Epstein documents containing names of prominent figures expected to be released soon
Court documents related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein are expected to be released soon with many names previously redacted, and prominent figures on the right are holding up the upcoming revelations as evidence of misconduct by Democrats, despite a lack of concrete information about what they want to do. will show.
Most of the names being made public – currently cited in the documents as John Does – have previously been identified in other court documents or in news reports as being associated with Mr. Epstein.
Epstein, a longtime friend of powerful people including politicians, businessmen and royalty, was accused of preying on girls as young as 14, bringing them to his homes and paying them for sex acts. He died at age 66 by suicide in prison in 2019, before he could stand trial in Manhattan on federal sex trafficking charges, but his associate Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of conspiring with him and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Mr. Epstein’s estate has since paid out about $150 million in settlements to more than 125 women.
It is in connection with a defamation lawsuit against Ms Maxwell that the documents are being released. That lawsuit was filed by one of Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell’s victims, Virginia Giuffre. Previously, many of the names in the documents were sealed, but a New York judge ruled in December that some of them could be unsealed.
Multiple news reports have said that former President Bill Clinton will be among those named, a fact that has been jumped on by conservative commentators, although there is no indication this will be linked to allegations of misconduct, and Ms. Giuffre has not accused Mr. Clinton of any wrongdoing . His office said in 2019 that he had flown on Mr. Epstein’s private plane but had no knowledge of Mr. Epstein’s crimes, and a spokesman pointed to that statement on Tuesday.
“President Clinton knows nothing about the terrible crimes to which Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty several years ago in Florida, or the crimes he has recently been accused of in New York,” said the 2019 statement, which details travel and meetings with Mr. Epstein in the beginning were recognized. 2000s. It added: “He hasn’t spoken to Epstein in over a decade.”
Being named in the documents does not necessarily mean that any person participated in or was aware of Mr. Epstein or Ms. Maxwell’s actions, and it was already known that Mr. Epstein was friends with Mr. Clinton — as well as with numerous other celebrities and officials, including Donald J. Trump. It remains to be seen whether the documents will say anything significant about Mr. Clinton or anyone else.
But right-wing officials and commentators have seized on the impending release without reservation.
“For some of us, it is no surprise at all that Bill Clinton will be named in Jeffrey Epstein’s files. We said it a long time ago, but they labeled us conspiracy theorists,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia. wrote on Xand added: “Pedophiles belong in prison and not on secret government lists.”
Ms. Greene’s comment took on some conservatives’ description of the coming documents as a “list” of Mr. Epstein’s associates, but according to a person briefed on the documents, many of these statements come from victims of the Mr. Epstein and related lawsuits. .
Others who played up the documents included far-right commentator Benny Johnson; Graham Allen, a right-wing video streamer; and Brigitte Gabriel, the founder of the anti-Muslim group ACT for America.
One name expected to be included in the documents is that of Prince Andrew, who in 2022 settled a lawsuit brought by Ms Giuffre accusing him of sexual abuse.
Matthew Goldstein And Benjamin Weiser reporting contributed.