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Maxwell accuser testifies Epstein brought her to meet Donald Trump at age 14

A woman accusing Ghislaine Maxwell of grooming her to be sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein said the late financier brought her to meet President Donald Trump at his Palm Beach, Fla., resort when she was 14. File Photo by Rick Bajornas/EPA-EFE
1 of 5 | A woman accusing Ghislaine Maxwell of grooming her to be sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein said the late financier brought her to meet President Donald Trump at his Palm Beach, Fla., resort when she was 14. File Photo by Rick Bajornas/EPA-EFE

Dec. 1 (UPI) -- A woman who accused Ghislaine Maxwell of grooming her to be sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein testified Wednesday that the late financier took her to meet Donald Trump when she was 14 years old.

Under questioning from Maxwell's defense attorney, Laura Menninger, during the trial in New York City, the woman, identified by the pseudonym Jane, said she met Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., in the 1990s.

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She did not accuse the former president of any improper behavior and acknowledged she took part in a Miss Teen USA beauty pageant associated with Trump in 1998 but did not specify if that was before Epstein brought her to the resort or why they made the visit.

Trump was regularly photographed alongside Epstein, who was found dead in his prison cell as he faced federal sex trafficking charges in July 2019, in the 1990s and 2000s and called him a "terrific guy" in a 2002 interview.

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After Epstein's arrest in 2019, he said the late financier had been banned from Mar-a-Lago and said he was "not a fan" of him.

Last year, Trump said he wished Maxwell "well" when asked about the charges against her.

Jane also recalled being on one of Epstein's private plane flights with Prince Andrew, under further questioning from Menninger.

Virginia Giuffre, who has also accused Maxwell and Epstein of recruiting her and other underage girls to be sexually abused, sued Prince Andrew, accusing him of raping and sexually abusing her when she was 17 years old.

On Tuesday, Larry Visoski, a pilot for Epstein, testified that he recalled meeting Jane on Epstein's private plane on which he flew high-profile men including former Presidents Trump and Bill Clinton as well as violinist Itzhak Perlman, Maine Sen. George Mitchell, Ohio Sen. John Glenn and actor Kevin Spacey.

Menninger also questioned Jane about apparent inconsistencies in her reprots to police about the abuse she experienced, including statements where she said she didn't remember Maxwell being present for sexual activity between her and Epstein.

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On Tuesday, Jane testified that Maxwell joined her and Epstein in his bedroom where the two fondled one another and encouraged her to join them and "instructed" her on how to massage Epstein.

Jane said Wednesday repeatedly that she didn't recall if she told investigatiors that Maxwell wasn't present for the sexual encounters.

When asked by the prosecution about money she received from the Epstein Victim Compensation Fund, Jane began to sob.

"In this country, compensation is the only thing you can get to try to move on with your life and for the ... pain and abuse and suffering that I received and all the out-of-pocket money I paid to try and make this go away and try to fix myself," she said.

During opening arguments Menninger suggested that the women who came forward to testify against Maxwell received compensation through the fund to pin Epstein's crimes on her after his death.

Jane's former boyfriend also took to the stand Wednesday as he testified that she had told him about a man who she described as like a "godfather" or "uncle" who helped the family financially, who she later revealed to be Epstein after he was arrested for prostitution charges in 2008.

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He added he recalled Jane confronting her mother about her encounters with Epstein, accusing her of turning a blind eye to the abuse, which she cited as a reason she did not immediately bring her accusations to authorities.

"Jane told her mother that the money was not free and there's no way that she couldn't have known that it wasn't free," he said.

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