James PaTTERSON
“Whether they love me or not, everyone agrees the greatest
and most important place in Palm Beach is Mar-a-Lago,” Trump told the Washington Post after winning his battle. “I took this
ultimate place and made it incredible and opened it, essentially,
to the people of Palm Beach. The fact that I owned it made it a lot
easier to get along with the Palm Beach establishment.”
The Breakers hotel, Trump explained, “gets the [island’s]
leftovers.” It cost $100,000 to join the club. Members paid $14,000 in dues. And although Epstein had never properly joined
yearly axwell gave Epstein
the club, Trump’s friendship with Ghislaine M
unlimited use of the facilities. gement ended when a member’s young daughter Mar-a-Lago,
This arran complained to her wealthy father: while relaxing at she'd been approached and invited out to Epstein’s house.
The girl said that she had gone and that Epstein had tried to
get her to undress. The girl's father had gone directly to Trump, who—in no
uncertain terms—told Epstein that he was barred from Mat-a-
Lago. Because no complaint was filed, the police had taken no
action. But years later, a woman named Virginia Roberts would
say that, as a Mar-a-Lago. According to a court docume lawsuit against Ep Mar-a-Lago, earning about nine dollars Maxwell approached her. Maxwell as interested in learning t
turned out, she was. Like the other girl, Virginia to
132
young girl, shed had an identical encounter at 9
nt Virginia filed in her civil stein, she was a changing-room assistant at © an hour, when Ghislaine F. ked Virginia if she was 4 o be a massage therapist — which, it Id her father |
who was also employed ai ager. But Virginia's father s he drove her, later that day
There, according to the ia’s father that Ms. Maxwel for his teenage daughter. T room equipped with a sl Epstein was lying, naked, ¢
Virginia was shocked, experience with massages, apy protocol. “Ms. Maxwel on her underwear and : [Jeffrey's] body, impliedly expected to do,” the filing [Virginia] to take off her c. sive about doing this, but, in by removing everything but to remove her underwear a escalated, with [Jeffrey] a battering, exploiting, and al in various locations, incluc At the end of this sexua Ms. Maxwell giddily told [ and told her she had ‘lots c
j hundreds of dollars, told h directed one of her employe
At the time, Virginia wa
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_022099