There is a reference to Germany in the published files: a press card that is said to have been issued to Ghislaine Maxwell years ago.
dpa | A press card appeared in the investigation files into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which appears to have a connection to a German journalists’ association. The document is made out to Epstein confidante Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently in prison, and is valid in 2017, according to two scans in the files, each showing the front of the ID card. The “Spiegel” first reported about it.
Journalists receive a press pass to gain access to authorities and ministries. Journalists with press passes are also allowed on site at events or emergencies. It remained unclear why Maxwell should have applied for a press pass – and why it should have been issued. The document is an international press card from the International Federation of Journalists. The document is assigned to the German Journalists’ Union (dju) within the Verdi union.
Verdi announced that such an international press card (IPC – International Press Card) is valid for two years, so it would have to have been issued in 2015 or 2016. “We do not have any centrally accessible data on an event that occurred more than ten years ago,” it continued.
Verdi: Application documents are regularly destroyed
The case cannot therefore be specifically clarified: “According to our data protection concept, application documents are only stored for a specific purpose and are regularly destroyed after the year in which the application was submitted. It can therefore be assumed that there is no longer any data or evidence on site that corresponds to the validity of the IPC,” says Verdi.
Maxwell was sentenced in 2022. According to the verdict, she had a central one Role in setting up the abuse ring played, which the multimillionaire Epstein had operated for years from New York. Dozens of young women and minors fell victim to the abuse ring. In 2019, Epstein died in prison at the age of 66, before any further sentencing could have taken place.
The financier had excellent contacts in high society, which led to numerous speculations about him Scope of the scandal brought with it. The publication of the files was finally ordered by law US President Donald Trump had resisted for a long time.
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