In the suit, Ms. Giuffre contends that Ms. Maxwell has defamed her by calling those accusations “untrue” and “obvious lies.”<br />Ms. Maxwell, in turn, argues that she had the right to publicly defend herself against Ms. Giuffre’s accusations.<br />A decade ago, Mr. Acosta, the United States attorney in Miami at the time, played a role in what critics said was a lenient<br />plea deal given to a wealthy New Yorker, Jeffrey E. Epstein, who was accused of paying underage girls for sexual massages.<br />Ms. Giuffre has accused Ms. Maxwell of helping to procure underage girls to engage in sexual activities with Mr. Epstein.<br />Labor Nominee’s Role in Sex Case Could Draw Scrutiny -<br />For R. Alexander Acosta, President Trump’s new pick for labor secretary, renewed attention on a salacious lawsuit may not come at a great time.<br />The setting will be a federal courtroom in Manhattan, where a trial is expected to start in the spring in a defamation lawsuit<br />brought against one of Mr. Epstein’s associates, Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of the British publishing mogul Robert Maxwell.
