Key takeaways from the unsealed Jeffrey Epstein documents

The filings stem from a now-settled litigation between Virginia Giuffre and Epstein’s fixer Ghislaine Maxwell

More than 200 previously sealed court documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and registered sex offender, have been unsealed.

US judge Loretta Preska ordered that the court filings in a lawsuit brought against Ghislaine Maxwell by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre must finally be unsealed and the names of up to 200 “John and Jane Does” unredacted.

She mentioned that many did not oppose the release of the documents. Judge Preska did instruct that certain names be kept redacted to protect the identities of sexual abuse victims.

The names of ten Jane Does mentioned in the filings remained under seal because their right to privacy as victims outweighed the public’s right to know. A J Doe, 107, has until 22 January to submit proof the release of their name will put them at risk of physical harm, and a request by a second J Doe, 110, to keep their name under seal is currently being reviewed by the court.

The list of names included a mix of prominent individuals, with the majority facing no allegations of misconduct. Those listed include “alleged victims, people not accused of wrongdoing…and absent third parties.”

Being identified through the court documents does not mean that the individual was involved in or aware of any wrongdoing by Epstein.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

Some of the names in the unsealed court documents have been linked to Epstein in the past. Among those in Wednesday’s documents are former presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, lawyer Alan Dershowitz, former Victoria’S Secret CEO Les Wexner, late former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson and late AI pioneer Marvin Minsky. David Copperfield, Michael Jackson and other celebrities also are mentioned.

Allegations against Prince Andrew resurface

The newly unsealed court documents contain references to Johanna Sjoberg, who has accused British royal member, Prince Andrew of groping her breast in Epstein’s Manhattan apartment in 2001. Buckingham Palace has vehemently denied her allegations.

In a deposition, Sjoberg claimed that Prince Andrew  “put his hand on my breast”. In 2022, the royal settled a suit claiming sexual abuse that was filed by another accuser, Virginia Giuffre.

The documents, filed in federal district court in Manhattan, provide additional context to shed light on the connections Epstein had cultivated over the years with influential figures, including former presidents, Mr Trump and Mr Clinton, as well as a member of the British royalty, Prince Andrew.

The vast majority of names in the documents were already well-known associates of Epstein. However, certain new details have emerged, notably from the deposition of alleged Epstein victim, Sjoberg. She has stated that she was trafficked by Epstein from 2001 to 2006.

Epstein once said Bill Clinton ‘likes them young,’ victim claims

In her 2016 deposition, Ms Sjoberg was questioned about whether Epstein had ever mentioned former president Bill Clinton. She testified that Epstein had once remarked that Clinton “likes them young, referring to girls”.

Previously, Mr Clinton’s spokesperson, in 2019, denied claims made about his involvement with Epstein. In a statement on X/Twitter wrote: “President Clinton knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he has been recently charged in New York.”

Mr Clinton’s name is mentioned 73 times in the documents so far, including footnotes.

In the second batch of documents a 2011 email from Ms Giuffre to journalist Sharon Churcher, included an accusation that Bill Clinton had threatened Vanity Fair reporters about writing stories on Epstein.

“B. Clinton walked into [Vanity Fair] and threatened them not to write sex-trafficing articles about his good friend.” [Jeffrey Epstein] the email from Ms Giuffre stated.

Donald Trump’s alleged ‘sexual proclivities’

Ms Sjoberg also claimed that she was once on a private plane with Epstein when it made an unexpected stop in Atlantic City, New Jersey. She said that Epstein mentioned: “Great, we’ll call Trump.” She mentioned that Epstein suggested that they visit Mr Trump’s casino.

Elsewhere, Ms Sjoberg was asked if she ever gave Mr Trump a massage, to which she replied “no”.

In 2019, when asked about his relationship with Epstein following the financier’s arrest, Mr Trump said he “knew him like everybody in Palm Beach knew him”. But the former president added: “I had a falling out with him. I haven’t spoken to him in 15 years. I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you.”

The new documents also contain “incendiary claims” about the former president, including accusations that he had sexual relations with “many girls”, made by one of Epstein’s alleged victims, Sarah Ransome. Mr Trump’s name has appeared a handful of times previously in the documents and, while not accusing him of wrongdoing, appears to illustrate the good relationship he had with the disgraced financier.

In documents unsealed on 8 January, Ms Ransome testified that her unnamed friend “was one of the many girls that had sexual relations with Donald Trump” – including at Epstein’s New York townhouse.

“She confided in me about her casual ‘friendship’ with Donald. Mr Trump definitely seemed to have a thing for her and she told me how he kept going on about how he liked her ‘pert nipples’,” she testified.

She then described in graphic detail how Mr Trump allegedly caused pain to the victim’s nipples – and claimed she saw the resulting injury firsthand.

“I also know she had sexual relations with Trump at Jeffery’s NY mansion on regular occasions as I once met Jen for coffee, just before she was going to meet Trump and Epstein together at his mansion,” she said.

Mr Trump has previously strongly denied any wrongdoing.

A Trump spokesperson told The Independent: “These baseless accusations have been fully retracted because they are simply false and have no merit.”

Giuffre claims she was trafficked to Les Wexner

The allegations against the former Victoria’s Secret CEO and founder of L Brands emerged in a 2016 deposition by Ms Giuffre.

Although Ms Giuffre had previously alleged she had been trafficked to other high-profile figures, it is the first time that allegations have emerged that Mr Wexner had sex with underage girls.

The Independent has reached out to L Brands group for comment.

Ms Giuffre claimed that she was trafficked to have sex with Mr Wexner between three and ten times during the time that she was recruited by Epstein and Maxwell. Ms Giuffre said that she was instructed by Maxwell to wear lingerie for Mr Wexner – which Maxwell went on to categorically deny in her own deposition.

When asked why she had said in a previous interrogation by police that she didn’t believe Mr Wexner would say the truth, Ms Giuffre said that it was because he had done “things that were wrong.”

“He participated in sex with minors,” Ms Giuffre elaborated.

Jean Luc Brunel’s creepy note about ‘Russian tutor’

A message left for Epstein by one of his employees in 2005 claims that Jean-Luc Brunel, a French model scout who died in 2022 while awaiting trial for child rape, had found a “teacher” who could give Epstein “free lessons”.

“He has a teacher for you to teach how to speak Russian. She is two times eight years old. Not blond,” the message reads. “Lessons are free and you can have your first today if you call.”

The creepy message was seized by Florida police during their first investigation into Epstein back in 2005-6, before resurfacing in a tranche of newly uncensored documents made public on Monday.

Epstein asked Johana Sjober to ‘have a baby’ with him

In the recently released deposition, Ms Sjoberg revealed that the disgraced financier had propositioned her multiple times to have a baby with him. She stated that Epstein expressed his desire for her to be the mother of his child, to which she did not flat-out refuse but responded with a non-committal attitude, saying, “Oh, yeah, really?”

“Basically [he] just said, I want you to be the mother of my baby,” Ms Sjoberg said. “I don’t believe that I said flat-out no. I didn’t agree to it. I would just say, Oh, yeah, really?”

David Copperfield and Michael Jackson mentioned in filings

In her deposition, Ms Sjoberg revealed two previously undisclosed names: David Copperfield and Michael Jackson. She said that she met Jackson at Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion. During another instance at one of Epstein’s residences, she encountered Copperfield, who, according to her, “did some magic tricks”.

Ms Sjoberg claimed that Copperfield “questioned me if I was aware that girls were getting paid to find other girls”.

Epstein offered payment to discredit Stephen Hawking underage orgy allegations

In 2015, after Ms Giuffre’s civil claim in the US, an email from Epstein to Maxwell surfaced, revealing Epstein’s request for Maxwell to “issue a reward” to counter Giuffre’s claims involving Prof Stephen Hawking in an alleged underage orgy.

The email suggested focusing on discrediting specific allegations, such as the claim that Hawking participated in such an event during a dinner in the Virgin Islands. Hawking, who died in 2018, has not been accused of a crime related to Epstein.

Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak visited Epstein’s home, documents allege

According to documents, the former Israeli prime minister, Ehud Barak, was a frequent visitor to Epstein’s Upper East Side townhouse between 2013 and 2017. Barak has acknowledged these meetings in the past. He said that Epstein often introduced him to individuals from various fields like art, culture, law, science, finance, diplomacy, or philanthropy. However, he never met Epstein “with girls or minors, or even adult women in improper context or behaviour”.

Noam Chomsky ‘had dinner with Woody Allen’ at Epstein’s house

According to documents, Epstein arranged multiple meetings with Noam Chomsky in 2015 and 2016. During this time, Mr Chomsky was teaching at MIT, a university where Epstein had made significant donations. The scheduled meetings involved gatherings of academics, and Mr Chomsky also took a flight on Epstein’s private jet to New York.

One specific event included a dinner at Epstein’s townhouse with film director Woody Allen and his wife, Soon-Yi Previn.

Epstein was arrested on 6 July 2019 for sex trafficking and died by suicide in jail. His former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell was then prosecuted by the US attorney in Manhattan for helping recruit his underage victims. She was sentenced in 2022 to 20 years in prison.

Meanwhile, Maxwell’s attorneys, Arthur L Aidala and Diana Fabi Samson were quoted as saying by the Guardian: “Ghislaine Maxwell took no position on the court’s recent decision to unseal documents in Giuffre v Maxwell as these disclosures have no bearing on her or her pending appeal.”