What is document EFTA00015326?

This is an internal Department of Justice email exchange from April 15, 2020 between Geoffrey Berman, then-US Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), and members of his prosecution team. They are working to locate a specific victim's recorded testimony about Ghislaine Maxwell performing an inappropriate massage.

Who is mentioned in this document?

The document mentions Geoffrey S. Berman (US Attorney), Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein, and Mike Baker (New York Times reporter who conducted victim interviews for 'The Daily' podcast). A victim's testimony is quoted but her name is redacted.

What does this document reveal?

The document reveals that SDNY prosecutors were actively building their case against Maxwell in April 2020, three months before her July 2020 arrest. It shows Berman personally working to locate a specific recording where a victim described Maxwell massaging her breasts. The victim testimony describes how Maxwell repeatedly offered massages, had the victim undress, and then inappropriately touched her chest—evidence of Maxwell's direct participation in abuse rather than just facilitating Epstein's crimes.

What victim testimony is quoted in this document?

The document quotes a victim describing how Maxwell repeatedly asked if she wanted a massage, claimed to be 'very skilled in massage,' had her undress and lie under a sheet, then 'pulled the sheet down so that my breasts were exposed' and massaged her chest. The victim states 'I don't think there was any reason for her to be touching me that way.'

What is document EFTA00015326?

This is an internal Department of Justice email exchange from April 15, 2020 between Geoffrey Berman, then-US Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), and members of his prosecution team. They are working to locate a specific victim's recorded testimony about Ghislaine Maxwell performing an inappropriate massage.

Who is mentioned in this document?

The document mentions Geoffrey S. Berman (US Attorney), Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein, and Mike Baker (New York Times reporter who conducted victim interviews for 'The Daily' podcast). A victim's testimony is quoted but her name is redacted.

What does this document reveal?

The document reveals that SDNY prosecutors were actively building their case against Maxwell in April 2020, three months before her July 2020 arrest. It shows Berman personally working to locate a specific recording where a victim described Maxwell massaging her breasts. The victim testimony describes how Maxwell repeatedly offered massages, had the victim undress, and then inappropriately touched her chest—evidence of Maxwell's direct participation in abuse rather than just facilitating Epstein's crimes.

What victim testimony is quoted in this document?

The document quotes a victim describing how Maxwell repeatedly asked if she wanted a massage, claimed to be 'very skilled in massage,' had her undress and lie under a sheet, then 'pulled the sheet down so that my breasts were exposed' and massaged her chest. The victim states 'I don't think there was any reason for her to be touching me that way.'

EFTA00015326 - EFTA00015327

Internal DOJ email exchange between Geoffrey Berman (US Attorney, SDNY) and staff about locating a specific victim's account of Ghislaine Maxwell performing an inappropriate massage, referencing 'The Daily' podcast coverage.

This April 2020 email chain shows Geoffrey Berman, then-US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, working with his team to locate specific victim testimony about Ghislaine Maxwell. The emails reference 'The Daily' podcast by The New York Times, where reporter Mike Baker interviewed a victim who described Maxwell repeatedly offering massages and then inappropriately touching her chest during one. This document reveals the SDNY's active investigation into Maxwell months before her July 2020 arrest, specifically their efforts to compile evidence of Maxwell's direct participation in abuse.

Key Highlights

•Shows Geoffrey Berman personally involved in gathering evidence against Maxwell months before her arrest
•Contains detailed victim account of Maxwell performing inappropriate massage and exposing/touching victim's breasts
•References Mike Baker's reporting for The New York Times' 'The Daily' podcast as source material
•Victim describes being told to undress, with Maxwell then pulling down the sheet to expose and massage her chest

Frequently Asked Questions

Books for Further Reading

The Spider: Inside the Tangled Web of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell

Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story

Julie K. Brown

Investigative journalism that broke the Epstein case open

Filthy Rich: The Jeffrey Epstein Story

James Patterson

Bestselling account of Epstein's crimes and network

Document Information

Bates Range

EFTA00015326 - EFTA00015327

Pages

Document Content

Page 1 - EFTA00015326

From: " 1. )' To: "Berman, Geoffrey (USANYS)" Subject: RE: Date: Wed, 15 Apr 2020 14:38:16 +0000 From the daily that pans starts at 16:57 Original Message From: Berman, Geoffrey (USANYS) alMIE> Sent: Aril I S 2020 10:29 AM To: Subject: Re: in a recording talked about Maxwell massaging her breasts. Can you find that > On Apr 15, 2020, at 10:24 AM, > wrote: > > In the article version accom an in the dail it is written like this: > followed also recalled Ms. Maxwell repeatedly asking whether she wanted a massage. Eventually relenting, followed directions by taking off her clothes and bra and etting under a sheet on a massage table. Ms. Maxwell performed the massage, at one point having lie on her back as Ms. Maxwell pulled down the sheet to massage her chest. > > "I don't think there was any reason for her to be touching me that way," aid. > > Ori inal Messa e > From: > Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2020 10:23 AM > To: Berman, Geoffrey (USANYS) alMIE> > Subject: RE: > > From the daily: > > Mike Baker > then remembers Ghislaine repeatedly asked whether - > > > Have you ever gotten a massage? > > Mike Baker > - wanted a massage. > > > I'm very skilled in massage, right, and so I want to make sure you get a massage. EFTA00015326

Page 2 - EFTA00015327

> Mike Baker > She said that she was very - > She was skilled in massage. Yeah. > Mike Baker > And she eventually relents. > But I had never had a professional massage before. So I didn't know what really was involved in that. And so she said that I would take off my clothes and lay under the sheet. > Mike Baker > Ghislaine performs the massage. > She had me, you know, flip over to my back. And then she pulled the sheet down so that my breasts were exposed. > Mike Baker > And she remembers how Ghislaine then went on to massage her chest. > Like it just - this feels weird. This feels uncomfortable. I don't think this is probably right, but I don't know. > Mike Baker > And all this time, she's struggling to figure out what's going on. Jeffery Epstein, she says, wasn't participating in the massage. But she has this sense that he's in the area, that the doors are open, it's kind of an open area where she's getting the massage. > I could feel his presence, like, oh. I'm sure he can see me from where he is. > ----Original Message > From: Berman, Geoffrey (USANYS) > Sent: Wednesda Aril 15 2020 10:08 AM > To: > Subject: > Can you resend me the quote from NYT about Maxwell massaging her breasts. EFTA00015327