Dozens of previously sealed court documents related to Jeffrey Epstein were made public late Wednesday, as a court releases more records from a years-old lawsuit connected to the late financier. They’re likely to disappoint sleuths online, where the plan to release documents prompted rumors of a list of “clients” or “co-conspirators.” In fact, the judge who made the call wrote in December that she was ordering the records released because much of the information within them is already public.
Quick Read
- Release of Court Documents: Dozens of previously sealed documents related to Jeffrey Epstein were made public, from a lawsuit connected to the late financier.
- Content of Documents: The initial release largely mentions figures already known, including Epstein’s high-profile friends and publicly known victims.
- Misinformation and Speculation: Social media misinformation about the contents of the documents, including false claims involving Jimmy Kimmel.
- Background on Epstein: Epstein, a millionaire with high-profile connections, was arrested for sexual abuse charges and killed himself in jail in 2019.
- Records Context: The unsealed documents are from a 2015 lawsuit filed against Ghislaine Maxwell by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre.
- Giuffre’s Allegations: Giuffre claimed she was lured into sexual acts with Epstein and pressured into sex with men in Epstein’s circle.
- Legal Developments: Giuffre settled a lawsuit against Prince Andrew and withdrew an accusation against Alan Dershowitz.
- Previous Document Releases: Around 2,000 pages were unsealed in 2019, with additional documents released in subsequent years.
- Nature of Current Batch: The current batch contains around 250 records, with sections previously redacted or sealed.
- Content Expectations: Judge Preska stated much of the information in the documents is already public, including names of Epstein’s accusers, staff, witnesses, and public figures associated with Epstein.
- Clinton and Trump References: Both are mentioned in the documents, but Giuffre clarified misconceptions about her interactions with them.
- Victim Privacy: Some names remain redacted to protect identities of sexual abuse victims.
- Future Releases: More documents are expected to be made public in the coming days.
The Associated Press has the story:
Jeffrey Epstein unsealed documents: Here’s what we know so far
Newslooks- NEW YORK (AP)
Dozens of previously sealed court documents related to Jeffrey Epstein were made public late Wednesday, as a court releases more records from a years-old lawsuit connected to the late financier.
They’re likely to disappoint sleuths online, where the plan to release documents prompted rumors of a list of “clients” or “co-conspirators.” In fact, the judge who made the call wrote in December that she was ordering the records released because much of the information within them is already public.
The first 40 documents, of around 250 expected to eventually be unsealed, largely mention figures whose names were already known, including high-profile friends of Epstein’s and victims who have spoken publicly.
Ahead of the documents’ release, misinformation about their contents ran rampant on social media. Users wrongly claimed that late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s name might appear, spurred by a joke New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers made Tuesday on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show.”
Kimmel said in a response on X that he had never met Epstein and that Rodgers’ “reckless words put my family in danger.”
Here’s what we know about the documents released so far:
WHO IS JEFFREY EPSTEIN?
A millionaire known for associating with celebrities, politicians, billionaires and academic stars, Epstein was initially arrested in Palm Beach, 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 ultimately allowed the financier to plead guilty in 2008 to a charge involving a single victim. He served 13 months in a jail work-release program.
Some famous acquaintances abandoned Epstein after his conviction, including former presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, but many did not. Epstein continued to mingle with the rich and famous for another decade, often through philanthropic work.
Reporting by the Miami Herald renewed interest in the scandal, and federal prosecutors in New York charged Epstein in 2019 with sex trafficking. He killed himself in jail while awaiting trial.
The U.S. attorney in Manhattan then prosecuted Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, for helping recruit his underage victims. She was convicted in 2021 and is serving a 20-year prison term.
WHAT ARE THESE RECORDS ABOUT?
The documents being unsealed are part of a 2015 lawsuit filed against Maxwell by one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre. She is one of the dozens of women who sued Epstein saying he had abused them at his homes in Florida, New York, the U.S. Virgin Islands and New Mexico.
Giuffre said the summer she turned 17, she was lured away from a job as a spa attendant at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club to become a “masseuse” for Epstein — a job that involved performing sexual acts.
Giuffre also claimed she was pressured into having sex with men in Epstein’s social orbit, including Britain’s Prince Andrew, the former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell and the billionaire Glenn Dubin, among others. All of those men said her accounts were fabricated.
Giuffre settled a lawsuit against Prince Andrew in 2022. That same year, Giuffre withdrew an accusation she had made against Epstein’s former attorney, the law professor Alan Dershowitz, saying she “ may have made a mistake ” in identifying him as an abuser.
Giuffre’s lawsuit against Maxwell was settled in 2017, but the Miami Herald went to court to access court papers initially filed under seal, including transcripts of interviews the lawyers did with potential witnesses.
About 2,000 pages were unsealed by a court in 2019. Additional documents were released in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
The batch currently being released contains around 250 records that sections that were blacked out or were sealed entirely because of concerns about the privacy rights of Epstein’s victims and other people whose names had come up during the legal battle but weren’t complicit in his crimes.
Only around 40 of those documents were made public Wednesday. More will be released in the coming days.
WHAT CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE?
U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska, who evaluated the documents to decide what should be unsealed, said in her December order that she was ordering the records released because much of the information within them is already public.
Some records have been released, either in part or in full, in other court cases.
The people named in the records include many of Epstein’s accusers, members of his staff who told their stories to tabloid newspapers, people who served as witnesses at Maxwell’s trial, people who were mentioned in passing during depositions but aren’t accused of anything salacious, and people who investigated Epstein, including prosecutors, a journalist and a police detective.
There are also boldface names of public figures known to have associated with 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 that he raped underage girls when he killed himself in a Paris jail in 2022. Giuffre was among the women who had accused Brunel of sexual abuse.
His name was peppered throughout the documents released Wednesday.
Clinton and Trump both factor in the court file, partly because Giuffre was questioned by Maxwell’s lawyers about inaccuracies in newspaper stories about her time with Epstein. One story quoted her as saying she had ridden in a helicopter with Clinton and flirted with Trump. Giuffre said neither of those things actually happened. She hasn’t accused either former president of wrongdoing.
The judge said a handful of names should remain blacked out in the documents because they would identify people who were sexually abused. The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they decide to tell their stories publicly, as Giuffre has done.
WHEN WILL THE REST OF THE DOCUMENTS BE MADE PUBLIC?
The judge hasn’t set a target for when all of the documents should be made public, but more documents are expected to come in the next few days.
Unsealed court records offer new detail on old sex abuse allegations against Jeffrey Epstein
Quick Read
- Unsealing of Epstein Documents: New batch of court documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, who died in 2019, was unsealed.
- Social Media Speculation: Speculation on social media about the documents containing a list of Epstein’s “clients” or “co-conspirators.”
- Content of Documents: The documents mostly consist of already public material, including interviews with victims and old police reports.
- Connections to Notable Figures: Mentions of Epstein’s past connections with Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew, among others.
- Victim Testimonies: Testimony from Epstein accuser Johanna Sjoberg, including an incident involving Michael Jackson and other details.
- Lawsuit Background: The documents are from a 2015 lawsuit by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre against Ghislaine Maxwell.
- Difficulty in Serving Subpoenas: Challenges in serving subpoenas to women who worked for Epstein and Epstein himself.
- Maxwell’s Deposition: Maxwell’s reactions during her deposition to questions about her involvement.
- Staff Testimonies: A former Epstein staff member felt uncomfortable with the presence of young women at Epstein’s house.
- Clinton’s Potential Testimony: Discussions about former President Clinton providing testimony, though he is not accused of illegal behavior.
- Victim Depositions: Depositions from several Epstein victims, including a dinner attended by David Copperfield.
- Sjoberg’s Testimony: Details of a trip with Prince Andrew and an incident involving a puppet.
- Trip to Trump’s Casino: Epstein’s jet diverted to Atlantic City, with a mention of Donald Trump’s casino.
- Remarks About Clinton and Trump: Sjoberg’s recollection of Epstein’s remarks about Clinton and Trump.
- Giuffre’s Accusations: Giuffre’s claims against Prince Andrew and withdrawal of accusations against Alan Dershowitz.
- Jean-Luc Brunel References: Numerous references to Brunel, a French modeling agent associated with Epstein.
- Misinformation and Kimmel’s Response: Misinformation on social media about the documents, including false claims involving Jimmy Kimmel.
The Associated Press has the story:
Unsealed court records offer new detail on old sex abuse allegations against Jeffrey Epstein
Newslooks- NEW YORK (AP)
Amid great hype, a new batch of previously secret court documents was unsealed late Wednesday related to Jeffrey Epstein, the jet-setting financier who killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
Social media has been rife in recent weeks with posts speculating the documents amounted to a list of rich and powerful men who were Epstein’s “clients” or “co-conspirators.”
There was no such list. The first 40 documents in the court-ordered release largely consisted of already public material revealed through nearly two decades of newspaper stories, TV documentaries, interviews, legal cases and books about the Epstein scandal.
Still, the records — including transcripts of interviews with some of Epstein’s victims and old police reports — contained reminders that the millionaire surrounded himself with famous and powerful figures, including a few who have also been accused of misconduct.
There were mentions of Epstein’s past friendship with Bill Clinton — who is not accused of any wrongdoing — and of Britain’s Prince Andrew, who previously settled a lawsuit accusing him of having sex with a 17-year-old girl who traveled with Epstein.
Epstein accuser Johanna Sjoberg testified in a newly released deposition that she once met Michael Jackson at Epstein’s Palm Beach, Florida, home, but that nothing untoward happened with the late pop icon.
The documents being unsealed are related to a lawsuit filed in 2015 by one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre. She is one of dozens of women who sued Epstein for abusing them at his homes in Florida, New York, the U.S. Virgin Islands and New Mexico. This suit was against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend who is now serving a 20-year prison term for helping recruit and abuse his victims.
Giuffre’s lawsuit was settled in 2017, but the court had kept some documents blacked-out or sealed because of concerns about the privacy rights of Epstein’s victims and others whose names had come up during the legal battle. More documents were to be released in coming days.
Among newly unsealed records were court memos in which Giuffre’s lawyers complained that some women who had worked for Epstein were proving difficult to serve with subpoenas, as was Epstein himself. Two of those women had invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when questioned in other lawsuits about whether they had helped procure young women for Epstein to abuse.
Maxwell, in her deposition, chaffed at being asked about Giuffre’s allegations that she had arranged for her to have sexual encounters with Prince Andrew. She also reacted angrily to being asked about whether she had purchased sex toys or revealing outfits, or seen young, topless women at Epstein’s home.
One former member of Epstein’s domestic staff said in a deposition that he felt uncomfortable with the number of young women showing up at the house, and felt threatened by Maxwell to stay quiet.
Other documents included legal arguments over whether Giuffre should be allowed more time to depose potential witnesses, including Clinton. Giuffre never alleged he was involved in illegal behavior, but her attorneys said the former president was a “key person who can provide information about his close relationship” with Maxwell and Epstein.
Maxwell’s attorneys countered that Clinton testimony was not relevant.
The records included depositions of several Epstein victims, many of whom have told their stories publicly previously.
In her May 2016 deposition, Sjoberg described going to a dinner at one of Epstein’s homes also attended by magician David Copperfield.
She said Copperfield did magic tricks before asking if she was aware “that girls were getting paid to find other girls.” One of the key allegations against Epstein and Maxwell was that some of the girls he paid for sex acts then acted as recruiters to find him other victims. Sjoberg said Copperfield didn’t get more specific about what he meant.
A publicist for Copperfield did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Sjoberg also shed new light on an April 2001 trip to New York in which she said Prince Andrew touched her breast while they posed for a photo at Epstein’s Manhattan town house.
In the testimony, some of which appeared as excerpts in previous court filings, Sjoberg said she and Giuffre had flown with Epstein to New York on his private jet. Maxwell and Prince Andrew met them there.
At one point, she testified, Maxwell called her to an upstairs closet where they pulled out a puppet of Prince Andrew that had been made for a television program.
“It looked like him,” Sjoberg said. “And she brought it down and presented it to him; and that was a great joke, because apparently it was a production from a show on BBC.”
“And they decided to take a picture with it, in which Virginia and Andrew sat on a couch. They put the puppet on Virginia’s lap, and I sat on Andrew’s lap, and they put the puppet’s hand on Virginia’s breast, and Andrew put his hand on my breast, and they took a photo.”
On the way to New York, Sjoberg testified, Epstein’s jet diverted to Atlantic City, New Jersey, and spent a few hours at one of Donald Trump’s casinos, because of bad weather.
Upon hearing the change of plans, Sjoberg recalled Epstein saying, “Great, we’ll call up Trump and we’ll go to” the casino. Sjoberg wasn’t asked if they’d met up with Trump that night. Later in her testimony, she said she was never asked to give Trump a massage.
Sjoberg also testified that though she never met Clinton, Epstein once remarked to her that “Clinton likes them young,” a remark she took as a reference to young women or girls.
Clinton has previously said through a spokesperson that while he traveled on Epstein’s jet several times, he never visited his homes, had no knowledge of his crimes, and hadn’t spoken to him since his conviction. Trump has also said that he once thought Epstein was a “terrific guy,” but that they later had a falling out.
In her deposition, Giuffre said the summer she turned 17, she was lured away from a job as a spa attendant at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club to become a “masseuse” for Epstein — a job that involved performing sexual acts.
She settled a lawsuit against Prince Andrew in 2022 in which she claimed he had sexually abused her during a trip to London. That same year, Giuffre withdrew an accusation she had made against Epstein’s former attorney, law professor Alan Dershowitz, saying she “ may have made a mistake ” in identifying him as an abuser.
The records released Wednesday included many references to Jean-Luc Brunel, a French modeling agent close to Epstein who was awaiting trial on charges that he raped underage girls when he killed himself in a Paris jail in 2022. Giuffre was among the women who had accused Brunel of sexual abuse.
Clinton’s name also came up because Giuffre was questioned by Maxwell’s lawyers about inaccuracies in newspaper reports about her time with Epstein, including a story quoting her as saying she had ridden in a helicopter with Clinton and flirted with Trump. Giuffre said neither of those things actually happened.
The judge said a handful of names should remain blacked out in the documents because they would identify people who were sexually abused. The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they decide to tell their stories publicly, as Giuffre and Sjoberg have done.
Even before the documents were released, misinformation about what was in them abounded. Social media users wrongly claimed that late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s name might appear in the documents, spurred by a crack New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers made Tuesday on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show.”
Kimmel said in a response on X that he had never met Epstein and that Rodgers’ “reckless words put my family in danger.”
