A list of names from politics, arts, Hollywood and business that could reveal the associates of Jeffrey Epsteinthe notorious sex trafficker who died by suicide in jail in 2019, is expected to be made public soon.
The list is part of hundreds of court documents that were sealed for years. They relate to a defamation case filed by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s victims, against his former girlfriend and partner in crime, Ghislaine Maxwell.
The documents may contain the names of influential people, such as Prince Andrew and former U.S. President Bill Clintonwho had ties to Epstein and Maxwell.
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What is this Epstein list?
The list is a collection of more than 150 names that appear in the court documents. They could shed light on who continued to socialize with Epstein and Maxwell after Epstein was convicted in 2008 in Florida of soliciting sex from a minor.
The documents were kept secret until a U.S. District Judge, Loretta Preska, ordered them to be unsealed after Jan. 1. They could be released anytime in the next few days or weeks.
Epstein and Maxwell were connected to many powerful and wealthy people, such as Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers.
A Gates spokesman told the Wall Street Journal that Gates only met Epstein “for philanthropic purposes, which he regrets.” Summers said through a spokesman that he “deeply regrets” having any contact with Epstein.
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Names have emerged over the years
Epstein was also acquainted with Donald Trump before he became president; there is no evidence that Trump’s name is in the documents.
Clinton and Trump were among the passengers on Epstein’s private jet, according to Epstein’s former pilot, Larry Visoski, who testified in 2021. Other notable people who flew with Epstein were Prince Andrew, violinist Itzhak Perlman, former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, the late Ohio Sen. John Glenn and actor Kevin Spaceyhe said.
‘Transparency is always a good thing’
Political analyst Charlotte Clymer said the list would only be a cause for concern “if our nation’s leaders and political media attempt to downplay the Epstein list and cover up any crimes against innocents.” Clymer, a Democrat, added, “When it comes to matters of sexual abuse and human trafficking, transparency is always a good thing.”
Giuffre alleged that Epstein and Maxwell forced her to have sex with powerful men, including Prince Andrew, when she was a teenager. She settled her lawsuit with Andrew, who denied her claims. She also accused eminent lawyer Alan Dershowitz, but withdrew her allegations in late 2022. Epstein hanged himself while awaiting trial at a federal prison in New York.
Maxwell, a former socialite who became a convicted sex trafficker, is serving a 20-year sentence for helping Epstein abuse underage girls.
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Giuffre did not make any accusations against Clinton
The plaintiff said in her lawsuit that she met Clinton on Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean, but Clinton denied ever going there.
Clinton has not been accused of any illegal activity yet.
Clinton’s office issued a statement in 2019, saying the former president “knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he has been recently charged in New York.”
The statement also said that Clinton flew on Epstein’s plane, but he has “not spoken to Epstein in well over a decade.”
