من الأشهر اليوم؟

A US judge on Tuesday appeared sceptical of an attempt by Britain’s Prince Andrew to dismiss Virginia Giuffre’s lawsuit accusing the Duke of York of sexually abusing her when she was 17 and being trafficked by late financier Jeffrey Epstein.
US district judge Lewis Kaplan is assessing a November 2009 settlement agreement in Florida between Epstein and Ms Giuffre (now Roberts), which the 61-year-old prince’s lawyers have said shields the royal from claims by the 38-year-old woman.
Andrew Brettler, the prince’s lawyer, argued that Queen Elizabeth’s second son was among the “potential defendants“ whom Ms Giuffre released from liability when she accepted $500,000 to settle with Epstein.
“ ‘Potential defendant’ is someone who could have been named a defendant in that lawsuit, but was not,” said Mr Brettler during a hearing before the judge. “I think it‘s unquestionable that Prince Andrew could have been sued in the 2009 Florida action.”
But the judge said the “real question” is what Ms Giuffre and Epstein intended in entering the settlement.
“We’re talking about whether there are two or more reasonable interpretations,” the judge told Mr Brettler. “I understand your point of view. I understand the other point of view.”
The judge said he would rule “pretty soon”.
Prince Andrew has denied Ms Giuffre’s accusations that he forced her to have sex at the London home of former Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell and abused her at two other Epstein properties.
The prince has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing.
Epstein died by strangulation at age 66 in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Maxwell (60) was convicted on December 29th of recruiting and grooming girls for Epstein to abuse between 1994 and 2004.
Ms Giuffre’s accusations were not part of that case, and she did not testify.
What agreement?
The hearing, by video teleconference, comes the day after a previously confidential 12-page document was made public disclosing terms of the settlement agreement in 2009 by Epstein to Ms Giuffre.
The settlement, which relates to a Florida state case to which the prince was not a party, states Ms Giuffre agreed to “release, acquit, satisfy, and forever discharge” Epstein and “any other person or entity” who could have been included as a potential defendant.
Ms Giuffre’s lawyer, David Boies, argued the settlement was “irrelevant to the case against Prince Andrew”.
Ms Giuffre is seeking unspecified damages.
Prince Andrew’s legal team have described Ms Giuffre’s claims as “baseless” and alleged she is seeking a “pay day” at the royal’s expense.
The judge last week denied a motion from the prince’s lawyers to halt the civil proceedings while the issue of where Ms Giuffre lives is dealt with.
If the lawsuit proceeds a trial is likely to take place in the autumn.
Lawyers for Ms Giuffre have requested documents as part of her litigation, such as proof of Prince Andrew’s claim that he cannot sweat. Ms Giuffre has claimed the duke was “sweating profusely all over me” at a London discotheque on a night when she alleges they had sex. Prince Andrew said in his Newsnight interview the allegation could not be true “because I have a peculiar medical condition which is that I don’t sweat or I didn’t sweat at the time”.
The prince also maintained that on the day cited by Ms Giuffre he took his daughter Beatrice to a late-afternoon children’s party at a Pizza Express restaurant in Woking, Surrey. After that, he said, he was at home with his children all night. – Reuters/Guardian