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A federal judge will unseal hundreds of court documents from a lawsuit related to deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Wednesday.
The big picture: Those documents include over 150 names deriving from a civil lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced last year to 20 years in prison on sex trafficking and other charges for helping Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls.
Catch up quick: Last month, U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska ordered most of the material within 187 entries listed under the pseudonym “J. Doe” be released after Jan. 1. in regard to the suit.
- In part of that lawsuit, Virginia Giuffre accused Maxwell of facilitating her sexual abuse. The case was settled in 2017, though the terms were not made public at the time.
- Preska also noted that anyone who may be named in the documents could file an appeal prior to the documents’ release.
Here’s a breakdown of what the imminent unsealing of the documents could soon reveal:
Who’s expected to appear in the documents?
- Some of the names, a handful of which Preska has ordered remain sealed, will include alleged co-conspirators, alleged perpetrators and alleged victims and witnesses, per ABC.
- The names of Epstein’s former employees will also be included.
- Prince Andrew: Giuffre alleged in a separate suit that Epstein arranged for Prince Andrew to sexually abuse and rape her when she was 17. Prince Andrew settled the lawsuit in 2022 but did not admit to wrongdoing in the settlement.
- Former President Clinton: He’s been mentioned in over 50 of the redacted filings, according to ABC, though the records do not indicate any evidence of illegality on Clinton’s part, and his representatives said they did not object to the unsealing.
- Clinton, who traveled with Epstein to multiple continents in the early 2000s, had praised Epstein as a “highly successful financier” and “committed philanthropist,” per ABC.
In response to Axios’ request for comment, Angel Ureña, a spokesperson for Clinton, pointed to a 2019 statement issued shortly after Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges.
- Ureña had said that “President Clinton 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.”
- Ureña added that Clinton had “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.”
Of note: Some of the 187 “J. Doe” entries are tied to the same person, and some entries include people who are now dead.
- The court issued an order on Wednesday, before unsealing the list of names, extending the anonymity of two Does.
Who are Epstein and Maxwell?
- Epstein was a disgraced financier, millionaire and a convicted sex offender.
- He died inside his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York in August 2019. Investigators ruled his death a suicide.
Epstein died while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. He was accused of sex trafficking female minors, witness tampering and paying underage girls to engage in sexual acts.
- In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to prostitution charges in Florida state court as part of a controversial deal that granted him immunity from federal prosecution.
Maxwell, once a British socialite, had been a close associate of Epstein.
- A federal jury in December 2021 found Maxwell guilty of five counts, including sex trafficking of minors, and recruiting and grooming teenagers for Epstein between 1999 and 2007.
- The 62-year-old is currently serving her 20-year sentence at a federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida.
Go deeper: JPMorgan agrees to pay $75 million in settlement over Epstein ties
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional developments.
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