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Jan 4, 2024 · After a New York judge unsealed documents in a court case related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, social media posts purported to have the full scoop.
Jan 4, 2024 · A host of celebrities have been included in the list of former associates, employees, friends and victims of deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which was unveiled on Wednesday following...
George Lucas, American film director and creator of the Star Wars saga. Jean Luc Brunel, French model agency boss and alleged Epstein co-conspirator who died in an apparent suicide while awaiting...
Jan 4, 2024 · The list of names includes famous celebrities, artists and politicians linked to Epstein, some mentioned only in passing. It also includes the names former employees and accusers of the late ...
- National Post Staff
- Overview
- What is in the Jeffrey Epstein-related court documents?
- What happened in the Jeffrey Epstein case?
- Who else's names are among those released in the Epstein-related documents?
Documents that include the names of more than 100 people connected to Jeffrey Epstein, including business associates and accusers, among others, have now been made public, following a federal judge's December ruling that the information be unsealed.
More than 900 pages of mostly unredacted documents were released Wednesday, Jan. 3. A second batch of documents was released Thursday, Jan. 4, a third batch the day after that and still more in the days that followed.
Much of the information has been previously reported, and many of those whose names are mentioned are not accused of any wrongdoing.
Though the unsealed court documents don't contain an actual list of associates, the names were expected to include some that also appeared on the flight logs of Epstein's private jet, nicknamed the "Lolita Express," which he often used to fly to his private island in the Caribbean. Those manifests and other documents, such as his private calendar, had previously been made public, including as part of legal proceedings or public records requests. Many of those who had business or social ties with Epstein, a convicted sex offender, have denied any misconduct or involvement in his activities.
The release of the names stems from a now-settled defamation lawsuit brought in 2015 by Virginia Giuffre, who accused British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell of enabling her abuse by Epstein.
Maxwell was found guilty by a New York jury in 2021 on conspiracy and trafficking charges related to Epstein, her longtime friend and sometime romantic partner, and her role for a decade in the abuse of underage girls.
Court documents list 184 "J. Does," starting at J. Doe #3 through J. Doe #187. Some names are repeated twice. A small number are the names of minors or sexual assault victims, which the judge specified won't be released.
According to a court record released Jan. 3, documents for two Does — 107 and 110 — will not be immediately released. One was granted an extension until Jan. 22 for her appeal about the release and the other's appeal is still under review.
In many cases, the names in the documents "really are of innocent people. It's people who may have been employed, it's people who may have gone to dinner or to a cocktail party at Jeffrey Epstein's home," said CBS News legal analyst Rikki Klieman. "It is not necessarily naming people who have engaged in actions that were anything like the deplorable actions of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell."
One of the documents released Thursday includes a lengthy list of names of people Giuffre's attorneys wanted to depose in her lawsuit against Maxwell.
The documents released by the court mention some well-known figures whose contacts with Epstein have been reported in the past, such as Britain's Prince Andrew. The prince settled a lawsuit in 2022 with Virginia Giuffre, who accused him and Epstein of abusing her as a teen, an accusation Andrew denied. In a court filing at the time, his attorneys said, "Prince Andrew regrets his association with Epstein, and commends the bravery of Ms. Giuffre and other survivors in standing up for themselves and others."
A deposition from Johanna Sjoberg in the suit includes previous accusations alleging she was groped by Prince Andrew in 2001, when she was 21. BBC News reports Buckingham Palace previously called her allegations "categorically untrue." The newly released documents include questions to Maxwell about Sjoberg.
Epstein was accused of sexually assaulting numerous teenage girls, some of them as young as 14 years old, according to prosecutors. Over many years, he allegedly exploited a vast network of underage girls for sex at his homes in Manhattan; Palm Beach, Florida; and his private island near St. Thomas.
Epstein had pleaded not guilty to charges brought in 2019 by federal prosecutors in New York of sex trafficking conspiracy and one count of sex trafficking with underage girls. His death in prison before facing trial was ruled a suicide.
Epstein had cut a deal with federal prosecutors in Florida in 2008, reaching a non-prosecution agreement on allegations he sexually abused underage girls, in return for pleading guilty to lesser state charges and serving 13 months in jail, much of the time on work release. He also had to pay settlements to victims and register as a sex offender.
That agreement, which had not been disclosed to his victims, was under investigation at the time of his death.
Among the documents released Thursday is a 2016 deposition from Joseph Recarey, a former detective with the Palm Beach Police Department who led the investigation into allegations against Epstein of sex abuse and trafficking that culminated in the 2008 plea deal.
In the deposition, Recarey states that he interviewed around 30 girls who were either asked to or gave massages at Epstein's home.
A name's inclusion in the documents does not indicate the person has committed or has been accused of any wrongdoing. In addition, some of the people whose names appear are witnesses who were staff members, provided medical care or were in law enforcement, for example.
•Juan Alessi and Alfredo Rodriguez: Alessi, a longtime manager of Epstein's Palm Beach estate, and Rodriguez, his former butler who died in 2015, are both named in the documents as having offered testimony.
•Jean-Luc Brunel: A onetime close friend of Epstein, Brunel was found dead in a French jail in 2022 while being investigated by that country's authorities. He was accused of helping procure women and underage girls for Epstein and was also alleged to have raped and assaulted women he knew from the modeling world. In the documents, one witness mentioned in a deposition asking him for a job, and several others were asked about him.
•Bill Richardson: The former governor of New Mexico, Richardson died in September. He had been previously reported to have visited Epstein's sprawling Zorro Ranch in New Mexico at least once. Richardson denied accusations made by Giuffre, who in a previously unsealed deposition said that she was directed to have sex with him. He called the accusation "completely false" and said he had never met Giuffre.
•David Copperfield: In her deposition, Johanna Sjoberg said she had dinner with magician David Copperfield at Epstein's home. Copperfield is not accused of any wrongdoing. Sjoberg said Copperfield asked her "if I was aware that girls were getting paid to find other girls," but testified he told her no specifics about that.
•Donald Trump: A witness said in a deposition that Epstein mentioned calling Trump and said the group would go to his casino when a storm forced his jet to land in Atlantic City during a 2001 trip. The witness was asked if she gave Trump a massage, but said no. Newsweek reported a Trump spokesperson said claims regarding Trump's relationship with Epstein were "thoroughly debunked." Trump said in 2018 that he knew Epstein "like everybody in Palm Beach knew him. … He was a fixture in Palm Beach." Trump said at the time, "I had a falling out with him a long time ago. I don't think I've spoken to him for 15 years. I wasn't a fan."
- Tabachnick
- 6 min
- cara.tabachnick@cbsinteractive.com
Dec 29, 2021 · Ghislaine Maxwell’s relationship to Jeffrey Epstein - the disgraced US financier who took his own life in 2019 while awaiting a sex trafficking trial - came into the spotlight after his death.
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Jan 4, 2024 · The lengthy list of boldface names paints a troubling picture of Epstein’s double life as an ace financier who used his wealth and connections to victimize dozens of young women.
