Maxwell trial reveals the dark side of the American dream

America is transfixed by the ‘trial of the century’, as the details revealed by those accusing Ghislaine Maxwell of sex trafficking and exploitation offer a rare insight into the secretive inner world populated by the upper echelons of American society

Sarah Ransome, one of the women who have accused Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell of abuse, arrives for the trial at the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse. Picture: Getty

“This trial is about memory, manipulation and money.” So said Bobbi Sternheim, lawyer for Ghislaine Maxwell, in her opening statement at Maxwell’s trial in New York last week.

Large swathes of the American press and public would beg to differ. They would include those who queued for hours each morning in the hope of securing a seat in one of three overflow rooms of the Thurgood Marshall Federal Courthouse in lower Manhattan, where the so-called ...