Jeffrey Epstein's list exposes Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, Michael Jackson, and more

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Hindustan Times
04 January, 2024, 08:35 am
Last modified: 04 January, 2024, 09:00 am
Unsealed court documents from Virginia Giuffre's lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell shed light on Jeffrey Epstein's associates

On Wednesday, a 950-page court document revealing the names of some of Jeffrey Epstein's associates was made public. The documents were part of a lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's victims, against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend and accomplice.

Maxwell was found guilty of sex trafficking and related charges in December 2021 for luring underage girls for Epstein, a wealthy financier and convicted sex offender.

The court documents included excerpts of depositions and motions from Giuffre's case against Maxwell, which was settled in 2017. Giuffre had accused Maxwell of defaming her by calling her a liar. Giuffre had also alleged that Maxwell and Epstein coerced her into having sex with Prince Andrew of Britain when she was 17 years old.

Among the names that were unsealed in the court documents were some eminent faces, such as former US president Bill Clinton, pop star Michael Jackson, Prince Andrew and illusionist David Copperfield. These names had previously been redacted as J Doe variants in the court papers.

'There were no girls on the island at all': Maxwell

One of the documents contained a deposition from Maxwell, in which she seemed to confirm that Prince Andrew had visited Epstein's private island in the US Virgin Islands, where Epstein had allegedly abused many girls.

"Were you present on the island when Prince Andrew visited?" Maxwell was asked.

She answered yes and, when asked how many times, she said, "I can only remember once." When asked if there were any girls on the island at that time, Maxwell claimed, "There were no girls on the island at all. No girls, no women, other than the staff who work at the house."

Another document featured a deposition from Johanna Sjoberg, who said that Maxwell had recruited her to perform sexual acts on Epstein.

Sjoberg said in her deposition that Epstein "said one time that Clinton likes them young, referring to girls."

Sjoberg also said that she had met Michael Jackson and David Copperfield at Epstein's mansion in Palm Beach.

"Did you ever meet anybody famous when you were with Jeffrey?" she was asked. "I met Michael Jackson … at [Epstein's] house in Palm Beach."

Asked whether she massaged Jackson, Sjoberg denied back, "I did not."

'Girls were getting paid to find other girls.'

As for Copperfield, Sjoberg said that he had dinner at one of Epstein's homes and "he did some magic tricks."

"Did you observe David Copperfield to be a friend of Jeffrey Epstein's?" she was asked. Sjoberg replied yes.

"Did Copperfield ever discuss Jeffrey's involvement with young girls with you?" she was also asked.

"He questioned me if I was aware that girls were getting paid to find other girls."

Copperfield, she said in the deposition, did not give her any details of that question.

"Did he say whether they were teenagers or 20 anything along those lines?" she was also asked.

"He did not."

In 2021, Giuffre sued Prince Andrew over the alleged sexual abuse. The suit was settled in early 2022. Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing. As part of the settlement, he agreed to donate to Giuffre's charity for victims' rights.

The release of the documents is one of several batches of filings in Giuffre's civil case that were unsealed after the Miami Herald's persistent campaign to make them public.

 
 
 

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