A first batch of court documents related to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, accused of sexual abuse and child trafficking, which until now was confidential, was released by the United States Courts, this Wednesday (3).
The more than a thousand pages that became public are part of a 2015 defamation lawsuit, filed by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's main whistleblowers, against the accused's former lover and business partner, the British heiress Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted to 20 years in prison for helping the billionaire sexually abuse minors.
The information released by the American justice system attracted public attention in the expectation that it would mention the involvement of personalities linked to the financier, however, there is no new list with the names of public figures related to the crimes for which Epstein is being investigated. Most of the documents also do not include specific episodes of irregularities committed by men other than the financier, who was found dead in a Manhattan prison cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
According to the American press, the documents presented in the Federal District Court of Manhattan appear to only add more context to the relationships that Epstein maintained over the years with powerful men, such as former US presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump and a member of British royalty, Prince Andrew, son of the late Queen Elisabeth II.
A statement made in May 2016 by Johanna Sjoberg, one of Epstein's alleged victims, who said she was close to him from 2001 to 2006, shows that she was asked by the courts whether the billionaire ever talked to her about his ex- President Bill Clinton. “He once said that Clinton likes young people, meaning girls,” Sjoberg testified.
A spokesperson for the former Democratic president responded to the release of the documents, stating on Wednesday night (3) that Clinton was never formally accused of any crime related to Epstein and that he had no knowledge of the financier's private life.
Clinton, who has not been formally charged, is on the passenger lists of Epstein's flights to different countries, but her possible presence on one of the financier's islands where abuses allegedly took place is not clear – Giuffre guarantees so, but he denies it.
The witness also mentioned Epstein's alleged relationship with former President Donald Trump. According to Sjoberg, once, while flying with the tycoon in one of his planes, they made an unplanned stop in New Jersey, where the accused allegedly said the following phrase: “Great, let's call Trump,” said Sjoberg, adding that Epstein suggested they visit the Republican's casino. However, there are no further mentions of the former president.
Another name that appears in the process is that of Prince Andrew, son of Queen Elisabeth II. According to the witness, when she was introduced to him, the British royal “put his hand on her chest.” In 2022, the parties reached a settlement in a parallel lawsuit, in which she alleged that she was sexually assaulted. by him when he was 17 years old.
The most unusual mention that appears in the documents is that of astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who allegedly participated in an orgy with minors in the Virgin Islands. There are images that show that the famous physicist visited Epstein's island in 2006 during a conference on a neighboring island.
According to the documents, an email sent by Epstein to his ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, on January 12, 2015, states that the accused asked his partner to see if any friends or family members of Virginia Giuffre, one of the alleged victims and author of the proceedings made public, would appear in court to help prove that his accusations against the astrophysicist were false.
Epstein wrote: “He can reward any of Virginia's friends, acquaintances and family who come forward and help prove her accusations are false […]”. There are no details about why the financier wants to refute the accusation.
During his trip to the region, Hawking participated in a barbecue with Epstein and took an underwater tour off the billionaire's island.
Judge Loretta Preska of the federal court for the Southern District of New York ordered that the previously classified documents, which include the identities of about 150 people, be made public starting January 1. The fact that some names are mentioned in the documents does not imply any type of guilt, as there are everything from emails to statements from victims and witnesses. The identity of those who were minors or who did not make public statements will remain hidden.
A deadline was set so that anyone who objected to the release of their names had time to object, and at least two people objected and have until January 22 to explain their reasons. The first batch of documents, released this Wednesday (3), has around a thousand pages in total.
The information in the case was previously redacted to hide the names of more than 100 victims, associates or friends of the accused, all of whom were mentioned with the designation “J. Donate” and a unique identification number.
Epstein committed suicide in 2019 in a federal prison in New York, where he was awaiting trial for allegedly setting up a sex trafficking network of minors from his mansions in the states of New York and Florida. The youngest girls were 14 years old, according to the indictment.
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