A federal judge has ruled that many names linked to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein will be made public in the future.
The identities of 156 people, including associates of Mr. Epstein, will be disclosed in previously redacted documents, U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska ruled on Dec. 18.
The ruling came in a case brought against Mr. Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who in 2022 was convicted of sex trafficking and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Judge Preska, appointed under President George H. W. Bush, had given parties mentioned in depositions and other documents time to raise objections to the unsealing of their names but most of the parties did not raise any objections, according to the new order.
The people who will be named include affiliates of Mr. Epstein, alleged victims of the late financier, and some of his former employees, according to court filings. They also include multiple journalists and witnesses.
Some of the individuals have salacious allegations against them, Judge Preska said, but they either did not identify any interests that outweigh the presumption of access, asked the court to unseal the materials, or did not speak to the court at all.
A number of the people have spoken to the media, including Cathy and Miles Alexander, who told the Daily Mail in 2011 that they managed Mr. Epstein’s island in the Caribbean for eight years. Others, though, have never been identified as being associated with Mr. Epstein, according to the order.
Several people are deceased. Their details will be made public if the new order goes through.
Judge Preska stayed her own order for 14 days to give the affected parties time to lodge appeals.
Judge Preska also ruled that the names of 10 people will remain sealed because they have important privacy interests.
Some in that group, for instance, are alleged to have suffered sexual abuse when they were minors and have not spoken out publicly about what they went through. Another was described as a “classic outsider, peripheral to the events at issue.”
The case was brought by Virginia Giuffre, who has said she was abused by Mr. Epstein and some of his associates. She has produced a picture showing her posing with Ms. Maxwell and Prince Andrew, who was regularly seen with Mr. Epstein before his death.
Both Ms. Giuffre and Ms. Maxwell weighed in on each name earlier this year, offering reasons why they should or should not be unsealed.
In one instance, Ms. Maxwell’s lawyers said an alleged perpetrator had died and “therefore will not have ‘a fair opportunity’ to respond to any unsealed accusations which apparently was never adjudicated publicly.”
The parties also diverged on descriptions of some of the people. In one case, Ms. Giuffre’s team described a person as an alleged victim, but Ms. Maxwell’s representatives said there was no basis for that description.
Mr. Epstein died in federal prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. A medical examiner in New York City ruled the death a suicide.
Some other names have already been made public through the case, including Thomas Pritzker, the billionaire executive chairman of Hyatt Hotels and brother of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Bust most were already known to have links to Mr. Epstein, such as Les Wexner, the billionaire for whom Mr. Epstein worked.
In previously unsealed documents in the case brought by Ms. Roberts, Sarah Ransome, an alleged victim of Mr. Epstein, said the financier would lend out girls “to his friends and associates to have sex.”
Ms. Ransome answered in the negative after being asked if she was ever “lent out” to Mr. Pritzker. Ms. Ransome also said that Mr. Epstein filmed people having sex.
Many other names mentioned during that and other depositions were redacted. Some would be unsealed under the new order.
New Pictures
Mr. Epstein had connections across the world with major officials and others, including former Barclays CEO James Edward Staley and former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is a 2024 presidential candidate, disclosed recently that he flew several times on Mr. Epstein’s private plane. He also said he’s taken part in a fossil hunting expedition in South Dakota with Mr. Epstein.
A picture published this month by the Daily Mail showed Mr. Kennedy in 1994 sitting at the same table as Mr. Epstein during a fundraiser for the New York Academy of Art.
Mr. Kennedy’s campaign did not return an inquiry.
Another newly published photograph was said to show Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, posing with one of Mr. Epstein’s alleged victims.
Mr. Gates has said he met multiple times with Mr. Epstein but was not aware of any wrongdoing.
The Gates Foundation did not respond to a request for comment.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the picture in 2014 was taken in Mr. Gates’s office and that the girl was a Polish model. She told the paper that Mr. Epstein gave her money and sexually assaulted her, and that she later distanced herself from him.
From The Epoch Times
