New high-profile names have emerged in the second batch of court filings related to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. On Thursday (4th January), unsealed court documents revealed new details about the case. The second list names several rich and famous public figures including Bill Clinton, former US Senator George Mitchell and former US Ambassador and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
The court documents comprise 19 exhibits totalling 327 pages of previously sealed documents filed in a Manhattan federal court lawsuit filed by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre against Epstein’s girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.
As per reports, the name of former US President Donald Trump is mentioned, but in the context that he never visited Epstein’s islands or his houses. Clinton is said to have visited Epstein’s island over 25 times. One mention cites Clinton saying he “liked the girls young”.
I know the libs were hoping, but Trump was never on Epstein island, Epstein’s NM Ranch, or his NY apartment.
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) January 4, 2024
Of course anyone with a brain already knew that, because if he ever was it would have leaked within .000001 seconds. Now let’s throw those who did take part in jail!!! pic.twitter.com/41mfXJIThq
The big names earlier revealed include former US President Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, Michael Jackson, Stephen Hawking and Alan Dershowitz. Moreover, Doug Band, a former aide to ex-President Bill Clinton, Yucaipa Companies co-founder Ron Burkle, journalists Vicky Ward and Sharon Churcher, and Eva Dubin, wife of billionaire Glenn Dubin, were among those mentioned in the new documents released on Thursday.
Clinton had threatened Vanity Fair magazine not to publish anything against his ‘good friend’ Epstein back in 2011, the second batch of documents reveal.
Jeffrey Epstein’s associates and victims were referred to as John Doe and John Dane in the court proceedings. Following the release of the first batch of documents, the names of some 170 of them have now become public. Pertinently, the mere fact that a celebrity is mentioned in the document does not imply they were involved in or were aware of any wrongdoing by Epstein.
Virginia Giuffre claims she was forced to have sex with former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. There are a few references to Richardson in the new documents, including a deposition in which Giuffre claims she had been told to give him a massage. Giuffre’s claims were fabricated, according to Richardson, who died last year. In 2019, a Richardson spokesperson denied ever meeting Giuffre.
Former US Senator George Mitchell is also said to have abused Giuffre. Mitchell had also denied ever meeting her. Mitchell’s name finds limited mention in the new records.
Former US President Donald Trump is mentioned four times in the records. Trump has socialised with Epstein but is not accused of any wrongdoing. Following Epstein’s federal indictment in 2019, NBC News released video footage of the two chatting. The video was said to be from a party at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in 1992, shortly after Trump’s divorce. The video also showed young women surrounding the former President, whom NBC identified as Buffalo Bills cheerleaders.
Subsequently, in the video, Epstein can be seen arriving at Trump’s Florida estate, where the two can be seen conversing and gesturing at the women on the dance floor. Later, when confronted about the video, Trump stated that he, like everyone else in Palm Beach, knew Epstein.
Epstein allegedly contacted Trump after a plane diversion to Atlantic City in one of the incidents where Trump’s name appears in the records. Johanna Sjoberg, a key figure in the testimony, recounted a time when Epstein called Trump and visited one of his casinos. She, however, clarified that she never gave a massage to Trump.
Some reports mentioned that much before he entered politics, Trump had already ‘banned’ Epstein from his estates and clubs, after Epstein was once caught hitting on the daughter of one of Trump’s friends.
🚨TRUMP KICKED EPSTEIN OUT OF MAR-A-LAGO
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) January 4, 2024
Donald Trump BANNED Jeffrey Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago club after Epstein began hitting on another member’s daughter
The ban happened months before Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to criminal charges in Florida, which included paying for… https://t.co/PBwSpKtKLG pic.twitter.com/1Jx0jhTNWA
The documents made numerous references to Jean-Luc Brunel, a French modelling agent and Epstein’s close friend who committed suicide in a Paris jail last year while awaiting trial on charges of raping minor girls. Giuffre and others accused Brunel of having sexual encounters with minors and others under the pretext of modelling contracts.
Brunel’s estate was sued in California this week by a woman who claimed Brunel and others sexually assaulted her while she worked as a model in New York. The woman also claimed that she was driven to a home in Canada and held there for several days while men abused her. Meanwhile, Brunel’s lawyers have maintained his innocence, claiming that his suicide was not due to guilt but due to a sense of “injustice”.
The newly released records also name Leslie Wexner, the founder of Victoria’s Secret, The Limited, and other store chains. Epstein had managed Wexner’s money for years, but their relationship soured after Epstein was arrested and sentenced in Florida in 2006 for paying a minor girl for a sexual act. Notably, Wexner’s name appears six times in the recently released document.
Wexner admitted to being embarrassed by his ties to Epstein after his suicide. He also publicly accused Epstein of stealing “vast sums” of his fortune, but provided no details. In 2019, a lawyer appearing for Epstein’s victims said it was likely Wexner was unaware of Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal activities.
Notably, Giuffre has alleged that she was coerced into having sex with billionaire Glenn Dubin. Dubin, however, denies the accusation. In a deposition, Giuffre stated that Maxwell “told me to go to Glenn Dubin and give him a massage, which means sex.” Meanwhile, Dubin claims to have flight records and other evidence proving Giuffre’s claims are false.
Eventually, it turned out that Dubin’s wife, Eva Andersson, former Miss Swede, dated Epstein on and off in the mid-1980s. After their relationship ended, the two remained friends. Eva and Dubin had three children. Eva testified in Maxwell’s federal trial, saying she trusted Epstein with her two young daughters and denying participating in a group sexual encounter with one of the key accusers.
Alan Dershowitz, a former Epstein attorney and retired Harvard University law professor, is mentioned around 100 times in the records. Giuffre had accused Dershowitz of sexually abusing her in Florida, New York, New Mexico, and the US Virgin Islands. It is notable that Dershowitz has denied the accusations levelled against him.
In 2022, withdrew her claim against Dershowitz saying she “may have made a mistake” in identifying him as one of the men she had sex with at Epstein or Maxwell’s request.
There is only one reference to the late theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking in the new records. Hawking’sname appears, misspelt, in an email Epstein sent offering a reward for anyone who could disprove a bogus claim that Hawking had participated in “an underage orgy.” In 2006, Hawking attended one of Epstein’s academic events. The physicist died in 2018.
Notably, Epstein killed himself in 2019 as he awaited trial for sex crimes. As per the reports, the records are one of numerous batches of files in Giuffre’s lawsuit that have been unsealed as a result of the Miami Herald’s relentless campaign to make them public.