During Maxwell Trial Leah Saffian Sat At Defense Table Showing Ghislaine Her Phone, In-N-Out II
Saffian hasn't filed a notice of appearance in the case, and is not listed in any SDNY case, or bar associations in NY, VA or CT. Is there a non-docketed order allowing her to bring phone- to Maxwell?
By Matthew Russell Lee Patreon Song Video Ruling
BBC - Decrypt - LightRead - Radio - Podcast
SDNY COURTHOUSE, Dec 29 – Ghislaine Maxwell, charged with sex trafficking and other charges, is nearing the end of trial that started on November 29, after the November 23 final-final pre trial conference, vlog here.
On December 28, the fourth day of jury deliberations, Judge Alison J. Nathan cited the spread of Omicron's impact on the trial going forward. Inner City Press minutes later renewed its request for a public call-in line to the proceedings, as it provided in DDC, EDNY and by other judges in SDNY, including in criminal proceedings, see Inner City Press letter here, and see below.
During a lull on December 29, Inner City Press began asking about long time Maxwell family fixer Leah Saffian, a lawyer (in California and the UK, but not in New York). She is said to have staged the photo of Maxwell at the In-N-Out burger, and more.
Inner City Press asked: how is it that Saffian, with a cell phone, moved from the front row of the gallery in Courtroom 318 into the well and to the defense, to sit with Maxwell, showing the incarcerated defendant her smart phone?
As to the last, Inner City Press has been reliable informed it is impermissible. And yet...
Others proffered that while Saffian is not listed in the docket, has not filed a notice of appearance in the case (though she is mentioned in one of Bobbi Sternheim's letter as having visited Maxwell in the MDC in April 2021), she may have some status in the SDNY. First it was said, if she is a New York State lawyer, it could explain the phone in the courtroom, with Maxwell.
But Safian is not listed in the data base of NYS lawyers.
Then it was said that she could be admitted to SDNY without being a New York State lawyer. But it appears that to apply, other than pro hac vice which would show up in a case docket (Saffian is nowhere in SDNY PACER dockets), a lawyer has to be admitted in New York OR in Vermont or Connecticut, both part of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals which Judge Nathan seeks to join.
But Saffian is not listed in either state's database of lawyers.
So is there some separate order in this Maxwell case allowing Saffian to bring in - and share - her phone? If so, it has not been docketed. Nor have the jury notes, nor the names of passengers on Epstein's planes including the so called Lolita Express. We'll have more on this.
Inner City Press filed a letter for docketing and ruling on: "Dear Judge Nathan: On behalf of Inner City Press and in my personal capacity, I have been covering the above-captioned case, and have repeatedly asked that a public call-in line be provided, in light of COVID-19 restrictions and spread. Now this morning the Court has taken note of the rapid spread of Omicron. This is the time to belatedly provide the public call-in line, for jury notes, counsel's argument, and the reading of the verdict, if and when it happens. Yesterday Inner City Press was informed that a person who has been attending the trial in the overflow courtroom(s) and reporting to a wider audience was not allowed into the courthouse, with COVID / Omicron and social distancing being cited as the reason (according to the individual). While Inner City Press continues to inquire into this seeking to confirm or disprove it, it highlights the need for a public call-in line, to ensure a public trial. Also on transparency, while again requesting the unsealing / unredaction in the flight logs of all but victims' / survivors' names (there is a flight in the Rodgers log from Wilmington, Delaware to New Jersey, involving non-victims, in which Inner City Press is particularly interested), this is also a request that all court exhibits, including jury notes, by docketed on PACER on the same-day basis the US Attorney's Office was supposed to operated on USAfx (but at times did not). While appreciating that the Court docketed before denying Inner City Press' November 12 request for a call-in line, Dkt. 451, since then travel restrictions to New York have been imposed on entire countries, including some visited by Jeffrey Epstein's plane, with defendant Maxwell aboard, in their tour of Africa with former President Clinton and others. Restrictions and cases are growing in New York, but still no call-in line. By contrast, on December 17 Judge Richard J. Sullivan provided a call-in line for an in-person criminal proceeding. And yesterday EDNY had a criminal proceeding with a call-in line" -- see here.
Full Inner City Press Dec. 28 filing here.
Inner City Press is covering the trial, and all the comes before and after it; #CourtCaseCast and song I, Song 2, Song 3, fifth song, Nov 27 song Dec 4 song and Dec 11 song (YouTube demonetized it) and Dec 18 song (no ads) and Dec 24 song (also no ads - demonetized by YouTube)
On October 18 the US Attorney's Office opposed the request, saying the the voir dire questions should be asked by Judge Nathan, and that there should only be sidebars on "sensitive questions such as those that relate to sexual abuse and media exposure." Full letter on Patreon here.
In a conference on October 21 on that as scheduling issues, Judge Nathan denied the request to seal. Inner City Press live tweeted it here (podcast here)
On October 22 the draft jury questionnaire was unsealed and Inner City Press has immediately published it on its DocumentCloud here, including "Have you or a family member ever supported, lobbied, petitioned, protested, or worked in any other manner for or against any laws, regulations, or organizations relating to sex trafficking, sex crimes against minors, sex abuse or sexual harassment?" Photo here.
After the death of Jeffrey Epstein in the MCC prison, on July 2 Acting US Attorney for the SDNY Audrey Strauss announced and unsealed in indictment of Maxwell on charges including sex trafficking and perjury.
Inner City Press went to her press conference at the US Attorney's Office and asked, Doesn't charging Maxwell with perjury undercut any ability to use testimony from her against other, bigger wrong-doers? Periscope here at 23:07.
Strauss replied that it is not impossible to use a perjurer's testimony. But how often does it work?
At 3:30 pm on July 2 Maxwell appeared in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampsire, before Magistriate Judge Andrea K. Johnstone. Inner City Press live tweeted it here.
(Also live tweeted bail denial of July 14, here.)
In the July 3 media coverage of Maxwell, media all of the world used a video and stills from it of Maxwell speaking in front of a blue curtain, like here.
What they did not mention is something Inner City Press has been asking the UN about, as under UNSG Antonio Guterres with his own sexual exploitation issues (exclusive video and audio) it got roughed up and banned from the UN: Ghislaine Maxwell had a ghoulish United Nations press conference, under the banner of the "Terramar Project," here.
On July 5, after some crowd-sourcing, Inner City Press reported on another Ghislaine Maxwell use of the United Nations, facilitated by Italy's Permanent Representative to the UN, UN official Nikhil Seth and Amir Dossal, who also let into the UN and in one case took money from convicted UN briber Ng Lap Seng, and Patrick Ho of CEFC China Energy, also linked to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
At the Ghislaine Maxwell UN event, the UN Deputy Secretary General was directly involved.
List of (some of) the participants on Patreon here.
Inner City Press has published a phone of Maxwell in the UN with Dossal, here. But the connection runs deeper: Dossal with "25 years of UN involvement" was on Terrarmar's board of directors, one of only five directors, only three not related to Maxwell by blood and name.
The directors: Ghislaine Maxwell, Christine Malina-Maxwell, Steven Haft, Christine Dennison and... Amir Dossal. Inner City Press is publishing this full 990 on Patreon here.
Dossal has operated through the UN Office of Partnership, with Antonio Guterres and his deputy Amina J. Mohammed, here.
And the links to the world of UN bribery, including Antonio Guterres through the Gulbenkian Foundation, runs deeper. More to follow.
Antonio Guterres claims he has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation, but covers it up and even participate in it. He should be forced to resign - and/or have immunity waived.
Terramar has been dissolved, even though Maxwell's former fundraiser / director of development Brian Yurasits still lists the URL on his (protected) Twitter profile, also here.
But now Inner City Press has begun to inquire into Ghislaine Maxwell's other United Nations connections, starting with this photograph of another day's (or at least another outfit's) presentation in the UN, here. While co-conspirator Antonio Guterres has had Inner City Press banned from any entry into the UN for two years and a day, this appears to be in the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) chamber. We'll have more on this, and on Epstein and the UN. Watch this site.
The case is US v. Maxwell, 20-cr-330 (Nathan).
***
Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron.