By Caden Pearson
Hundreds of pages of previously sealed court records from a case involving sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were made available to the public on Wednesday.
The documents include previously sealed depositions, emails, and other evidence. The records are expected to disclose the previously redacted names of 157 people linked to Mr. Epstein, as ordered by U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska, appointed under President George H. W. Bush, last month.
Prince Andrew was identified on Wednesday in a filing from the unsealed deposition of Johanna Sjoberg, who was already known as an alleged victim.
During a deposition, Ms. Sjoberg said Prince Andrew “touched my breast” while sitting in his lap and, when asked if she had ever given sexual favors to former President Donald Trump, said “no.”
The unsealed identities include those connected to the late Mr. Epstein as well as those mentioned in a defamation lawsuit filed against Ghislaine Maxwell, one of Mr. Epstein’s closest friends.
The records have been unsealed as part of a 2015 defamation lawsuit filed against Ms. Maxwell by Virginia Giuffre, who says Mr. Epstein and his associates abused her. This case was settled in 2017.
The name of former President Bill Clinton, who is already known to be linked to Mr. Epstein, was featured in an email from Mr. Epstein to Ms. Maxwell sent in 2015.
According to an unsealed court filing, Mr. Epstein emailed Ms. Maxwell in 2015 regarding Ms. Giufre’s lawsuit, in which the late sex offender suggested offering a “reward” to Ms. Giuffre’s friends and family to “help prove her allegations are false.”
“You can issue a reward to any of Virginias friends acquaintance and family that come forward and help prove her allegations are false the strongest is the Clinton dinner, and the new version in the Virgin Islands that Steven Hawking participated in an underage orgy,” the unedited email, sent Jan. 12, 2015, reads.
The email from Mr. Epstein appeared to make reference to physicist Stephen Hawking, who had been photographed at Mr. Epstein’s private island.
The following month, Ms. Maxwell received a report from Ross Gow at reputation management firm Acuity Reputation, updating her on “some helpful leakage.” The email included a link to two news articles that reported on claims questioning Ms. Giuffre’s credibility. One article was published by the Daily Mail on Feb. 24, 2015, and the other was published by NY Daily News on Feb. 23, 2015.
The identities being unmasked are expected to be those of people who knew and spent time with Mr. Epstein, including prominent figures in the business and political worlds, as well as his employees, former associates, alleged victims, and journalists who investigated him, according to court filings.
The identities are expected to include some individuals already known to have spent time with Mr. Epstein, such as former President Bill Clinton. Some appeared on Mr. Epstein’s flight log or in his address book, which has previously been published.
The filings may also reveal the identities of unknown parties who were not publicly known to be associated with the late financier and sex offender. Furthermore, other names will remain under seal.
