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Blakeman Pays Agency Behind German Far-Right Ads and Fraudster

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Bruce Blakeman, the Trump-endorsed Republican candidate for governor of New York, directed more than $4.2 million in campaign funds to an advertising agency that produced the 2017 election campaign for Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

The campaign of Blakeman, who is Jewish, also paid a political fundraising company founded by a convicted fraudster, the Daily Mail can report.

Filings submitted to the New York State Board of Elections show that Blakeman’s campaign spent more than $4.2 million on online advertising and related services from Harris Media.

Harris Media handled the AfD’s 2017 federal advertising effort, including material that depicted then-Chancellor Angela Merkel as a terrorist, according to DER SPIEGEL.

A Harris Media employee was also reported to have suggested the slogan “Germany for Germans” to the AfD. A party staffer rejected the phrase, saying it was excessively nationalistic.

The agency’s work for the AfD came during the same year that Björn Höcke, the party’s leader in Thuringia, delivered a controversial speech attacking Germany’s approach to remembering the Holocaust.

Höcke described Berlin’s Holocaust memorial as a “memorial of shame” and called for a “180-degree turn in the politics of memory.” Alice Weidel, who is now the AfD’s co-leader, later said that his remarks echoed the vocabulary of Adolf Hitler.

Harris Media’s past clients have also included Britain’s UKIP and Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party in Israel. In the United States, the firm has worked for Senator Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin and the pro-Trump Right for America PAC.

Republican Bruce Blakeman paid more than $4.2 million for 'fundraising' and 'online ads' to Harris Media, which pitched a campaign slogan for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) considered too nationalistic by its own members

Republican Bruce Blakeman paid Harris Media more than $4.2 million for “fundraising” and “online ads.” The agency previously proposed a slogan for Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) that some party members considered too nationalistic

The Trump-backed candidate also paid more than $11,600 split into 800 installments to the fundraising firm of a convicted fraudster, Jack Daly, who pled guilty to committing mail fraud and lying to the Federal Election Commision after scamming elderly voters and veterans

The Trump-backed candidate also paid more than $11,600 in 800 separate installments to the fundraising company founded by convicted fraudster Jack Daly, who admitted to mail fraud and lying to the Federal Election Commission after targeting elderly voters and veterans

Daly was sentenced to four months in prison and two years of supervised release in 2023

Daly received a four-month prison sentence and two years of supervised release in 2023

Between April and October 2026, Blakeman’s campaign paid more than $11,600 to Better Mousetrap Digital in nearly 800 separate transactions listed as “fundraising.”

Better Mousetrap Digital was established in 2023 by Jack Daly. That same year, Daly was sentenced to four months in prison and two years of supervised release for creating a fraudulent political action committee, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

Daly’s PAC collected more than $1.6 million by telling donors their contributions would convince a Wisconsin sheriff to seek a seat in the US Senate.

Investigators determined that Daly falsely implied Sheriff David Clarke was likely to run and misrepresented his own involvement in the PAC.

“Daly targeted vulnerable victims, including a woman with Alzheimer’s and elderly veterans,” the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin said in a press release.

Daly pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and conspiracy to make false statements to the Federal Election Commission.

The same year in which Harris Media did ad campaign work for the AfD, the party's state leader  Höcke held a speech that resembled 'vocabulary from Adolf Hitler,' AfD co-chair Alice Weidel said. Blakeman, who is Jewish, decided to commission the same agency that did not shy away from working with Germany's far-right to do his own ad campaign

Harris Media worked for the AfD during the same year Höcke gave a speech that Alice Weidel said resembled the “vocabulary of Adolf Hitler.” Blakeman, who is Jewish, nevertheless hired the agency for his own campaign after its previous work with Germany’s far-right party

Kathy Hochul is running for re-election as New York Governor on November 3. The Cook Political Report currently ranks the state's gubernatorial battle as Democratic leaning

Kathy Hochul is seeking re-election as New York governor on November 3. The Cook Political Report currently rates the gubernatorial contest as leaning Democratic

Daly attempted to overturn his conviction last year, arguing that his former attorney had given him “substantively incorrect advice.” Judge JP Stadtmueller rejected the motion. Daly’s supervised release ended in June.

Better Mousetrap advertises itself as ‘the premier digital fundraising consulting firm for Republicans’ with experience ‘spanning from state house campaigns to the White House.’

It also lists Donald Trump for President, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Republican National Committee among its clients.

Reached by phone, a spokesperson at Blakeman’s campaign headquarters told the Daily Mail they don’t have ‘anything to say.’ The Daily Mail also emailed the campaign for comment. 

Blakeman trails Hochul by 14 points in the latest Quinnipiac poll ahead of the November 3 election and the Cook Political Report still ranks New York’s gubernatorial battle as Democratic leaning.

New York State Democratic Party spokesperson Addison Dick told the Daily Mail: ‘Bruce Blakeman paying millions to these people to craft his campaign message fits right in with his never-ending embrace of far-right extremists.

‘Blakeman has more than earned his “100% MAGA” title, and New Yorkers are about to reject him for it.’ 

The Daily Mail contacted Harris Media, Better Mousetrap and Daly’s attorney for comment. 

Alleged ‘Second Dan Sullivan’ Effort Emerges After Alaska Vote

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A New York Times investigation detailed an alleged effort by operatives linked to Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to recruit a second Dan Sullivan for Alaska’s ballot. The report emerged as nearly one in 10 registered Alaska voters had already cast their ballots.

As a result, an estimated 58,000 voters may have made their selections before learning about the reported effort, which critics say was designed to create confusion by placing two candidates with the same name on the ballot.

Peltola’s campaign and the DSCC have denied any involvement.

Dan J. Sullivan advanced to the four-candidate general election earlier this year after receiving 2.5% of the vote in the primary. His campaign announcement did not identify a party affiliation, and his website does not outline positions on political issues.

“Dan Sullivan challenges Dan Sullivan for U.S. Senate Seat, urges Alaskans to defeat incumbent, elect a Sullivan who stands up for Alaska,” the announcement said.

The New York Times reported that the effort to recruit potential Republican spoiler candidates included Dan J. Sullivan. Text messages, interviews and internal documents reportedly showed coordination between the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Peltola’s staff.

A source interviewed by The New York Times said Peltola knew about the effort.

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit last week seeking to delay certification if Sen. Dan Sullivan loses, citing the potential for voter confusion. It remains unclear whether the DOJ is likely to prevail on those grounds.

Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system adds another layer of complexity to Sen. Sullivan’s race.

Under ranked-choice voting, voters order candidates by preference. If their first choice is eliminated, their vote transfers to the next candidate they ranked. Supporters say the system gives voters more influence and boosts candidates who might not otherwise be a first choice. Critics, however, argue that it can make elections more difficult to understand.

Alaska state Sen. James Kaufman, a Republican, is among those critics.

Kaufman worries that some voters may not rank both candidates named “Sullivan,” potentially leaving themselves vulnerable to confusion at the ballot box.

He said some Alaskans, particularly Republicans, continue to reject the system because of objections to how it was adopted and implemented.

“Some people have a pretty strong traditionalist perspective: one person, one man, one vote,” Kaufman said in an interview with Fox News Digital earlier this year.

“And, so, the ballot fatigue where people just don’t rank because maybe they disagree with it; there’s a pretty strong segment of the population here that just patently disagrees with the rank-choice voting system we ended up with. And they don’t necessarily believe in utilizing it,” he added.

The Nov. 3 general election is now less than a week away.

Judge Nick Nazaretian Biography, Age, Wiki and Political Party

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Nick Nazaretian Biography – Nick Nazaretian Wiki

Nick Nazaretian serves as a judge on Florida’s 13th Judicial Circuit Court in Hillsborough County. Governor Rick Scott, a Republican, appointed him to the court on December 16, 2011, filling the vacancy left by the retirement of Judge Wayne S. Timmerman.

Before joining the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court, Nazaretian was a Hillsborough County Court judge, a position he held from 2001 through 2011.

At the time of the appointment, Governor Scott highlighted Nazaretian’s nine years of service on the County Court, along with his temporary assignments on the Circuit Court. “Judge Nazaretian’s service for the past nine years on the County Court and during temporary duty on the Circuit Court has well prepared him for elevation to the position of Circuit Court Judge,” Scott said. “His extensive courtroom experience throughout his 25-year legal career, as well as his careful attention to the rule of law, will serve the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit well.”

Nazaretian previously practiced law with Griffen and Associates from 2000 to 2001. Before that, he spent a decade, from 1990 to 2000, as a division chief in the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office. From 1987 to 1990, he worked as a felony trial attorney with the Pinellas Public Defender’s Office.

He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida and his law degree from Nova Southeastern University.

Nick Nazaretian Age

Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Judge Nicholas Nazaretian was born in 1962.

Political Party

He is affiliated with no political party and is classified as nonpartisan.

Exclusive: Former HHS Adviser Calley Means Calls Iowa MAHA’s ‘Ground Zero’

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Clive, Iowa — Calley Means, a former senior adviser at the Department of Health and Human Services, told – News that Iowa could become a national proving ground for the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. He pointed to the state’s agricultural economy, concerns over cancer rates and Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn’s willingness to confront difficult questions about food and public health.

The MAHA PAC held its “Get Out the Vote Rally” on October 28 in Clive, a Des Moines suburb, ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. The event featured Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Lahn, Means and a group of Republican candidates, elected officials, and advocates focused on health, consumer issues and agriculture.

In an exclusive interview after the rally, – News asked Means whether Iowa could serve as a model for putting MAHA policies into practice in other states and helping elect candidates who support the movement.

“Iowa is ground zero,” Means told – News. “When we think of agriculture, we think of Iowa and the MAHA message that we need to put farmers at the center of health and have a thriving farm economy.”

“And I think that’s not going to happen without asking big questions, big questions about what the future of farming looks like — how we can build a future of great, safe, real food,” he continued. “I think it ties to the health issue.”

“Zach has bravely talked about the cancer rates in Iowa, and that’s a big topic around the Iowa kitchen table,” Means said. “And as Bobby Kennedy said, the path is honest conversations and plotting a future where we have healthy Americans and great food.”

“I think this existential conversation starts in Iowa,” he concluded.

Means spoke less than a week after he announced his resignation from the White House in an October 22 post on X. In the message, he expressed “tremendous respect for President Trump and Bobby Kennedy” while reaffirming his commitment to the MAHA movement.

“They laid out a vision of combatting the entrenched, dark forces in DC that profit from Americans getting sick,” Means wrote. “More policy and cultural change has happened around these goals in the past 2 years than any time in history – and I know this movement is just getting started.”

“It was an honor to advocate for MAHA moms in the administration and steer policies like Dietary Guidelines reform, psychedelic reform, removing soda from SNAP, removing food dyes, GRAS reform, and overhauling government food procurement,” he added.

At Wednesday’s rally, Means also discussed his exit from the Trump administration and described his experience working alongside Kennedy at the Department of Health and Human Services.

“I left my job very recently, which means I can spill the beans. I can give the truth about Bobby Kennedy’s tenure in the Trump administration from the inside,” Means told attendees.

“What is so clear to me from spending, from having the privilege to spend every day of the last two years with Bobby Kennedy, is that there has never in modern history been a person with more integrity that has come to the halls of power in Washington, DC, than Robert F. Kennedy,” he said.

“Bobby Kennedy is the most fearless man I’ve ever met, and he is fighting every single day for every single MAHA mom in this room against very dark forces,” Means continued. “He’s doing it with the support of President Trump, but they are fighting a broken D.C. infrastructure.”

Means argued that the country is entering a pivotal period. “I think we can feel that we’re living in consequential times. I think we can feel that the next ten years are going to be decisive for America,” he said. “They’re going to be some of those disruptive, consequential years in American history.”

“I think we can also feel that our institutions in Washington, DC, and around many institutions we trust in the states, they’re on the verge of failure,” he continued. “They are on the verge of failure because of the cowardice, because of the, frankly, incompetence of their leaders.”

Still, Means said he saw grounds for optimism. “But I think this is also optimistic because we can do better,” he added. “I think Bobby Kennedy, the MAHA moms, is showing how we can do better. Leaders like Bobby Kennedy and Zach Lahn showed that we could do better. But we have to put people like Bobby and Zach in leadership positions.”

“This is a moment for truth to ask questions that the special interests don’t want us to ask,” Means said. “To ask questions like Zach has framed his campaign on: why, out of every geographic location in the world, why is the ground we’re standing on, why does it have the highest cancer rates of any place in the world?”

“That’s a question a lot of people don’t want to be asked, and it’s a mature question,” he continued. “A lobbyist in D.C. lectured me. He’s like, the people of Iowa can’t handle the complexity of this question.”

“I said the people of Iowa can handle two issues at once,” Means recalled. “Of course, we need stable input prices for our farming, but we also care about the health of our children, the health of our food, and we can grapple. The people of Iowa can grapple with complex challenges.”

“Zach has also brought up a spiritual conversation, along with Secretary Kennedy, about the connection between the health of our farmers and the success of our farmers and the health of Americans,” Means said.

“The fat cats and the pharma companies are making all the money off this chronic disease, but nobody has the common sense to say where we can have a spiritual revolution in this country to recognize that the farmers are the key to our health crisis, and we need to respect farmers,” he continued.

“And the road to better health goes to our fork, not the prescription pad,” Means said. “And that’s the important long-term conversation that Zach Lahn and Bobby Kennedy are representing, and that’s an existential question for America.”

“Why has the international monopolization of our farming shut down family farms? Why do family farms have a boot on their neck with incentives that only help the big guys? Why is China and hedge funds buying up so much land in Iowa, and why are Iowan kids so sick?” Means asked.

“The answer to these questions is actually very simple. It’s because very powerful industries profit from these dynamics,” he continued. “Very powerful industries profit from family farms going under, and they profit quite frankly from sick kids who need care for the rest of their life, and we need candidates with the courage to see that as it is, and call it out.”

“The buzzword of this election cycle is corruption,” Means said. “Corruption is now the number one issue for Americans, and the reason we have an affordability crisis, the reason we have a crisis in agriculture and with our farmers, and the reason we have a healthcare crisis, is not because of any specific policy solution.”

“It’s because of corruption. It’s because there are so few leaders like Zach who have a willingness to tell the truth,” he concluded.

NYC Marathon Volunteer Celebrates 50 Years of Helping Runners Chase Glory

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Nearly 60,000 runners will tackle the 26.2-mile New York City Marathon course on Sunday, Nov. 1, with the finish line likely to command most of the attention. For Joanne Navarra, however, the race’s true energy is found at the starting line, where every kind of human emotion comes together.

“You know, it’s more exciting than the finish because you have everybody at one time,” Navarra said. “It’s like an adrenaline rush.”

The 2026 race marks the 50th anniversary of the marathon’s five-borough route. The milestone is especially personal for Navarra, who is also celebrating five decades as the lead volunteer at the start village in Fort Wadsworth.

“I would never have thought the first year I was there that I’d still be doing this 50 years later, but I enjoy it,” she said.

On Oct. 24, 1976, during New York City’s U.S. Bicentennial celebrations, the marathon starting line shifted from Central Park to Staten Island. The new route carried runners over five bridges and through Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan.

start-line-joannenavarra-images-2-2001.jpg

Runners at the start of the New York City Marathon in 2001.

Courtesy of Joanne Navarra

The event was far smaller then than the sprawling start village runners know today. Just 2,090 people participated, each paying a $5 entry fee, with a modest volunteer team supporting the race.

“It was like just a local race. You went to Fort Wadsworth and you signed up to run. My husband wanted to run. I said, ‘You’re out of your mind. What are you talking about?’” Navarra recalled. “I said, ‘Well, what am I going to do?’ So I started volunteering and helping them.”

Navarra could not have known that the decision would launch a decades-long adventure for both her and her husband, Victor, a lieutenant with the New York City Fire Department.

joannenavarra-images-1.jpg

Joanne and Victor Navarra found a special place at the starting line of the New York City Marathon.

Courtesy of Joanne Navarra

“It just grew bigger and bigger, and our roles grew bigger and bigger,” Navarra said. “I think it was maybe after about three years that [race co-founder and organizer] Fred Lebow said, ‘You guys can run the whole start.’ And that’s what we did.”

She even ran the marathon herself several times, first volunteering in the early morning before rushing to the back of the starting line in time to compete.

joannenavarra-images-14-1.jpg

Joanne Navarra ran the marathon several times in addition to volunteering.

Courtesy of Joanne Navarra

Over the years, Joanne and Victor Navarra helped New York Road Runners turn race-day logistics into a highly organized operation. They recruited volunteers, arranged corrals and guided runners toward the starting line at the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, becoming essential to the race’s launch.

The marathon changed for Navarra after Victor died in 2007 from paranasal sinus cancer, a disease attributed to his volunteer work at Ground Zero following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Since then, maintaining their marathon tradition has become one of the most important ways she keeps his memory alive.

“It was a passion for him. And he loved the start because it was everybody together,” Navarra said. “Up until his dying day, he was going to be at that marathon.”

Being there became one of Victor’s final wishes. After doctors told him he had only months to live, he wrote down the experiences he still hoped to have.

Victor Navarra

Victor Navarra never wanted to miss marathon day.

Courtesy of Joanne Navarra

“The last goal was he was going to be at that marathon. Come hell or high water, he was going to be at the marathon,” Navarra said. “At that marathon he was blind, he had no idea what he looked like, but he was there and he could barely talk. He had said to me, ‘If something happened to me before that, just put me on ice.’”

Nineteen years later, Navarra remains at the center of the operation. In the days before the race, she supervises construction of the start village, meets with volunteers to review race-day procedures and hands out trash and donation bags for cleanup in the corrals.

By 8:30 a.m. on race morning, she will be 85 feet above the ground in the bucket of an FDNY truck, overseeing the starting area and issuing instructions from above despite her fear of heights. Victor, she says, would have found that amusing.

“He knows how much I hate heights, and I still hate them. I hate even getting on the stepladder,” Navarra said. “I think he’d be proud that I’ve continued to do it and kept all the relationships going.”

On Nov. 1, nearly 2,000 volunteers will gather at the start village under Navarra’s direction. The occasion will celebrate more than the runners; it will also honor the woman who has spent 50 years making the starting line a welcoming place—with no end to her work in sight.

“You don’t really see a sad face. It’s just nice to see everybody all together and having a good time,” Navarra said.

The Game-Changing Ingredient Your Morning Coffee May Be Missing

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Townhall Video


3:34 PM on October 29, 2026

Could the health of your gut be influencing your body and mind in ways you have never considered? Larry O’Connor speaks with GoodBrew founder Gabe Dough about the growing science behind the gut microbiome and its links to digestion, brain health and overall wellness. Their conversation covers the importance of probiotics and prebiotic fiber, the ways modern diets and medications can disturb the digestive system’s bacterial balance, and why scientists are investigating the microbiome’s possible connection to chronic illness. Dough also discusses the story behind GoodBrew, an American small business designed to make daily gut-health support simple by adding probiotics and prebiotic fiber to your morning coffee. Larry shares his own experience with the product and explains why he is taking a closer look at the role gut health plays in everyday life.

Gainesville Man Gets Life in Prison for Second-Degree Homicide

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Dennis James Butler, 53, has been sentenced to life in prison after an Alachua County jury convicted him of second-degree homicide.

The case stems from a November 8, 2022, shooting at Butler’s home at 110 NE 22nd Street. At about 1:17 p.m., the victim arrived and found Butler seated in a Lexus sedan in the driveway, facing the street.

Butler shot the victim eight times before driving away. He discarded his cellphone in northeast Gainesville, where law enforcement later recovered it. Butler was arrested November 15 on an unrelated charge and was charged with second-degree homicide in December 2022. He had remained in the Alachua County Jail since his arrest.

Jurors found Butler guilty of second-degree homicide and determined that he possessed and discharged a firearm, causing the death of Steven Robinson.

On October 26, Judge Peter Sieg sentenced Butler to life in prison.

Police Probe Claims Epstein Women Were Trafficked to Balmoral Linked to Prince Andrew

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Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is facing a fresh police investigation into allegations that Jeffrey Epstein trafficked women to Balmoral.

Police Scotland has confirmed that officers are examining visits to the King’s Scottish Highlands estate by Epstein, the late convicted paedophile, and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who is now serving a prison sentence.

The investigation follows claims that women were trafficked to the private Balmoral estate.

Mountbatten-Windsor and Maxwell are reportedly understood to have travelled to Balmoral aboard Epstein’s private jet in 2006.

US prosecutors previously released an image showing Epstein and Maxwell at a Balmoral log cabin during a 1999 visit to Royal Deeside.

Images later published by the US Department of Justice also appear to show Mountbatten-Windsor and Epstein taking part in a shooting trip on the estate.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: ‘We have received information and active enquiries are ongoing, but these are at a very early stage.

‘All enquiries are evidence led, with the needs of victim survivors at the heart of those enquiries.

‘We would never confirm details of ongoing enquiries and it would be inappropriate to comment further.’

Buckingham Palace announced last year that Mountbatten-Windsor would no longer be known as a prince and would leave Royal Lodge. He was instead expected to move to the family’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk.

Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell are seen here in a log cabin at Balmoral, in a photo released in 2021 by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York

Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell pictured inside a Balmoral log cabin in an image released in 2021 by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York

The Duke of York (left) was pictured with sex trafficking victim Virginia Giuffre (centre) and Jeffrey Epstein's longtime confidante and accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell (right)

The Duke of York (left) pictured with sex-trafficking victim Virginia Giuffre (centre) and Ghislaine Maxwell (right), Epstein’s longtime confidante and accomplice

Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell are seen here in the countryside near Balmoral

Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell pictured in the countryside near Balmoral

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is pictured here driving in Wolverton, Norfolk, on October 28

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor pictured driving in Wolverton, Norfolk, on October 28

King Charles stripped his brother of his titles after weeks of pressure to act over Andrew’s relationship with Epstein, the late financier and convicted paedophile.

The move came after the former prince said he would no longer use the title Duke of York, following fresh revelations about his association with Epstein and renewed sexual abuse allegations made by Epstein victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre in her posthumous memoir.

Giuffre, who died by suicide in April last year, alleged that Andrew was forced to have sex with her three times, claims he vehemently denies. She said the encounters took place when she was 17, including during an orgy, after Epstein had trafficked her.

Andrew paid millions of dollars to settle a civil sexual assault case brought by Giuffre in 2022, while maintaining that he had never met her.

Giuffre had previously said Epstein and Maxwell kept her as a sex slave, flying her around the world and presenting her to influential associates ‘like a platter of fruit’.

She alleged that the pair trafficked her to the Duke of York when she was 17 and that he sexually assaulted her three times, allegations Prince Andrew has denied.

A photograph has been widely shared of them together in a London townhouse, his arm around her bare midriff, and was included in Ms Giuffre’s lawsuit against him.

Epstein killed himself in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges involving dozens of teenage girls and young women, some as young as 14.

In lawsuits, Ms Giuffre said she was a teenage spa attendant at Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s Palm Beach club, when she was approached in 2000 by Epstein’s girlfriend and later employee Maxwell.

Ms Giuffre said Maxwell hired her as a masseuse for Epstein, but the couple effectively made her a sexual servant, pressuring her into gratifying not only Epstein but his friends and associates.

Buckingham Palace said in a statement last October that the King’s moves against Andrew were ‘deemed necessary notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him’.

The statement said: ‘His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the style, titles and honours of Prince Andrew.

‘Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence.

‘Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation.

‘These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.

‘Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.’

Officers have been investigating Andrew for alleged misconduct in public office, after it was suggested that emails he sent to convicted sex offender Epstein while he was the UK’s trade envoy contained sensitive information.

As plain clothes officers searched his property earlier this year, Andrew was arrested and held for almost 12 hours at Aylsham police station in Norfolk while he was being questioned.

He was released under investigation and strongly denies any wrongdoing.

It was the first time a royal had been detained by police in more than 350 years.