British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was spotted in
Los Angeles on Monday, photographed reading a book on the history of the CIA at a popular fast food restaurant. The 57-year-old's whereabouts have been the subject of intense attention since the unsealing last week of court documents alleging she played a key role in assisting Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse of young girls. That attention has only heightened with Epstein's death on Saturday, in jail awaiting trial. Two days after her former lover's death she was seen in the
Hollywood Hills area of LA, sitting outside with her dog, at a branch of In-N-Out Burger. She posed for a photograph when a man, described by The
New York Post as being a regular at the chain, recognised her. Ghislaine Maxwell, photographed in 2010 at a gala in New York, was a familiar face on the party circuit until she left the city in 2016 “He’s at In-N-Out every single day,” a source told the paper. “He went up to her and asked, ‘Are you who I think you are?’ "She replied, ‘Yes, I am.'” Miss Maxwell then reportedly told an onlooker: “Well, I guess this is the last time I’ll be eating here!” The source said that Miss Maxwell was reading a book called The Book of Honor: The Secret Lives and Deaths of CIA Operatives and seemed resigned to having her picture taken. “She was perfectly friendly, very lovely,” the source said. Miss Maxwell has not been pictured in public since 2016, when she sold her mansion in
New York City and disappeared from view. Asked how the photographer knew who Miss Maxwell was, the source said: “If you’ve had the TV on, you know who she is, how could you miss her?”
Donald Trump and his then-girlfriend Melania Knauss, pictured with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, in 2000 Miss Maxwell was reported on Wednesday to have been spending time at a secluded mansion in Manchester-By-The-Sea, in Massachusetts. The owner of the house, Scott Borgerson, said on Wednesday that she was not at his home, and denied that the pair were dating. Miss Maxwell was never seen at the property. On Thursday the New York Post published the photograph, taken three days previously. It was unclear whether she remained in the city or had moved on. Miss Maxwell has never been charged with any crime, and has always denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein's sexual abuses. However, prosecutors in New York and lawyers for the accusers are said to be keen to speak to her for questioning, as the conspiracy case into Epstein's network continues. Protesters outside court in New York on July 8 - the day Epstein was charged
William Barr, the US attorney general, said he was “livid” at Epstein’s suicide, and issued a blunt warning to his associates. "Let me assure you that this case will continue on against anyone who was complicit with Epstein,” he said. “Any co-conspirators should not rest easy. The victims deserve justice and they will get it.” Geoffrey Berman, US attorney for the Southern District of New York, who was overseeing the charges Epstein faced when he died, added that his team’s “investigation of the conduct charged in the Indictment – which included a conspiracy count – remains ongoing.”