40 published documents (out of 250) about Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of sex trafficking and committed suicide in prison in 2019. Names that have already emerged in the investigation include Prince Andrew, Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Michael Jackson, David Copperfield, Virginia Giuffre, Ghislaine Maxwell
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Dozens of previously sealed court documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, Individuals accused of human trafficking for sexual exploitation who committed suicide in federal prison in 2019 were released late Wednesday, Jan. 3. The documents are likely to disappoint those who thought they would find new “customers” or “co-conspirators” in the documents. In fact, the judge who made the decision wrote in December that he was ordering the release of the documents because much of the information they contained was already public. The first 40 of the 250 documents expected to be released largely cite people whose names were already known, including high-ranking friends of Epstein and victims who have spoken out publicly.
What is known so far
Jeffrey Epstein, a millionaire known for his connections to celebrities, politicians, billionaires and academic stars, was initially arrested palm beach, in Florida in 2005 after he was accused of paying a 14-year-old girl for sex. Dozens of other underage girls described similar sexual abuse, but prosecutors finally allowed the financier to plead guilty in 2008, even though only one victim was involved. He served 13 months in a prison program.
The friends who left Epstein
Several famous acquaintances left Epstein after his conviction, including former President Bill Clinton and Donald Trump card, but many didn't. Epstein continued to network with the rich and famous for another decade, often through philanthropic activities. A Miami Herald report renewed interest in the scandal, and in 2019, federal prosecutors in New York charged Epstein with sex trafficking. Epstein later committed suicide in prison while awaiting trial.
The role of the ex-girlfriend
The U.S. attorney in Manhattan then filed charges against Epstein's ex-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, for helping recruit his underage victims. She was convicted in 2021 and is serving a 20-year prison sentence. The released documents are part of a lawsuit filed against Maxwell in 2015 by one of Epstein's victims, Virginia Giuffre, One of dozens of women who sued Epstein alleging he abused them at his homes in Florida, New York, the U.S. Virgin Islands and New Mexico.
The great accuser
Giuffre said that the summer she turned 17, she was lured by a job as a spa attendant at a club Mar-a-Lago by Trump to become a “masseuse” for Epstein, a job that involved sexual acts. Giuffre also said she was pressured to have sexual relationships with men in Epstein's social circle, particularly men prince Andrew.
All of these men said his stories were made up. Giuffre settled a lawsuit against Prince Andrew in 2022. That same year, Giuffre dropped an allegation she had made against Epstein's former lawyer, the law professor Alan DershowitzShe said she “may have made a mistake” when she identified him as the perpetrator.
The Miami Herald investigation
Giuffre's lawsuit against Maxwell was settled in 2017, but the Miami Herald has contacted the court seeking access to court documents that were initially kept under seal, including transcripts of interviews attorneys conducted with potential witnesses. Around 2,000 pages were published by a court in 2019. Additional documents were published in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
The currently declassified batch contains about 250 documents that were redacted or sealed entirely because of concerns about the privacy rights of Epstein's victims and others whose names emerged during the litigation but were not involved in his crimes. Only about 40 of these documents were released on Wednesday, January 3rd. More will be released in the coming days.
Judge Preska
The district judge Loretta A. Preska, which has been considering which documents to release, said in its December order that it was ordering the release of the documents because much of the information they contained was already public. Some documents have been made public in whole or in part in other court proceedings.
Those named in the documents include many of Epstein's accusers, members of his associates who told their stories to tabloids, people who served as witnesses at Maxwell's trial, people who were mentioned in passing during testimony but who were not accused of anything significant and people who investigated Epstein, including prosecutors, a journalist and a detective.
Other names are in bold
There are also bold names of public figures who are known to have dated Epstein over the years but whose relationships with him have already been well documented elsewhere, the judge said. One of them is Jean Luc Brunel, a French modeling agent close to Epstein who was awaiting trial on charges of raping underage girls when he killed himself in a Paris prison in 2022. Giuffre was among the women who accused Brunel of sexual abuse. His name is included in all documents released yesterday.
Both Clinton and Trump are on the court record, in part because Giuffre was questioned by Maxwell's lawyers about inaccuracies in newspaper reports about her time with Epstein. One article quoted her as saying she rode in a helicopter with Clinton and flirted with Trump. Giuffre said none of these things actually happened. He did not accuse either former president of wrongdoing.
Names blacked out
The judge said a handful of names should remain blacked out from the documents because they would identify people who had suffered sexual abuse. Even before the documents were published, there was a lot of misinformation about their content. Social media users mistakenly claimed the late night host's name Jimmy Kimmel could appear in the documents as part of a joke by the New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers Airing Tuesday on ESPN's “The Pat McAfee Show.”
In a response to The judge did not set a deadline for the release of all documents, but more documents are expected to arrive in the coming days.
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