When legal documents related to the case of convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein were made public on Wednesday night, it caused an online frenzy that crashed the court website hosting the files in minutes.
More than 900 pages of papers were unsealed late in the day, identifying numerous Epstein associates and public figures as mentioned in proceedings of the case Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre filed against Ghislaine Maxwell in 2015.
Maxwell, the US-based British socialite and media heir, was convicted in New York in December 2021 of sex trafficking and similar charges for procuring teen girls for Epstein. In December 2023, a judge announced the documents would be unsealed in January 2024, sparking intrigue for followers of the case – many of whom expected the release would include a list of Epstein’s clients and co-conspirators.
However, the truth is less scandalous, as the majority of those whose names appear in the documents released on Wednesday are not accused of wrongdoing and have been mentioned previously in legal proceedings or news accounts.
Prior to the unsealing, the names were listed in court papers as variants of J Doe, a legal device to protect identities. Some of the high-profile names in the court documents include Prince Andrew, former US president Bill Clinton, pop star Michael Jackson and magician David Copperfield.
The document release fueled an online hubbub, causing a link to the highly anticipated list to immediately crash and setting further conspiracy theories in motion, including that the documents were purposefully knocked offline. This came after misinformation surrounding the list has been roiling for weeks, including baseless claims that US late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel’s name might appear in the documents, spurred by a crack New York Jets football quarterback Aaron Rodgers made on Tuesday on ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show.
Far from providing a concrete client list, the records instead include many of Epstein’s accusers, members of his staff who told their stories to tabloid newspapers and people who served as witnesses at Maxwell’s trial. They also include people who were mentioned in passing during depositions but aren’t accused of anything salacious, and people who investigated Epstein, including prosecutors, a journalist and a detective.
Wednesday’s release marks the first set of documents related to the case to become unsealed, and more are anticipated to be revealed in coming days.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
