(NewsNation) — Several “prominent” names are expected to be mentioned in court documents about Jeffrey Epstein when they are made public later this week, according to a new report by ABC News.
A judge ruled that the names can be unsealed beginning Jan.1. However, court is closed on that date because of New Year’s.
One of these names in the redacted filings is that of former President Bill Clinton, ABC wrote. Clinton, identified as “Doe 36”, is mentioned in at least 50 filings, the news outlet said.
These documents come from a settled civil lawsuit Virginia Giuffre filed against British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell in 2015.
Giuffre claimed that Epstein and Maxwell had pressured her, as a teenager, into sexual trysts with other powerful men, including Prince Andrew. All of those men denied the allegations and Giuffre later settled a lawsuit against Andrew out of court.
Clinton and Epstein
Several of the redacted documents, ABC writes, focus on efforts to subpoena Clinton for deposition testimony about his relationship with Epstein.
ABC said Giuffre’s legal team “initiated” informal discussions with attorneys for the witnesses in June 2016, just days after Clinton’s wife, Hillary, became the Democratic nominee for president.
ABC wrote that Giuffre made no allegations of wrongdoing by Clinton, and sealed records do not indicate any illegal conduct by the former president. However, Giuffre did claim she met Clinton on Epstein’s private Caribbean island, though his representatives said he has never been there. Personal flight logs show Clinton and others flew on Epstein’s plane to Paris, Bangkok and Brunei in 2002 and 2003, ABC said, but no available records have him going to Epstein’s island.
Representatives for Clinton have previously stated he “cut off contact” with Epstein in 2005, the ABC article noted, and repeatedly said he knew nothing about the disgraced financier’s crimes.
Epstein Documents
A federal judge last month ordered that documents that name dozens of people associated with Epstein be unsealed, as part of the civil lawsuit against Maxwell.
District Judge Loretta Preska said she made her decision to unseal the documents as many of the people named in them have already given media interviews or have already had their names listed in other public court documents about the case.
Prosecutors said Maxwell helped Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls for decades. Maxwell in 2022 was sentenced to 20 years in prison on sex trafficking charges.
Most of the people named in the documents are those who are “already associated in some way” with Epstein. Some are for allegations of wrongdoing, ABC said, while others worked with Epstein, flew on his planes, or visited his homes.
Epstein, in August 2019, took his own life while in federal custody as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.
Who else is named in documents?
More than 150 names associated with the lawsuit, initially identified as “John or Jane Does” are expected to be released, though anyone set to be mentioned has an opportunity to appeal.
Many records related to Giuffre’s lawsuit have already been unsealed. These include “sworn but unproven” allegations that Epstein and Maxwell told Giuffre to have sex with men including former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, the late model scout Jean Luc Brunel and billionaire hedge fund manager Glenn Dubin, ABC wrote. All the men named denied the allegations when they first came out.
Investigative reporter Vicky Ward told NewsNation that regardless of who is named in the documents, it could provide information about Epstein’s “ecosystem.”
“The other women who worked for him, who sadly ended up grooming yet more women, housekeepers, butlers, the whole ecosystem that we know he was so effective in manipulating,” Ward said. “I think there are people who are going to be embarrassed.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
