On Wednesday, hundreds of pages of previously disclosed court records related to alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein were made available to the public. Under a court order dated December 18, this is the first set of documents to be opened; additional records are anticipated in the upcoming weeks.
CNN reported that almost 200 names are anticipated to be included in the entire number of records, including information that has not yet been made public. These names may include those of politicians, well-known businessmen, and some of Epstein’s accusers.
It did not seem that any shocking findings were contained in the first set of documents. A significant portion of the data included in them has already been made public by media reports and other court proceedings.
However, this is the first time that the court-filed records have been made publicly available via the legal system.
Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers declared in a statement on Wednesday that the client “has consistently and vehemently maintained her innocence.”
CBS58 also reported that excerpts from depositions taken with Maxwell and Virginia Roberts Giuffre are included in the records.
Additionally, there is a deposition from Johanna Sjoberg, who humorously described Prince Andrew caressing her breast while shooting pictures in the document.
Although Sjoberg’s tale has been made public, her deposition has never before been made public. She claimed to have occasionally worked for Epstein and that he occasionally put pressure on her to do sexualized massages that were more than what she felt comfortable doing.
According to a court document her attorneys filed on Tuesday, Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre previously agreed an out-of-court settlement in her sexual abuse complaint against him. The accusations made against Andrew are refuted by him.
As previously reported, the transcripts of the depositions mention a number of well-known figures, including Andrew and the former US president Bill Clinton.
In her 2016 deposition, Sjoberg recalled that Epstein had discussed Bill Clinton with her.
She recalled that “he once said that Clinton likes them young, referring to girls.”
She acknowledged that Epstein had “dealings” with Clinton when asked if Epstein was a friend of hers.
Although a representative for the former president acknowledged that she had travelled on Epstein’s private jet in 2019, the representative said that Clinton was unaware of the financier’s “horrible crimes.”
On Wednesday, a representative for Hillary Clinton restated her denial from 2019 and informed CNN that it had now “been nearly 20 years since President Clinton last had contact with Epstein.” Regarding Epstein, Clinton has not been charged with any crimes or misconduct.
Johanna Sjoberg also mentioned in her evidence that she was on one of Epstein’s flights when the pilots told them they had to land at Atlantic City. Epstein then advised them to get in touch with Donald Trump.
“Jeffrey said, Great, we’ll call up Trump and we’ll go to – I don’t recall the name of the casino, but – we’ll go to the casino,” Sjoberg said.
Sjoberg then admitted in her deposition that she never gave Trump a massage. In the materials, Trump is not charged with any Epstein-related misconduct.
The Trump campaign has been contacted by CNN for a statement.
In her deposition, Giuffre said that Maxwell had given her instructions to have sex with a number of persons, including Prince Andrew, tech wizard Marvin Minsky, renowned French scout Jean-Luc Brunel, former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, and American investor Glenn Dubin.
A Dubin spokesperson said in a statement in 2019, when Giuffre’s allegations were previously made public, that “”Glenn and Eva Dubin are outraged by the allegations against them in the unsealed court records and categorically reject them.”
At the time, the statement was covered extensively, appearing in publications including Vanity Fair, the Hill, and the Washington Post.
Three names that were kept a secret on Wednesday are still attached to that same section of the deposition. Giuffre claims that Maxwell gave her instructions to engage in sexual intercourse with a fully blotted out name, the “owner of a large hotel chain,” and a “unnamed prince”.
The paper does not make it apparent if Giuffre went on to have sex with any of the individuals listed.
The lawyers’ legal motions are among the other documents that were not sealed.
The files are from a settled lawsuit filed by American Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who alleged that Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s ex-girlfriend, helped with the abuse and that Epstein had sexually molested her while she was a minor.
Numerous purported victims and their associates have been identified in the media and have given public interviews. Being included in the recently released unredacted documents does not imply any misconduct or infraction of the law.
According to court documents, the identities of some victims are still withheld since the crimes were so sensitive.
2019 saw the federal accusations against Epstein for allegedly running a sex trafficking operation in which he molested numerous minors.
While in custody awaiting trial, Epstein committed suicide. Maxwell was charged with sex trafficking with many victims by New York prosecutors. She was convicted in 2021.
