(NewsNation) — A federal judge has ordered the release of more than 150 names mentioned in court documents related to Jeffrey Epstein. What names might be made public?
Investigative reporter Vicky Ward, who has been covering the Epstein story for years, is “skeptical” there will be “huge” names not already known.
“Virginia Giuffre already made accusations against very prominent names back in 2014, and that was, in fact, the genesis of this lawsuit that now bits are being unredacted,” Ward said Thursday during “Elizabeth Vargas Reports.”
The disclosure comes as part of a lawsuit brought by accuser Virginia Giuffre against Epstein’s convicted madam, Ghislaine Maxwell. Giuffre says she was an underaged sex slave to Epstein and that Maxwell helped traffic her to men like the United Kingdom’s Prince Andrew.
Maxwell was sentenced last year to 20 years in prison on sex trafficking charges. Prosecutors at her criminal trial alleged she helped Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls for decades.
In ordering the release of some of the names, District Judge Loretta Preska notes many of the people have already given media interviews or had their names listed in other public court documents pertaining to Epstein. In other instances, Preska writes that individuals did not object to the unsealing or the currently sealed material “is not salacious.”
Other names were ordered to remain redacted because they would identify minors who were victims of sex crimes.
While the document release may not reveal many big names, Ward said 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 people whose names are to be disclosed, including sex abuse victims, litigation witnesses, Epstein’s employees — and even some people with only a passing connection to the scandal — have until Jan. 1 to appeal the order.
“I’ve been told there is one prominent academic who is going to be embarrassed, and I know from my own reporting that there are names that are not household names, but who were caught up in this scheme who are not gonna want having their names out there, and this is sort of the day of reckoning,” Ward said.
The allegations against Epstein first surfaced publicly in 2005. He pleaded guilty to sex charges in Florida and served 13 months in jail, much of it in a work-release program as part of a deal criticized as lenient. Afterward, he was required to register as a sex offender.
Federal prosecutors in New York revived the case against Epstein after stories by the Miami Herald in 2018 brought new attention to his crimes. He was arrested in 2019 but killed himself a month later.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.