Bill Clinton, Mar-a-Lago, Prince Andrew appear in latest Jeffrey Epstein 'list' release
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A new trove of unsealed documents was released Thursday from a lawsuit tied to disgraced financier and alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
The documents mention prominent people including former President Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew, and include a reference to sometime around 2000, when the plaintiff in the case, Virginia Giuffre, said she first met Epstein's former girlfriend and convicted accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, while working at former President Donald Trump's private Mar-a-Lago Club.
The wealthy Epstein was linked to celebrities, politicians, and billionaires. He died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
Giuffre has claimed she was trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell to various men including Prince Andrew, who settled a lawsuit with her in 2022, although he didn't admit wrongdoing.
Some of the prominent figures named in the documents may have had nothing to do with Epstein, but were listed as possible witnesses in Giuffre's lawsuit against Maxwell, and in Maxwell's defense.
The papers include a reference to former FBI Director Louis Freeh. Attorneys for Maxwell named Freeh as a potential witness because he "may have knowledge concerning travel of Bill Clinton" in their efforts to discredit a claim by Giuffre that she had seen Clinton on Epstein's private island.
Epstein victim walks back claim of Clinton island visit
A release of documents Wednesday from a defamation lawsuit brought by Giuffre against Maxwell named Clinton and Trump, but didn't contain allegations of illegal activity against either former president. They did contain some details about Epstein's behavior, including comments he allegedly made about Clinton, Trump, and others.
One victim described Epstein saying "we'll call up Trump" and then visiting a Trump casino after a surprise plane landing in Atlantic City. She said Epstein had once told her, "Clinton likes them young," which she interpreted as referring to girls.
A 2011 Daily Mail article reported that Giuffre claimed Maxwell had flown Clinton to Epstein's island in a helicopter, and that during that trip Giuffre dined with the two of them, Epstein, and others. But Giuffre appeared to walk back that story in a 2016 deposition included in the documents.
"Ghislaine told me that she flew Bill Clinton in. And Ghislaine likes to talk a lot of stuff that sounds fantastical," Giuffre said, according to the transcript. "And whether it's true or not," Giuffre said during the deposition, she had told the reporter that "Ghislaine flew Bill Clinton onto the island, based upon what Ghislaine had told me."
Giuffre's claim that Clinton visited Epstein's island was a key point in Maxwell's efforts to discredit her, and contributed to Clinton's frequent appearance in the documents.
More: Clinton and Trump are named in Jeffrey Epstein documents; no wrongdoing alleged
Clinton and Trump disavowed Epstein after his 2019 sex trafficking arrest
"He's not spoken to Epstein in well over a decade, and has never been to Little St. James Island, Epstein's ranch in New Mexico, or his residence in Florida," a Clinton spokesman said in 2019, denying he knew anything about Epstein's illicit activities.
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung told Newsweek that any claim that Trump had an improper relationship with Epstein has been "thoroughly debunked." In 2019, Trump said he had long since broken with Epstein. "I wasn't a fan," he told reporters.
Conspiracy theories have swirled around Epstein for years – especially after Epstein's suicide. Trump and Clinton partisans quickly spread rumors that the other was responsible for Epstein's death in order to silence him. Speculation about Epstein's "client list" rises with every release of documents from a lawsuit filed years ago – which happened again this week.
More: Jeffrey Epstein document release highlights his sprawling connections across states
Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in sexually exploiting and abusing minor girls with Epstein over a decade. She was found guilty in late 2021 after a month-long jury trial.
Epstein served 13 months in a Florida jail for soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution. The 2008 conviction was part of a much-criticized plea deal that ended a federal investigation in which he faced a potential life sentence.
More 'Epstein list' documents to come?
U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska issued an order in December for more documents to be unsealed, but provided two weeks for any appeals of that ruling. Shortly before the first batch was released Wednesday, she said two individuals identified as "Doe 107" and "Doe 110" had asked that their names remain sealed; they should remain protected until Preska rules on the requests.
On Thursday, the Miami Herald asked the court to partly unseal yet another record, which it said names everyone who isn't a party in the case but who is listed in at least one of the originally-sealed documents.
The paper, which has fought for years to get more documents released, said that particular record would help to clarify how figures assigned "Doe" pseudonyms match up with named individuals in the newly-unsealed papers.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: More details in latest 'Epstein list' document trove
