United States v. Maxwell, No. 120-cr-00330 (S.D.N.Y. 2020)/097-03.pdf

Exhibit C Case 1:20-cr-00330-AJN Document 97-3 Filed 12/14/20 Page 1 of 5 1 | Page 30 th November 2020 The Honorable Alison J. Nathan United States District Court Southern District of New York United States Courthouse 40 Foley Square New York, NY 10007 Dear Judge Nathan: I have known Ghislaine all her life. Ghislaine and I have always enjoyed sharing the personal experience of our lives with each other. she was full of 'vim and vigor' and always just lovely to be with. she and I have seen our relationship strengthen through shared common interests. In particular, Ghislaine's passion for making a positive difference in the world, notably through her creation of the non-profit TerraMar Project focusing on the protection of the world’s oceans, gave me Although always in touch we have talked and met up much more consistently over the past seven years It is a joy to be one of her best friends. Case 1:20-cr-00330-AJN Document 97-3 Filed 12/14/20 Page 2 of 5 2 | Page Throughout her school life Ghislaine always had friends and seemed to be genuinely grounded in her love of life and learning. We were all quite proud when she graduated from Oxford with her Bachelor's degree. She, learned early on the value of hard work Around 1990, Ghislaine came to live in New York to continue Maxwell Corporate Gifts, a successful company she had founded in the UK which was subsequently absorbed in 1991, Ghislaine had to rely on her personal compass, inner resilience and sheer determination to build a fresh life for herself. Her prior 'big picture' experience, top-level entertaining skills and talent for organizing, coupled with her multi-cultural and multi-lingual sophistication, opened doors into New York society. Although it is true that for many years Ghislaine was frequently involved in high society and attended fashionable social gatherings; what irks me greatly is the press’s one dimensional ‘socialite’ focus on Ghislaine, that completely denies and refuses to acknowledge the very serious, highly intellectual and passionate caring sides of Ghislaine. For example, since 2003, Ghislaine devoted all her energy, her own financial resources and intellectual skills to helping save the Oceans, through her establishment of the not-for-profit company, The Terramar Project. Ghislaine's deep knowledge and appreciation of the significant role the oceans play in our world’s fragile ecosystem enabled her to work with key partners to influence the United Nations in 2014 in enunciating its Sustainable Development Goal 15 "To conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development." Indeed, it seemed so clear to me that this mission encompassed her life's passion and offered a way for her proactively to give something back of real value to society. Ghislaine showed a huge amount of courage and forbearance in the face of great adversity and in the years that followed. I have seen this strength more than ever during the times Despite the tremendous daily pressures she has been under, notably from the world’s media, universally hostile to her, she has shown simultaneously a deal of humility and fortitude. She has the profoundly deep conviction (through every fibre of her being) of her innocence in the face of all the unsupported accusations and criminal charges latterly filed against her. To the best of my knowledge and belief, Ghislaine has never been brought in for questioning, arrested, or charged with any criminal offense by law enforcement until now. Notwithstanding the seriousness of the offenses with which she has been charged, as a US Citizen, she has the constitutional right to the presumption of innocence and a fair trial. For the purpose of increasing their profits by boosting TV ratings and / or newspaper readership, the world’s media has aired or printed the most heinous accusations against her, in some cases for years now, that have never been cross-examined in a criminal court in front of an Case 1:20-cr-00330-AJN Document 97-3 Filed 12/14/20 Page 3 of 5 - 3 | Page independent judge and jury. Ghislaine is not a malicious or jealous person. In all the I have known her, I have never seen her be violent or act inappropriately against anyone, let alone young adults or children as has been alleged. I believe in her innocence. I know she would never do anything to put my life or my family’s life in jeopardy in any way, which is why I have no hesitation in placing the one property that I own – which is my only nest- egg for my retirement—up as part of her bail application. The value is $1.5 Million dollars. I do not have any other savings and it would be completely devastating financially and in every way to my own family were the house to be taken over by the Government due to a breach of bail conditions. I know in every fibre of my being that Ghislaine will never try to flee and will absolutely turn up to her trial, to have the opportunity to fight the charges against her. Based on my deep knowledge and experience with Ghislaine I totally trust and believe that I do not have to worry in any way about my home being put up as a part of her bail application. Until her arrest, I spoke often with Ghislaine over the phone and in the early summer of this year, two to four times a week. I witnessed how hard she worked every day and well into the nights going through the ever-growing tsunami of press clippings, videos, audio files, etc, that so gravely traduced her and continue to do so. Ghislaine is completely horrified and flabbergasted by these unfounded and completely horrendous accusations, as indeed am I. I feel totally safe around Ghislaine, in fact, I feel safer with her. I have never had any hesitation in my children visiting her or being with her – as they have been – both as young children and now they are older. Neither they nor I have ever seen any signs or signals of the alleged criminal conduct. I personally witnessed her be a warm, lovely, understanding and caring When visiting Ghislaine more recently as well as in the past I was impressed by her interaction with them and by their evident trust in and great affection for her which was entirely natural and unforced. Every exchange was totally normal and just lovely to watch how each of these clearly liked and she them. Although Ghislaine was certainly part of the New York social scene in the past, for many years, it had become clear to me that she was happy in a long-term loving relationship with her previous partner of over 7 years far away from the New York scene and with leading a happy family life with people she loved and trusted and who were similarly equally loving and trusting of her. I saw the same pattern of strong domesticity and family happiness with her spouse I have personally witnessed how much they love being with and being loved by Ghislaine. In terms of character, Ghislaine is compassionate, capable, and proactive. Ghislaine is very kind and caring. She brought to stay with her in New York for extended periods so that they could spend quality time together. She took them all around the US to see the sights and to visit with family and friends. Even under the terrible weight of her present circumstances, she has consistently demonstrated her consideration for others. Whenever we spoke, she asked about The fact that she could care enough and not just be thinking only of herself at this impossible time remains deeply moving to me. Case 1:20-cr-00330-AJN Document 97-3 Filed 12/14/20 Page 4 of 5 - -- - - - 4 | Page has called the United States her home for almost 30 years. She has deep affective family ties here in this country Most of all, her