Second set of Epstein documents released by court
A second batch of court documents was unsealed Thursday in connection to a lawsuit related to deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Why it matters: The release comes one day after a federal judge unsealed an initial tranche of documents as part of a civil suit against Ghislaine Maxwell.
- Maxwell was sentenced last year to 20 years in prison on sex trafficking and other charges for helping Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls.
Context: Virginia Giuffre, who accused Maxwell of facilitating her sexual abuse, settled the lawsuit in 2017, but the terms were not immediately made public.
- Judge Loretta Preska of the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York last month set a Jan. 1 release date for the court documents to be unsealed in the civil case.
The big picture: Both sets of released documents contain mentions of high-profile figures such as former President Clinton and Prince Andrew.
- Being named in the filings does not equate to being accused of wrongdoing.
State of play: More than 300 pages of court documents were unsealed in the latest release on Thursday.
- In part of the newly shared documents, Maxwell's lawyers argue that journalist Sharon Churcher had fabricated claims concerning Prince Andrew and lawyer Alan Dershowitz, who helped Epstein get a sweetheart plea deal.
- Another portion of the documents was a disclosure from Giuffre that included a list of witnesses.
- The disclosure also stated that Dershowitz "has knowledge of defendant's conduct that is the subject of this action." Dershowitz has welcomed the release of the filings saying he looked forward to clearing his name.
Bill Clinton is listed as having traveled with Epstein and Maxwell and it's alleged he "may have information" on the duo's "sexual trafficking conduct." Clinton has always denied any wrongdoing and his representatives have said they did not object to the unsealing.
- The newly released documents include a 2011 email in which Giuffre alleges to Churcher that Clinton threatened Vanity Fair "not to write sex-trafficking articles about his good friend J.E." Graydon Carter, Vanity Fair's editor-in-chief at the time, told The Telegraph: "This categorically did not happen."
Prince Andrew is likewise listed as having "knowledge of Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein's sexual trafficking conduct and interaction with underage minors," including Giuffre.
- The British prince is accused in the documents of "groping a woman." He has always denied any wrongdoing.
Of note: Preska also issued an order to strike select documents from the case for containing personally identifiable information about named individuals and for the documents to be refiled redacted.