After a short delay, some of the court documents related to a 2015 defamation case against Jeffrey Epstein were unsealed on Wednesday. More documents are expected to be released in the coming days,
In December, U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska ruled in favor of unsealing the documents due to a lack of legal justification to keep them hidden.
According to CBS News, Preska reasoned that some of the names had already appeared publicly in connection to Epstein and that “the substance in question was not salacious and should not be kept sealed.”
Some of the J. Does mentioned in the documents will remain anonymous and their identities sealed due to their being underage and possibly a victim in the case, Preska ruled.
The hundreds of pages that were released refer to Epstein’s associates, much of which has already been reported, per Politico.
Many of the people named in the documents have not been accused and are unlikely to face criminal charges unless evidence of criminal activity surfaces.
As the Deseret News previously reported, the names of Epstein’s associates mentioned in the filings had initially been kept private because they hadn’t been found guilty of any wrongdoing.
Who appeared in the Epstein documents?
The unsealed documents are evidence of Epstein’s tendency to keep friends in high places, with several big names mentioned throughout the filings. Not all of the names revealed in the unsealing are associates of Epstein; some are accusers and witnesses to Epstein’s activities.
Here are some of the most prominent people referred to:
- Bill Clinton: The former U.S. president was referred to in the documents as a friend of Epstein and as appearing on flight manifests for Epstein’s plane. Clinton was not accused of any wrongdoing by the Epstein’s accuser in the case, though she told the court that Epstein told her Clinton “likes them young,” Axios reported. A representative for Clinton reiterated his 2019 denial of any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
- Prince Andrew: Accusations against the British royal were previously made public and swiftly denied. Johanna Sjoberg, who was hired by Ghislaine Maxwell as an assistant and massage therapist, accused Andrew of inappropriately touching her breast while a photo was being taken of them. Virginia Giuffre also accused Andrew of sexual abuse that took place when she was 17. Both incidents appear in the filings, per Al Jazeera.
- Alan Dershowitz: A Harvard law professor and former lawyer for Epstein, Dershowitz previously told NewsNation that he wanted all of the documents to be released. The documents reveal allegations of sexual assault made against Dershowitz. He was previously sued by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre but she later said, “I now recognize I may have made a mistake in identifying Mr. Dershowitz,” according to CNN.
- Michael Jackson: Sjoberg claimed to have seen the singer at Epstein’s house, though she did not accuse him of any wrongdoing.
- Donald Trump: His connection to Epstein, like Prince Andrew’s, was previously known. Trump was not accused of any wrongdoing in the documents and was mentioned in an incident in which Epstein and others went to one of his casinos during a stop in Atlantic City, Axios reported.
- Stephen Hawking: No evidence of illicit activity on Hawking’s part exists and claims about Hawking remain a rumor, per Axios.
- Bill Richardson: Giuffre claimed in a now unsealed deposition that she was told to have sex with the former governor of New Mexico. He also at least once visited Zorro Ranch, where Epstein allegedly committed multiple instances of sexual abuse, CBS News reported. Though Richardson died in September 2023, he had previously denied Giuffre’s accusation against him.