The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has unsealed hundreds of documents linked to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, identifying numerous individuals, some of whom include prominent politicians and notable public figures.
The court began uploading the data to public records systems on Wednesday night (3), although heavy online traffic initially prevented access to making the data available.
Last month, a federal judge ordered the release of nearly 200 names linked to the Epstein case, although two people requested that their names remain confidential for now due to the possibility of physical harm. The names include accusers and witnesses in the case.
Epstein, a convicted sex offender, died in 2019 while awaiting trial on new sex trafficking charges.
The disgraced figure’s ties to a number of celebrities and politicians due to his work in the financial sector have fueled continued speculation regarding potential new ties to his alleged criminal activity.
The latest records include excerpts from statements by former British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and Virginia Giuffre, who previously accused Maxwell of facilitating her sexual abuse following being introduced to Epstein, among other witnesses.
Maxwell was sentenced in 2022 to serve 20 years in prison on several charges, including sex trafficking for her involvement in Epstein’s crimes. The undeclassified documents do not specifically include a list of Epstein’s clients.
It also does not directly equate named individuals with committing crimes. Additional names should be announced this Thursday (4).
Bill Clinton e Donald Trump
Court documents revealed that a witness alleged that Epstein once indicated that former US President Bill Clinton, who was named more than 50 times in legal documents, liked “young” women, meaning girls.
The witness was identified as Johanna Sjoberg, who was reportedly recruited by Maxwell and corroborated allegations made by Giuffre regarding the sexual abuse she suffered under Epstein and his associates. Sjoberg’s statement was made in May 2016.
“Jeffrey [Epstein] Did he ever talk to you regarding Bill Clinton?” Sjoberg was asked during the deposition.
“He once said Clinton likes them young, meaning girls,” she responded. In another section of the documents, Sjoberg noted that it was known that Clinton “had relations” with Epstein, but that he had not been seen on Epstein’s infamous island in the US Virgin Islands, where many underage girls are alleged to have been abused.
Maxwell’s testimony reported that she did not know how many times Clinton had flown on Epstein’s plane. Clinton previously said she was completely unaware of Epstein’s “terrible crimes.”
It was also detailed that former US President Donald Trump was never seen at Epstein’s home or private island. In separate questioning, Sjoberg said he never gave the former president any sexual favors or massages.
However, she noted in her testimony that Epstein appeared to brag regarding his ties to the former commander in chief, suggesting he might call Trump and “go to the casino” the pair had once visited.
Not long following the walls came down around Epstein’s operations and charges were filed over the matter, Trump conveyed to the public that he was never a “fan” of Epstein and had not spoken to him in years.
Celebrities and notable figures
Among the dozens of figures cited were musician Michael Jackson, who was seen at Epstein’s home in Palm Beach, and magician David Copperfield, who attended one of the investor’s parties.
Although it was pointed out that Jackson did not appear to be engaging in any illegal behavior, Sjoberg testified that Copperfield showed up to ask regarding Epstein’s operation during a party.
In fact, Sjoberg recalled that the magician “questioned me if I knew that girls were being paid to find other girls.”
Asked whether Copperfield specifically mentioned “teenagers” or alluded to any “specifics” of Epstein’s criminal activity, Sjoberg said no.
In response to a follow-up question, the witness detailed that Frederic Fekkai, known as a celebrity hairdresser, was checked out by Epstein.
“I heard him [Epstein] call someone and say: Fekkai is in Hawaii. Can we find him some girls?” she recalled. When asked regarding her own reaction to the mention of Fekkai at the time, Sjoberg responded: “Well, I was massaging it and I had no reaction. I tried to remain unresponsive for the entire five years.”
Elsewhere in the deposition documents, actors such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kevin Spacey, Cameron Diaz and Naomi Campbell were mentioned in passing during interrogations regarding notable people who may have come into contact with Epstein’s operations. However, the witness in each instance said he never met any of the characters.
“I hope I remember,” was one response when asked regarding Blanchett or DiCaprio. Elsewhere in the testimony, noted scientific figure Stephen Hawking was identified in an email from Epstein, where he appeared to ask Maxwell to bribe any of Giuffre’s associates to refute his claims — one that he claimed suggested that Hawking played a role in an “orgy of minors.”
While the new statement offers some new details of Epstein’s operations, it also recalls previously known ties between the New Yorker and his associates, such as Prince Andrew and lawyer Alan Dershowitz.
Prince Andrew, who previously settled a lawsuit with Giuffre in 2022 but refused to admit any wrongdoing, was described in an appearance in which the U.K. royal placed his hand on a witness’s chest during a photo with Giuffre and Maxwell.
As for Dershowitz, who has been linked to Epstein for years and appeared to have previously welcomed release, testimony showed that he was name-checked by Jane Doe and claimed to have had sexual relations with the individual when she was still a minor.
Giuffre filed a lawsuit once morest Dershowitz, but withdrew it in 2022 following admitting it was a mistaken identity.
Another previously cited figure is Jean Luc Brunel, a former modeling agent with long ties to Epstein and who was found dead inside a prison cell in 2022 while awaiting sex trafficking charges.
