Latest / The Fourcast / Virginia Roberts Giuffre was ‘gaslit’ by UK government, Met police and Prince Andrew say her family
Transcript
- 0:00They were just girls and they were begging the world to
- 0:03believe them and fight for them. She just continued to read it,
- 0:06like what is it going to take for people to finally believe
- 0:09me? And by continuously being gas
- 0:11lit by the UK government, the UK Metropolitan Police, the US
- 0:17government, here, her mind took a very large toll.
- 0:20Virginia did first speak to the Metropolitan Police in London as
- 0:23far back as May 2015. They decided not to continue
- 0:28with any investigation. They reviewed that again in
- 0:312019, deciding again not to investigate.
- 0:35Is it time for them to review those decisions?
- 0:39100% what else does it have to take?
- 0:42I think the cost of proof is too high for these survivors.
- 0:50Hello and welcome to the forecast.
- 0:52In 2011, Virginia Roberts Jeffrey became known as the most
- 0:55outspoken victim of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
- 0:59Her campaigning against their abuse and trafficking helped to
- 1:02get justice for many women. But she was perhaps best known
- 1:05for a now infamous photograph taken when she was aged just 17.
- 1:10Meeting with Prince Andrew. She claimed it was taken prior
- 1:13to one of three times she was forced to have sex with the
- 1:16King's brother. There were encounters he denies
- 1:19took place but which have led to his public downfall, with Prince
- 1:23Andrew reportedly paying around £12 million to Virginia Giuffre,
- 1:28formally ending a civil case brought against him in the US
- 1:32earlier this year, Virginia took her own life before she died.
- 1:36She wrote a memoir and made it clear that she wanted the world
- 1:39to read it. Today I'm joined by her brother
- 1:41and sister-in-law, Sky and Amanda Roberts, to talk about
- 1:45the woman behind the headlines, the legacy she leaves, and the
- 1:48story that she wanted to tell in her own words.
- 1:52Can I just begin by asking you, Sky?
- 1:55I'm imagining it is a bittersweet moment.
- 1:59Virginia's story will be published tomorrow.
- 2:02Finally, in her own words, the whole story.
- 2:05But she's not here. That must be quite difficult for
- 2:08you. Yeah, I think it's, you know,
- 2:12the best way to put it is over the last couple of weeks, we've
- 2:16had a lot of happy tears and a lot of sad tears because we've
- 2:19had many moments where she's been vindicated because of her
- 2:25ability to tell her story. And I think people are finally
- 2:29realizing the magnitude of what she was able to accomplish
- 2:31during her time here. And, you know, we're sort of
- 2:34left in place here on the advocacy piece.
- 2:36And a lot of people like, well, why are you guys coming forward
- 2:38now? And the truth is, is that, you
- 2:40know, she always wanted to protect us from these.
- 2:43I remember her so clearly saying, like, I never want this
- 2:46evil to touch you or anyone in this world.
- 2:49So it is really, really difficult to come forward.
- 2:52But she would be, she'd be really proud of this moment.
- 2:55It's a very vindicating moment for her.
- 2:57I was going to ask you about exactly that.
- 3:00I have heard you speak really movingly about how much Virginia
- 3:04tried to protect you as her younger brother.
- 3:08There are clearly some really difficult details in the book
- 3:12that she feared she would die as a sex slave at the hands of
- 3:16Epstein. I mean, are there things that
- 3:19you have had to read that you have had to face for the first
- 3:22time? I think we knew a lot of the
- 3:26information that was going to come out.
- 3:27She was very transparent with us about sort of some of the
- 3:31intimate details that were going to be in there.
- 3:33However, it's very different when you read it on a page.
- 3:37I think, you know, growing up, I had known there were threats in
- 3:39my life, at least specifically from Epstein and Maxwell.
- 3:43That's something that she had shared with me.
- 3:44But it's just very different when it jumps out at you on the
- 3:47page. And, you know, I want to be
- 3:49clear, like it's, it's crazy, 'cause you can hear her voice in
- 3:52that book like I can, I can read the pages and I just feel like I
- 3:56can hear her in there. And I want to commend, you know,
- 3:58Amy Wallace and the, the, you know, Penguin Random House for
- 4:03coming out because the truth is like it's, it's, it's really
- 4:06hard read, but I think it's very impactful.
- 4:09She suffered a great deal throughout her life, that is
- 4:12clear. One of the things that has
- 4:14struck me endlessly about this story is there's so much talk
- 4:17about how rich Jeffrey Epstein was, all his friends, the
- 4:21private planes, the private island, the fancy houses.
- 4:25It's a world that you know, all for connotations of glamour in
- 4:30this context, all details that hide the brutal reality of what
- 4:35was happening to Virginia and the other girls.
- 4:37But your sister's book will expose this all for what it was,
- 4:41which was exploitation, violence, sexual violence.
- 4:47I think that is why this book is so important for a read.
- 4:54We get caught up in the salaciousness of of survivors
- 4:58naming names and what this book does, it really makes you take a
- 5:02step back and peek through the eyes of a vulnerable young girl,
- 5:08young child, teenager, what this world was like.
- 5:11And it really does address that, right?
- 5:14Because so many people critiqued these girls for saying, you
- 5:17know, they could have just left and and, you know, they received
- 5:21money. So and, and it was lavish and
- 5:24that salaciousness of it, but it was abuse, It was coercive
- 5:28control, it was intimidation, it was threats to their lives.
- 5:31It was a violent. And I think it like brings back
- 5:36the humanity, especially if you're a parent, this could
- 5:40happen to your own child, you know, and you really see that.
- 5:43You really see that, like this is the girl next door and it
- 5:48could have been my neighbor, it could be my child, it could be a
- 5:52family member. And it really just brings you
- 5:54back to that that shock and that humanity and it makes you want
- 5:58to act. It makes you want to fight.
- 5:59For that little girl. Who was begging?
- 6:03The world to stand up for her. They were just girls and they
- 6:09were begging the world to believe them and fight for them.
- 6:12And I think that's what's so powerful about this book,
- 6:15because you really see that little girl begging for that
- 6:18healing and that justice. And you absolutely get the sense
- 6:24that she was begging for accountability for people to
- 6:29take responsibility. And not only do the individuals
- 6:33fail to take responsibility, but the organisations, the
- 6:36structures around them, in too many instances didn't force
- 6:40anyone to take responsibility. Yeah, I think that's another
- 6:47thing that it does. And I think with this Jeffrey
- 6:50Epstein, Dillane Maxwell case and why it's so strong and why
- 6:54people. Care.
- 6:55About this case so much, it's, it's not just about the abuse of
- 7:00children, which is heinous, but it also shows the exposure of
- 7:05systems that have said for far too long, there is one set of
- 7:10laws for the rich and powerful, and then there is another set of
- 7:13laws for those who aren't. And, and it makes people angry
- 7:18because it's gone on for decades.
- 7:21And it really is that exposure of the abuse of power of, of the
- 7:25abuse of the rich and powerful, the lengths that they went to
- 7:28intimidate these girls, to discredit them, to defame them,
- 7:32threatening their lives. It makes you angry as a person
- 7:37because it's like that. That could have been my child.
- 7:40And why are we allowing these systems to exist?
- 7:42We have to do better. We have to go after legislation
- 7:46and we have to expose those who have been abusing their
- 7:49positions for far too long. Alongside the work that both of
- 7:53you are doing, the book is the sort of posthumous continuation
- 7:57of that fight for accountability.
- 7:59Now, obviously, we got the announcement last week that
- 8:02Prince Andrew has voluntarily agreed to give up his royal
- 8:06titles. Is this in your view enough, or
- 8:09should this actually be the beginning of a new process to
- 8:13look at again at his involvement with Epstein?
- 8:17Yeah, really happy you asked that, because I think what the
- 8:20book is is it's more of it. And I think what happened with
- 8:22Prince Andrew wasn't, it's not justice, it's acknowledgement.
- 8:25It's saying something could have happened here.
- 8:28And they're kind of starting to take some sort of action to that
- 8:31now. You know, he didn't do himself
- 8:34any favors by any means, especially with, you know,
- 8:38commenting in 2018 that, you know, he had ceased contact.
- 8:43And then in 2011, we've got this set of emails that are released
- 8:47that essentially say we'll play again soon and we're in this
- 8:49together, right? So do I think it's enough?
- 8:52No, absolutely not. I think we have a lot of work to
- 8:55do. I can hear my sister saying that
- 8:56she she would not stop here. So I would say it's not justice,
- 9:00it's acknowledgement. And we need to be able to
- 9:02separate those two things because there is more work to do
- 9:06and there's more people that are complicit here, not just Prince
- 9:08Andrew, but so many others that we need to be held to account.
- 9:14And I want to ask you a couple of things about about potential
- 9:17justice, potential, more potential accountability.
- 9:20First of all, though, if you don't mind, he has voluntarily
- 9:25given up these titles. They he wasn't forced, although
- 9:29there's discussions in the background reports that the king
- 9:32did try to force his hand. Should the king strip him of the
- 9:37title of Prince, do you think? I think yes, I think again,
- 9:42it's, it's just, it's not enough.
- 9:45I think survivors have been living in the shadows with this
- 9:49trauma that has happened to them.
- 9:51They haven't been able to heal for so long.
- 9:54When do we actually start to see repercussions that that really
- 9:57affect him? I think that we can go further.
- 10:02That would be something that we would ask because that title,
- 10:06and and this is the thing that struck Virginia so much, is the
- 10:10title of a Prince. There's a certain expectation
- 10:13when you meet a Prince that that they are of this esteem, that
- 10:17they are gentlemen. And and that specific feeling
- 10:21for her was such a let down. It's just like, oh, a Prince
- 10:25could do this too. And so, yes, I do think that we
- 10:29need to go further. I think, you know, the royal
- 10:33family needs to really go further on this and there should
- 10:36be more repercussions for his actions.
- 10:39There's a really ongoing debate here now around those people who
- 10:45feel that more needs to be done. There's a discussion now about
- 10:50whether the British Parliament could change the law so it would
- 10:54make it easier for the King to formally remove the titles that
- 10:58Andrew has only voluntarily agreed not to use.
- 11:02But senior members of our government are saying this is
- 11:04not an issue for Parliament. We would be led by the monarchy.
- 11:09Is that disappointing to you? Yes, I mean, I think anytime you
- 11:13you put obstacles in place that would essentially be able to
- 11:16bring people to justice, that is absolutely unfortunate.
- 11:20It's a it's a disjustice to the people of the UK.
- 11:24It's a disjustice to survivors out there of Jeffrey Epstein,
- 11:30Glen Maxwell, amongst many others.
- 11:32So yes, I would say it's very disappointing that any form of
- 11:36government, including the US, we have our own work to do here,
- 11:39would put any obstacles in place to bring any of these men,
- 11:43women, powerful figures to account.
- 11:46It has emerged that the Metropolitan Police here are now
- 11:49looking into these claims. I know you've heard them, that
- 11:51Prince Andrew asked his police protection officer to try to
- 11:56uncover information about Virginia.
- 11:58What did you think when you heard this?
- 12:01I think, again, it's just further vindication for
- 12:06Virginia. Why would you need to go through
- 12:07those links first of all, if you're not guilty?
- 12:10That that's the one thing that like, struck me.
- 12:14And then it also reaffirms like the difficulties that these
- 12:17survivors were coming up against, that they're willing to
- 12:21use their power to like, intimidate them and, and go
- 12:26after them and, and defame them and find ways to discredit them.
- 12:30And like, how egregious is that? Especially a Prince to do
- 12:34something like that and abuse his power and position to get
- 12:38essentially someone to try to discredit a child.
- 12:43She was a child at the time, so that it wasn't so much a shock,
- 12:49to be quite honest. I think, you know, Virginia had
- 12:52been saying it for so long that people had tried to intimidate
- 12:54her and try to threaten her. So it wasn't much of A shock.
- 12:59Again, it felt like a vindication of this is exactly
- 13:03what she's been screaming for decades, and now we're finally
- 13:07seeing the truth surface. And it's interesting the lengths
- 13:10that the the Prince appeared to go to managed to get her Social
- 13:13Security number, to ask his close protection officer to
- 13:17gather information about Virginia.
- 13:19All of this about a young woman he would later say he had no
- 13:22recollection of ever meeting. Yeah.
- 13:24I mean, I would say it further vindicates her.
- 13:26I mean, she, I remember an interview where she said, you
- 13:30know, he's saying one thing, I'm saying this and only one of us
- 13:35is telling the truth. And that person is me.
- 13:37And I think that is that's a very powerful statement now
- 13:40because his actions are speaking louder than words.
- 13:43And she would be coming forward fully vindicated right now
- 13:47saying, do you see? I told you the entire time and
- 13:49now the world is starting to believe because, you know,
- 13:52there's this slow trickle of information including, you know,
- 13:56what you had just stated about obtaining.
- 13:58I mean, why would you want to obtain somebody's Social
- 14:00Security or, or, you know, information if they're, if they,
- 14:05if in one way shape or form you weren't potentially complicit?
- 14:08I mean, it's difficult for you, I know because in a way you're
- 14:11fighting on 2/2 continents, aren't you?
- 14:13You, you have your battles at home.
- 14:16And also here in terms of we know now that the Met Police are
- 14:20investigating this idea that he asked his personal protection
- 14:25officer to investigate Virginia, as far as we can see.
- 14:30Do you have confidence in the Met Police to do this properly?
- 14:33I don't live in the UKI can't say that I know their everyday
- 14:37workings. What I can say is that this is
- 14:40this is a global cover up and abuse of systematic power that
- 14:46we've seen over and over. I know that currently, right
- 14:50now, we're extremely let down by our own government, and they
- 14:55have the key to a lot of information.
- 14:59What I what I feel is happening right now is so much evidence,
- 15:04and this is just one fraction of it, but it's inescapable.
- 15:09And the people are putting the pressure on their local
- 15:13governments to do the right thing and further investigate.
- 15:17So I don't know that I have full trust in government and I know
- 15:22there are some really great police officers and detectives
- 15:25there that want to do the right thing.
- 15:27But I feel where our trust really lies is in the people and
- 15:32our voice and our ability to put them in the positions to do
- 15:36their jobs and to do the right thing and protect our
- 15:39vulnerable. So that that's really where I
- 15:42feel our trust lies and their actions will put the faith back.
- 15:49People will have more faith in them if they do decide to do
- 15:52this and really investigate. And, and just on that point of
- 15:56investigation, I absolutely take what you're saying about
- 15:59understanding how we operate. But just you'll know of course,
- 16:03that Virginia did first speak to the Metropolitan Police in
- 16:06London as far back as May 2015. They decided not to continue
- 16:12with any investigation. They reviewed that again in
- 16:142019, deciding again not to investigate.
- 16:18Another complaint comes forward in 2021.
- 16:21They decide not to investigate. That year our program handed
- 16:25them Virginia civil claim. They decided not to investigate.
- 16:29Is it time for them to review those decisions, do you think?
- 16:35100% What else does it have to take?
- 16:38I think the cost of proof is too high for these survivors and
- 16:42we've seen that over and over again.
- 16:44What else will it take for you to actually stand up and do the
- 16:47right thing? Now is the time, This is the
- 16:49opportunity to say that we are going to make a change and all
- 16:53of our governments that we're going to operate the way that we
- 16:56are intended to operate and we're going to protect those
- 16:59that deserve to be protected. And it doesn't matter who is
- 17:03being implicated. There is no separate law for
- 17:06those in power. And this is it's beyond time.
- 17:11Let's do the right thing. And, and if the Metropolitan
- 17:14Police don't investigate or, or, or review their decisions, there
- 17:18is a police, a police watchdog here, do you think they must
- 17:21step in and say to the Met, we're going to look at those
- 17:24decisions you took in the light of what is coming forward now?
- 17:28Absolutely. I think it's very similar to
- 17:31what's happening here in the US. The Department of Justice
- 17:34decided that there was no credible information when we
- 17:37know that that's far from the truth.
- 17:40And then our House of Representatives in our Senate
- 17:43decided to take it a step further and subpoena documents.
- 17:48And so every branch of government needs to take this
- 17:53seriously. If one door closes and you have
- 17:56the opportunity to reopen that door, you should take it upon
- 17:59yourself to do that. And Sky, can I ask you,
- 18:02Virginia's story, like the story of so many abuse victims, is
- 18:06littered with being gas lit by individuals who don't take
- 18:11responsibility, by the organisations that don't force
- 18:15them to take accountability. How hard was that for Virginia
- 18:20to go to the Met Police say here in the UK and constantly have
- 18:27them say we're not going to investigate.
- 18:30Do you think that did take a toll on her?
- 18:32I do. I think she, you know, she gives
- 18:35this such strong appearance on camera, but we got to know her
- 18:39behind closed doors. Obviously, we're her family,
- 18:41right? And so she would, you know, I
- 18:44guess she just continued to read it.
- 18:46Like, what is it going to take for people to finally believe
- 18:48me? Like, what do I have to do to
- 18:51show that I'm a truth teller? And by continuously being gas
- 18:55lit by the UK government, the UK Metropolitan Police, the US
- 19:01government here, I mean, she was incredibly hurt by the
- 19:04sweetheart deal that Jeffrey Epstein was given by Alex
- 19:08Acosta. I mean, it was a kick.
- 19:10It was just a kick in the stomach to her that every single
- 19:13time you feel like you would get to that point of justice or I'm
- 19:16doing the right thing, somebody from the side would come in and
- 19:19essentially dismiss her or dismiss her claims.
- 19:22And now to what Amanda was saying too.
- 19:25Now the the public is coming forward and saying no, there's
- 19:29just too much substantial evidence here.
- 19:31Every document leak, every e-mail leak, it stinks of a
- 19:35cover up. And I think it's time that we
- 19:37get back and use our voices for good.
- 19:39And our government needs to remind themselves they work for
- 19:42us. They don't work and it's not the
- 19:44other way around. So we need to give them a stark
- 19:46reminder that you know it's time to do the right thing.
- 19:49And I know this is difficult, but watching her get knocked
- 19:52back after knocked back, what do you think that did to her
- 19:56personally? I think it's the story of a lot
- 20:00of survivors out there that they constantly feel like they're
- 20:03getting these wins, these little wins, and then there's just this
- 20:06big knock from the side. I mean, we can tell you that we
- 20:08feel it in advocacy a lot of times where we feel like.
- 20:11You get these little wins, these little knocks, right?
- 20:13But then like, what are we actually doing about it?
- 20:16Like, so I think what we need to start doing and what she would
- 20:19be requesting, what she was always her question requesting
- 20:22was we're tired of talking about it.
- 20:25The survivors are tired of just having to talk about it.
- 20:27We have to take some sort of action here.
- 20:30Actions speak a hell of a lot louder than words.
- 20:33And so, you know, I think it took in a tremendous toll on her
- 20:37through time. I will say during the last
- 20:39couple weeks of her life, I was with her.
- 20:42She was really proud. She was really proud of her
- 20:44survivor sister. She was really proud of what she
- 20:47was able to accomplish, accomplish with Glenn Maxwell
- 20:50and Jeffrey Epstein. This book was really to to kind
- 20:53of, I wouldn't say close a chapter, but reopen a chapter to
- 20:57where we can really start asking ourselves some questions.
- 21:00And I do think, again, it's a vindicating moment for her.
- 21:03There's a whole different story to tell on her own personal life
- 21:07that maybe took a larger toll on her towards the end.
- 21:09But certainly this took a toll on her throughout the many
- 21:12years. And I hope her kids can see
- 21:14their mom for what she truly is, which is an international and an
- 21:17American hero. And that pride she felt in those
- 21:20last weeks, did you get any sense that it was in any way it
- 21:26was outweighed by the toll that everything else had taken on
- 21:29her? I mean, with reading this book,
- 21:35you'll see clearly the story of her survivor, a story of a
- 21:38victim really to begin with, that goes into a survivor, her
- 21:44body and took a tremendous toll through the years from the
- 21:48people that had abused her. I mean, this wasn't just like
- 21:53this was like very heinous acts. This was very aggressive acts
- 21:58that these men were, were doing to her.
- 22:00I mean, it was, it was, it's, it's very raw in there when you
- 22:04read it because it's not just, I don't know, it's, it's, it's not
- 22:09sensational at any point. It just becomes something that
- 22:12that you just feel tremendously hurt by.
- 22:15And so I do think her body took and her mind took a very large
- 22:18toll through the years, but she had a lot of personal tolls in
- 22:23her personal life towards the end there that I think led to
- 22:28the ultimate decision of her taking her life.
- 22:33Just in terms of, as you say, the people coming out to show
- 22:38their support to say enough is enough here and to, to look for
- 22:41more action. Obviously the, the, the move
- 22:46with, with Prince Andrew and his titles is one step of, of
- 22:51accountability. And I know that you're you're
- 22:54pleased that that's happened. We've got evidence from court
- 22:56papers that show lawyers sent a letter to Prince Andrew asking
- 23:00him to Co operate. The letter was FedEx to
- 23:03Buckingham Palace. The Palace refused delivery.
- 23:06Do they owe you? Do they owe Virginia's legacy in
- 23:12terms of doing more now because of that?
- 23:15Absolutely. I think they owe answers.
- 23:19At the very least. I think they owe not just
- 23:22Virginia, but but the UK people, they owe that.
- 23:27These are people that they essentially look up to.
- 23:30They are supposed to be a represented representation of of
- 23:35truth and trust. And I think they owe that moment
- 23:41to sit down and be questions and and answer the questions that
- 23:45have been asked of them for decades.
- 23:48They owe Virginia that for sure, and they owe their people that.
- 23:53So would you like to see the king or the palace put pressure
- 23:56on Prince Andrew, who always said he would answer questions
- 23:59about what he knew, but he never has.
- 24:03So would you like to see more pressure exerted him on him to
- 24:07do that? Absolutely.
- 24:09I just don't think that this can be avoidable anymore.
- 24:12There's just too much coming out and I think it's beyond time.
- 24:16We can't continue to let this hide in the shadows and, and
- 24:20everyone is being put in that corner of having our own
- 24:25government is, is avoiding having to answer questions and
- 24:30people are tired of it. And so it is time.
- 24:33I, I would hope that he would pressure his brother to do the
- 24:37right thing. I think he's already putting him
- 24:40in a position of pressure where he's had to relinquish his
- 24:43titles. I think there needs to be more
- 24:46for sure. And can I ask, I mean, in many
- 24:49ways that you sort of allude to this fact that at least the
- 24:51Prince moving to to step down away from raw life some years
- 24:56ago, stopping using these titles is some accountability for
- 25:01Virginia. What hope of that is there for
- 25:04you at home? It's what we're fighting for
- 25:08every single day. I hope that our government
- 25:14remembers, like Sky said earlier, that they work for us
- 25:17and not the other way around. We have to look back to the
- 25:21foundation of our government and separation of powers.
- 25:24And, and we're calling on our representatives to do the right
- 25:28thing. You're you're an elected
- 25:30official. And so there is hope that they
- 25:34can come back to their roots and acknowledge and recognize what
- 25:37they swore to do. And that was to protect their
- 25:40people. And so we're going to keep
- 25:42pushing until that happens, whatever that takes, we're going
- 25:46to keep pushing for it because it is the right thing to do.
- 25:49And it's beyond time. And the US government has the
- 25:53power to do this. We know they do.
- 25:56And we're going to continue to hold them accountable.
- 26:00And what does accountability in the US look like?
- 26:02What exactly is it that you need to see?
- 26:08I would say for me, it would be getting these documents
- 26:11released. It's important to note that and
- 26:14I've heard the argument, while they've released 33,000
- 26:17documents, that's 1% of the total documentation that's been
- 26:21provided. I know it for a fact because my
- 26:22sister gave them a lot of that documentation and they still
- 26:26have it and to come and say, Oh, well, no, no, no, we there's
- 26:30nothing really to see in here. After they ran their campaign on
- 26:34the fact that they would release the documents is kind of a slap
- 26:37in the face. And So what real accountability
- 26:39here is first getting all all documents released, allowing the
- 26:45redactions of the names for people, specifically survivors,
- 26:49and then the unredaction of names for anybody that could be
- 26:52complicit. And then what we need to do from
- 26:54there, We got to take these in steps, right?
- 26:56So first step, release the documents.
- 26:58Second step, we need to take it up.
- 27:00We need to get further and fully investigate anybody that was on
- 27:04the flights in the logs, there is a movement of money, video
- 27:08evidence of you potentially being in that room.
- 27:11I guarantee you there's video evidence of them being people
- 27:14being in those rooms and we need to hold them to the fullest
- 27:18extent of the law. Whether that's, you know,
- 27:20there's a lot of there's a lot of talk around statue of
- 27:23limitations, what that looks like.
- 27:25But nobody, nobody should be above the law here in the sense
- 27:28that if you committed any type of heinous acts against these
- 27:33these girls at the time, you need to be held accountable.
- 27:36You should be behind bars. You should be with Ghilane
- 27:38Maxwell in a maximum security prison, mind you, not a minimum
- 27:42security prison and and held accountable.
- 27:45We want we want to see every single person that was complicit
- 27:48in this sex trafficking ring held to account.
- 27:51Just very briefly, when you talk about flights and flight logs,
- 27:54we know that flights went in and out of the UK, not just in
- 27:57London. Would you like to see those
- 28:00flights fully investigated? Yes, I think this, we've kind of
- 28:06alluded to this, but this is international and this is, this
- 28:08is not just the US, this is not just the UK.
- 28:11This is an international investigation that needs to take
- 28:14place. And if the UK say is
- 28:16safeguarding any type of information that could be
- 28:18valuable to the public, to the FBI, which I think they probably
- 28:23already have, then, you know, then shame, shame on our
- 28:27government, shame on our government for safeguarding and,
- 28:30and being pedo protectors. Like this is, you know, I think
- 28:34this has been going on for far too long.
- 28:36And the fact that it's taken this long to even really start
- 28:39this conversation, it's a bit of is an injustice to the
- 28:42survivors, but be very, very mindful that we will not stop
- 28:46until justice is served. My sister was very clear about
- 28:49that. That rings in our head every day
- 28:51as we come forward publicly. That rings in every survivor's
- 28:54head every day. Because again, it's and this is
- 28:57a common theme, but it's the right thing to do.
- 29:00A couple more very, very briefly, if you would.
- 29:02I mean, what is your message to President Trump on this?
- 29:05Remember that you were elected for this position, that your
- 29:11constituents who voted for you, your constituents who didn't
- 29:15vote for you, you serve every single one of them.
- 29:19This is not a party issue. It's not a political toy that
- 29:24you or your minute administration can dangle.
- 29:28I think we've all reached a point across every single aisle
- 29:33where we are asking this of you. You promised from the very
- 29:39beginning of your campaign and even your last presidency that
- 29:43you would be a president that was going to drain the the
- 29:46swamp, that was going to uncover corruption.
- 29:49This is one of the biggest cases of corruption, and we're asking
- 29:54you to do the right thing. Will you hold to your promise?
- 29:59And can I just ask, I know you said you'll keep fighting.
- 30:02Your sister fought for such a long time.
- 30:07The cost to you is already enormous in losing your sister.
- 30:13How do you feel about continuing that fight, potentially for
- 30:19years going forward? My sister fought not want to be
- 30:26careful, not careful. I want to be very clear here
- 30:28that the reason she fought is very at a very human level.
- 30:32It's very simple. When she held her baby girl for
- 30:34the first time and she knew this could never happen again to her
- 30:42daughter, to your daughters, to your sisters, and she knew this
- 30:48could never happen again. And I think we hold very true on
- 30:52that principle as well. I think a lot of these
- 30:54survivors, their daughters are reaching those ages where this
- 30:56happened to them. And I just, you know, this
- 31:01Amanda said it's the biggest international cover up in the
- 31:04history of the world. It's a sex trafficking ring that
- 31:08essentially went on for decades without any account to any of
- 31:12these men, really any investigation, as you've alluded
- 31:15to as well. And so we won't stop until
- 31:18justice is served because I mean, one, she protected me when
- 31:23I was a kid. She's protecting your daughters
- 31:26when she came out and her own daughter, my daughter, I, I
- 31:30just, I don't see, it's just such a foundation, human level
- 31:33is the reason that we're doing this, the reason that we're
- 31:35advocating. And you know, I love my sister
- 31:38dearly and I hope, I hope she's proud.
- 31:41I'm just going to say you can hear how proud you are of her
- 31:46she has become. She became such a public figure.
- 31:49How do you remember her? Privately as a family, as a
- 31:54sister, As a sister-in-law? I remember.
- 31:58Her as joy. In spite of everything that she
- 32:03had gone through in her life, she still had this capacity for
- 32:06joy and love in her life. I remember her as cheeky and
- 32:12funny and lighting up the room as soon as she came in and she
- 32:17had the ability to just, she was just amazing.
- 32:24There is no one like her that will never be anyone like her,
- 32:30and we'll just continue to keep her voice alive.
- 32:35Sky, would you like to add anything to that?
- 32:36You don't have to, but if you want to.
- 32:41I think Amanda said it great. I think she was just light.
- 32:44She was joy. She's my big sister.
- 32:46She, you know, we didn't sit around the family table talking
- 32:51about ABS seated Maxwell. We we enjoyed time with each
- 32:53other. We got to, you know, to to talk
- 32:58about our kids and talk about her kids and, you know, I want I
- 33:01hope the world knows like she was such a normal person.
- 33:04I mean, I think you're going to get that across in the book too,
- 33:07where she really kind of leads you through this.
- 33:09This is this is who she was, right?
- 33:11She's like she recognizes that points in the book.
- 33:14It's one of my favorites is where like I know this is hard.
- 33:17Let's take a moment to breathe. Let's let's stop for a moment.
- 33:20Let's go shopping, right. Like that was her.
- 33:23She could she always wanted to find the best in the world.
- 33:26I mean, even to some of her detriment, to be honest, She
- 33:29always wanted to see the good in people and not and not the hurt,
- 33:32right. She wanted to teach her daughter
- 33:33that there was good in this world.
- 33:35It wasn't all evil, even though there are evil men that do evil
- 33:38things to you. And so, you know, I hope people
- 33:41feel that from her, that like motherhood, that love, that
- 33:45compassion that you don't always find in somebody that has had
- 33:50the things done to her. That, that that happened with
- 33:53Jeffrey Epstein and Glenn Maxwell and so many other people
- 33:56that are still walking free today.
- 33:58So she's just, she's such a beautiful human being.
- 34:01And I and I, again, I'm so excited the world gets an
- 34:04opportunity to read her book because I think they're going to
- 34:06see that. You clearly miss her very much.
- 34:09Every day. Every day, yeah.
- 34:11It's, it's just surreal not having her here.
- 34:18She should be sitting here talking to you.
- 34:22It's such a win for her in so many ways, but it's such a loss
- 34:26to us and to the world. But again, I'm glad people get a
- 34:32chance to read who she was. You don't always, you know, I
- 34:35think Amanda said it's like such a gift sometimes because it's
- 34:39not everyday that somebody in your life passes and you get an
- 34:43opportunity to really hear what they felt and, and how they felt
- 34:49about you. And I.
- 34:50And I think that comes across a lot in the book.
- 34:52And I felt a lot of love from that book.
- 34:57Sky and Amanda Roberts, thank you very much for talking to us
- 34:59today. Thank you.
- 35:02That's it for this episode of The Forecast.
- 35:04Until next time, goodbye.