US Attorney General Pam Bondi told President Donald Trump in May that his name appeared in investigative files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The appearance of his name in the files has raged a political war in the MAGA world. Much so, after the Trump-Musk feud blew up last month and Musk alleged that Trump was named in the Epstein files.
In an exclusive conversation with NDTV, Teresa Helm, a survivor who was sexually assaulted by Epstein, talks about why it is important for the files to be released and how to watch out for signs of grooming.
Helm met Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s ex-girlfriend and close associate, in the early 2000s when she was 22. She was offered a job, and subsequently met Maxwell for an interview. Helm said that, “She was very polite, kind, very articulate, very emotionally connecting with me on everything”.
Be it Helm’s personal life or whether it was about her home state Ohio, Maxwell had something to connect with her about.
“Everything that I was, where I was at in emotion and connection, she was right there with me. And that was what I know now to be an extremely efficient, effective part of the grooming process, which builds trust”, she said, and added that as a part of the grooming process, she was made to feel like she “belonged there” and was “worthy”.
Helm further revealed that Maxwell had a beautiful home with pictures of presidents on the wall with her and it was at that moment, when she knew she was surrounded by a successful, powerful woman.
She said that after she had complete trust in Maxwell, she got her to meet her partner, Epstein and explained how she walked into what she thought was the “second part of the interview”. She described going to Epstein’s home which led her into the assault that night.
The US Department of Justice is seeking to interview Maxwell, officials said Tuesday, as Trump struggles to quell a furor over the handling of the explosive case.
Maxwell, former British socialite, is currently serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking minors on behalf of Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial in his own pedophile trafficking case.
She said that the release of the Epstein files are important to the survivors for transparency. “These are very real things that happened to us, things that we went through and have survived through”, Helm added, “You cannot simply say that these things didn’t exist when we all know through our lived experience that these are very real events.”
She believes the Epstein files hold the evidence of the people that helped perpetuate the exploitation for decades.
She said that Maxwell’s questioning by the Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who was once Trump’s personal lawyer, was a “slippery slope”. She said, “I don’t believe that what she would have to say is credible. It’s extremely difficult for me to even wrap my mind around that.”
Skeptical about why Maxwell is coming out with information now, she questioned, “And why now? Why is she now stating that she has information? She could have long ago.”
Ghislaine’s brother, Ian Maxwell, has said that she is planning to present new evidence to the court in her defence. In an email to The New York Post, he said the evidence wasn’t available during her 2021 trial. Ian added that Ghislaine, 63, never testified in her own defence and did not share her side of the story.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche is expected to meet her in prison on August 11, reports say.
Helm advised women to listen to their gut feeling, “because that’s your truth right there” and not disregard the red flags. She said, “If someone’s coming to you and promising you things, and if things do end up being too good to be true, listen to that”, adding, “these are all signs of grooming”.
Helm now works with the National Center for Sexual Exploitation.
Ghislaine is presently locked up at Florida’s FCI Tallahassee. Epstein died in federal custody in 2019, a death that was officially ruled as suicide.
