or accomplice.        lives, their schools and their  edged  he’d  had  to  listen  to  ranch; a Paris apartment; and  to see someone held account-
                                         families.                    someone  he  knew  who  was  a luxury estate in the Virgin  able for his crimes.
            She  described  the  59-year-                             “passionate”  about  the  case.  Islands.
            old woman as central to Ep-  The  prosecutor  spoke  from  Another juror’s employment                               The wealthy, Oxford-educat-
            stein’s  sex  abuse  scheme,  an  enclosed  plastic  see-  was  in  jeopardy  until  the  Epstein  killed  himself  at  a  ed  Maxwell  is  the  daughter
            which prosecutors say lasted  through box that allowed her  judge contacted the employ-  Manhattan federal lockup in  of  British  newspaper  mag-
            over a decade.               to  take  off  her  mask.  Max-  er to speed the process of ap-  August  2019,  a  month  after  nate  Robert  Maxwell,  who
                                                                      proval for the juror’s service.  his  arrest  on  sex  trafficking  died in 1991 after falling off
                                                                                                   charges.  Authorities  charged  his yacht — named the Lady
                                                                      Maxwell — who once dated  Maxwell in July 2020, arrest-   Ghislaine — near the Canary
                                                                      the financier — is accused of  ing her after tracking her to a  Islands.  Robert  Maxwell,
                                                                      acting  as  Epstein’s  chief  en-  $1  million  New  Hampshire  whose  holdings  at  the  time
                                                                      abler, recruiting and groom-  estate  where  she  had  been  included the New York Daily
                                                                      ing  young  girls  for  him  to  holed up during the corona-  News, was facing allegations
                                                                      abuse.  The  charges  against  virus pandemic.            that he had illegally looted his
                                                                      her stem from the allegations                             businesses’ pension funds.
                                                                      of four women who say she  Maxwell  has  pleaded  not
                                                                      and Epstein victimized them  guilty  and  vehemently  de-  Ghislaine  Maxwell  holds
                                                                      as teens from 1994 to 2004.  nies  wrongdoing.  She  has  U.S., British and French citi-
                                                                                                   been jailed in Brooklyn since  zenships  and  was  repeatedly
                                                                      Pomerantz said the abuse oc-  her arrest, calling the claims  denied bail in the run-up to
                                                                      curred  at  Epstein’s  homes,  against  her  “absolute  rub-  her trial.
                                                                      including  his  estate  in  Palm  bish.” Maxwell’s lawyers and


                            Biden vaccine rule for health workers blocked in 10 states


            (AP)  —  A  federal  judge  the  first  legal  challenge  providers participating in the  grams. Workers are to receive  care provider case wrote that
            on Monday blocked Presi-     against the requirement.     two  government  health  care  their first dose by Dec. 6 and  federal  officials  likely  over-
            dent  Joe  Biden’s  admin-                                programs for the elderly, dis-  their second shot by Jan. 4  stepped their legal powers.
            istration  from  enforcing  The court order said that the  abled and poor.
            a   coronavirus    vaccine  federal Centers for Medicare                               The  court  order  against  the  “CMS  seeks  to  overtake  an
            mandate  on  thousands  of  & Medicaid had no clear au-   The  preliminary  injunction  health  care  vaccine  mandate  area  of  traditional  state  au-
            health  care  workers in  10  thority from Congress to en-  by St. Louis-based U.S. Dis-  comes  after  Biden’s  admin-  thority  by  imposing  an  un-
            states  that  had  brought  act  the  vaccine  mandate  for  trict  Judge  Matthew  Schelp  istration  suffered  a  similar  precedented   demand   to
                                                                      applies  to  a  coalition  of  su-  setback  for  a  broader  policy.  federally  dictate  the  private
                                                                      ing states that includes Alas-  A  federal  court  previously  medical decisions of millions
                                                                      ka,  Arkansas,  Iowa,  Kansas,  placed  a  hold  on  a  separate  of  Americans.  Such  action
                                                                      Missouri,  Nebraska,  New  rule  requiring  businesses  challenges traditional notions
                                                                      Hampshire,  North  Dakota,  with more than 100 employ-    of federalism,” Schelp wrote
                                                                      South Dakota and Wyoming.  ees  to  ensure  their  workers  in his order.
                                                                      Similar  lawsuits  also  are  get  vaccinated  or  else  wear
                                                                      pending in other states.     masks and get tested weekly  Even  under  an  exceedingly
                                                                                                   for the coronavirus.         broad  interpretation  of  fed-
                                                                      The  federal  rule  requires                              eral  powers,  “Congress  did
                                                                      COVID-19  vaccinations  for  Biden’s  administration  con-  not clearly authorize CMS to
                                                                      more than 17 million work-   tends federal rules supersede  enact the this politically and
                                                                      ers  nationwide  in  about  state policies prohibiting vac-  economically  vast,  federal-
                                                                      76,000  health  care  facilities  cine mandates and are essen-  ism-altering,  and  boundary-
                                                                      and  home  health  care  pro-  tial to slowing the pandemic.  pushing  mandate,”  Schelp
                                                                      viders that get funding from                              wrote.
                                                                      the  government  health  pro-  But  the  judge  in  the  health
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