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Modeling agent

Ghislaine Maxwell, French model agent in viral photo

By December 20, 2020January 22nd, 2022No Comments

The claim: Image shows Ghislaine Maxwell and Chief Justice John Roberts

Social media users are trying to link Chief Justice John Roberts to Jeffrey Epstein by sharing a viral photo claiming to show Roberts next to longtime Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

The image allegedly shows the two sitting next to each other on a sofa with the caption “Chief Justice John Roberts and Ghislaine Maxwell”.

“That explains a lot of things!” an user wrote in a version of the claim which appears to have been deleted. Similarversions from Claim were posted on Facebook by multiple users with hundreds of shares.

USA TODAY has reached out to users behind the posts for comment.

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The photo shows the French modeling agent

A reverse image search on Google reveals that the man in the photo is French modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, not Roberts.

“French agent Jean-Luc Brunel and Ghislaine Maxwell on Jeffrey Epstein’s island in the mid-2000s,” reads the caption for the image, which can be seen on The Canadian and the Cashier report.

Brunel, a frequent companion of Epstein, has been arrested on suspicion of sex crimes, the Associated Press reported.

French investigators became interested in Brunel a year ago when Virginia Giuffre, one of the women who accused Epstein of sexually abusing her, alleged that she also had sex with Brunel, USA TODAY’ HUI reported.

Maxwell was accused helping enable Epstein’s child sex trafficking operation and in July pleaded not guilty to helping him recruit and groom underage girls for sex, USA TODAY reported.

On Friday, US prosecutors said Maxwell should remain in jail and urged a federal judge to reject his $28.5 million bail offer, according to Reuters. She faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted at her trial scheduled for July 2021.

Epstein was found dead in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019. He had pleaded not guilty to charges of drug trafficking and alleged sexual abuse of dozens of underage girls in New York and Florida. His death was ruled a suicide.

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No evidence of link to Epstein

The social media claims follow a series of allegations made by attorney Lin Wood, who criticized Roberts for the Supreme Court’s decision to reject a bid to overturn the presidential election results, Newsweek reported.

Wood suggested in a Tweeter that Roberts is the “John Roberts” who appears in flight logs of Epstein’s private jet, however, there is no evidence that Epstein and Roberts had any relationship, according to Newsweek.

Fox News Chief White House Correspondent John Roberts also Twitter in 2019 to deny ever having been on Epstein’s plane after being accused of being on the flight logs because of his name.

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Our opinion: False

The claim that an image shows Chief Justice John Roberts and Ghislaine Maxwell together is FALSE, based on our research. Photo shows French modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel who was recently arrested on suspicion of sex crimes. There is no evidence that Roberts had ties to Maxwell or Epstein.

Our fact-checking sources:

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