New batches of unsealed Jeffrey Epstein court documents continue to reveal a number of high-profile individuals whose names appeared multiple times in various materials, including footnotes.
Among them are two former US presidents – Donald Trump and Bill Clinton – and Prince Andrew, all three of whom have been pictured with and known to associate with the disgraced financier in the past.
Other names include lawyer Alan Dershowitz, magician David Copperfield, Michael Jackson and Leonardo DiCaprio.
However, being identified through the court documents does not mean that the individual was involved in or aware of any wrongdoing by Epstein.
This undated trial evidence image obtained on 8 December 2021, from the US District Court for the Southern District of New York shows British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and US financier Jeffrey Epstein— (US District Court for the Southern District of New York)
Ghislaine Maxwell
Unsurprisingly, Epstein’s partner in crime Ghislaine Maxwell is one of the names that features the most, appearing over 1000 times in the first five batches of documents.
The British socialite’s name appears in full hundreds of times, due to the files being part of a 2015 US defamation case by Virginia Giuffre against her, though the name “Maxwell” appears still more, sometimes in reference to legal matters and footnotes.
References to Maxwell were made throughout the documents, with various other witnesses being asked about her involvement with Epstein in their separate testimonies.
Much of the information in the third and fourth tranches of evidence, released on Friday, was taken from Maxwell’s own despositions. They included questions over her interactions with Prince Andrew and Ms Giuffre as well as with former president Bill Clinton and others.
She is currently serving 20 years in prison, having been convicted sex-trafficking underage girls in June 2022.
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson
Prince Andrew has been named more than 100 times accross all sets of documents. The Duke of York was named 67 times with his Royal title in the first batch, though he also appears multiple times as simply “Andrew” in multiple other instances, including Maxwell’s deposition.
Testimony concerning the duke’s alleged conduct is detailed in the documents, much of which he has previously denied.
Evidence from Epstein victim Johanna Sjoberg, claimed the duke touched her breast while sitting on a couch inside the US billionaire’s Manhattan apartment in 2001.
Andrew’s name also cropped up in testimony about his now-notorius alleged visit to Tramp nightclub in London, which became a focal point of his 2019 sit-down television interview with journalist Emily Maitlis.
During the interview the duke claimed he has a “peculiar medical condition” whereby he cannot sweat – in response to Ms Guiffre’s claims he was perspiring in the club.
Andrew has always strongly denied the allegations against him, while Buckingham Palace previously said all accusations made against the duke are “categorically untrue”.
Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, is also named – having reportedly visited Epstein’s New York mansion with her then-husband, Andrew, according to testimony from former Epstein employee Juan Alessi.
Andrew was also mentioned in the latest batches of documents, released on Monday and Tuesday, the latter of which contained deposition from Epstein himself.
The disgraced financier was asked whether he had attempted to blackmail Andrew after his alleged sexual encounter with Ms Giuffre, who claimed she was paid $15,000 to have sex with the duke.
He was asked whether he had told Ms Giuffre that she had to give him “a full report on the details of what men like Prince Andrew did to her so that you would have blackmail material you could use.” Epstein pleaded the fifth amendement to the majority of the questions.
He was also quizzed on what he knew about Andrew’s “sexual preferences”, and on whether Ms Giuffre had “recounted specific behaviour that Prince Andrew requested before sexual intercourse”.
Former US President Bill Clinton arrives prior to a tribute service for former US First Lady Rosalynn Carter, at Glenn Memorial Church in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 28, 2023— (AFP via Getty Images)
Bill Clinton
Clinton’s name was mentioned 83 times in the first two batches of documents, though the number is now well over 100 also. Both he and Andrew are known to have been associated with Epstein previously.
Part of the testimony from Ms Sjoberg alleges that Epstein once told her that Clinton “likes them young” – referring to girls.
In the days leading up to the unsealing, it was reported that Clinton would be referred to more than 50 times in the redacted documents, having been given the pseudonym “John Doe 36,” according to the New York Post.
Many of the references to the former president were reportedly believed to stem from Ms Giuffre’s early attempts to compel him to testify against Epstein and Maxwell.
The second batch included evidence that claimed the former president had ridden in Epstein’s private helicopter with Maxwell and Ms Giuffre and attempted to threaten Vanity Fair into not writing about Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking.
Ms Giuffre claimed that Clinton had “walked into” the magazine’s office and pressured them not to write about “his good friend J.E”, the documents stated.
Shortly before the documents were released Clinton was seen visiting Mexico with his wife, Hillary Clinton, whose name now also appears in the documents.
In the latest batch, released on Monday, Epstein victim Sarah Ransome, also detailed the alleged sexual relationship between an unnamed friend and the former president. She testified that her friend “had to have sexual intercourse with Clinton in Epstein’s New York Mansion just off 5th Avenue on numerous occasions”.
Clinton denies this and any wrongdoing and none of the individuals Ms Ransome made the allegations against have been formally accused or charged with any crime in connection to Epstein.
In the deposition, Ms Ransome testified that her friend later came forward to report what happened to the police in 2008 but said that “nothing was done” and “she was made to feel like a dirty whore and a liar”.
A couple of months later, her friend was allegedly “approached by Special Agents Forces Men sent directly by Hilary (sic) Clinton herself, in order to protect her presidential campaign in 2008”, Ms Ransome testified.
“They heavily intimidated her, ruffled her up (luckily she took photos as evidence) and was then forced to sign a confidentiality agreement which ensures that she can never come forward publicly implicating her husband,” she testified.
Ms Ransome went on to testify that the friend was given a “substantial” payout directly from the Clinton Foundation “to keep her quiet”.
Clinton also appeared during questioning of Epstein, who was asked about their relationship and whether they had taken international trips together.
In her testimony, Maxwell said that “categorically, definitively, absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt, when I was present or any other time that I am aware of, was President Clinton ever on that island,” referring to Epstein’s private island of St Little James.
“I do not believe he went to that island ever ever, that is an absolute fabrication and an absolute flat out lie,” she said.
Donald Trump
Clinton is not the only former commander-in-chief to appear in the documents. Donald Trump was named a handful of times in several batches, the latest of which contain allegations from Ms Ransome.
Ms Ransome testified that her unnamed friend “was one of the many girls that had sexual relations with Donald Trump” – including at Epstein’s New York townhouse.
“She confided in me about her casual ‘friendship’ with Donald. Mr Trump definitely seemed to have a thing for her and she told me how he kept going on about how he liked her ‘pert nipples’,” she testified. She then described in graphic detail how Mr Trump allegedly caused pain to the victim’s nipples – and claimed she saw the resulting injury firsthand.
“I also know she had sexual relations with Trump at Jeffery’s NY mansion on regular occasions as I once met Jen for coffee, just before she was going to meet Trump and Epstein together at his mansion.”
Jeffrey Epstein (left) and Donald Trump (right)— (Getty Images)
A Trump spokeperson told The Independent: “These baseless accusations have been fully retracted because they are simply false and have no merit.”
In part of testimony released in the final batch of documents on Tuesday, Ms Giuffre said in a deposition that she never saw Mr Trump participate in the “sexual abuse of minors.”
Other mention of Mr Trump, while not accusing him of wrongdoing, appeared to illustrate the good relationship he had with Epstein.
In part of testimony from another victim Johanna Sjoberg, it was claimed Epstein once “called up” the former president and visited one of his casinos after his private plane was diverted to Atlantic City in New Jersey.
Ms Sjoberg said that while travelling on the plane with the disgraced financier the pilots had said that they were unable to land in New York as planned.
“Jeffrey said, ‘Great, we’ll call up Trump and we’ll go to -- I don’t recall the name of the casino, but -- we’ll go to the casino’,” the testimony read. Elsewhere, Ms Sjoberg was asked if she ever gave Mr Trump a massage, to which she replied “no”.
Several more mentions of Mr Trump were made in the documents released last Friday, when Mr Alessi testified he had driven Maxwell to the former president’s Mar-A-Lago home.
Mr Alessi also said that Mr Trump would sometimes come round for dinner at Epstein’s home but ate with Mr Alessi in the kitchen. Mr Trump did not get massages at the Palm Beach house because he had “his own spa”, Mr Alessi said.
Richard Branson
The UK billionaire had previously appeared in Maxwell’s notorious “little black book”, details of which emerged during her trial in 2021. This did not accuse him of any wrongdoing.
Mr Branson’s name appeared again in the documents released on Monday, alongside Prince Andrew and Bill Clinton, in Ms Ransome’s testimony. She testified that an unnamed friend “had sexual intercourse with Clinton, Prince Andrew and Richard Branson” on separate occasions.
Ms Ransome testified under oath that these encounters had been filmed by Epstein – and that she herself had later seen the sex tapes. She said that the footage “clearly identify” the faces of the men.
A spokesperson for Mr Branson responded to email claims by citing a 2019 New Yorker article which stated that Ms Ransome had admitted to fabricating the sex tape claims to “draw attention” to Epstein.
A Virgin Group spokeswoman said: “In a New Yorker report published in 2019, Ransome admitted that she had ‘invented’ the tapes.“We can confirm that Sarah Ransome’s claims are baseless and unfounded.”
“We categorically reject all allegations made by Sarah Ransome. In 2016, Ms Ransome retracted her claims and then in 2019 after settling her claims with Epstein and Maxwell, she also admitted to The New Yorker that the ‘tapes’ had been ‘invented’. The allegations are baseless and unfounded,” the statement read.
“The actions of Jeffrey Epstein were abhorrent and we support the right to justice for the many victims impacted by his abuse.”
Les Wexner
The final batch of documents, unsealed on Tuesday, contained claims from Virginia Giuffre that she was trafficked to former Victoria Secret’s CEO Les Wexner.
The allegations emerged in a 2016 deposition by Ms Giuffre and is the first time that Mr Wexner has been accused of having sex with underage girls.
In the documents, Ms Giuffre claimed that she was trafficked to have sex with Mr Wexner between three and ten times during the time that she was recruited by Epstein and Maxwell. Ms Giuffre said that she was instructed by Maxwell to wear lingerie for Mr Wexner - which Maxwell went on to categorically deny in her own deposition.
When asked why she had said in a previous interrogation by police that she didn’t believe Mr Wexner would say the truth, Ms Giuffre said that it was because he had done “things that were wrong.”
“He participated in sex with minors,” Ms Giuffre elaborated.
A spokesperson told Business Insider: “Mr Wexner was unaware of, and was never a participant in, any of the abhorrent behavior engaged in by Epstein against Epstein’s victims, that Mr Wexner had never met Ms Guiffre, and that any claims to the contrary were not true.”
The Independent has also reached out to L Brands group for comment.
David Copperfield
US magician David Copperfield was named six times in the first set of documents, having also reportedly had dined with Epstein on occasion.
File: Magician David Copperfield attends the 2018 Footwear News Achievement Awards at IAC Headquarters on December 4, 2018 in New York City— (Getty Images)
Part of one exhibit read: “David Copperfield was at a dinner at Epstein’s and there was another girl present who looked young and Johanna [Sjoberg] asked what school she went to and Johanna did not recognize the school name as being a college and she said it was possible it was a high school aged girl.
“Johanna said Copperfield ‘questioned me if I was aware that girls were getting paid to find other girls’.”
Copperfield’s relationship with Epstein has previously been noted, including in a 2019 article from The New York Times, which described Maxwell’s role in acquiring young girls for the disgraced financier.
Hollywood stars
Other big Hollywood names have also appeared throughout different tranches of the documents, though mostly just once or twice during Ms Sjoberg’s testimony.
She is asked about meeting guests at Epstein’s residence, including Star Wars creator George Lucas – who is mentioned once – and actor Kevin Spacey, who is mentioned twice. Ms Sjoberg says she does not remember meeting either man.
She also does not remember meeting British supermodel Naomi Campbell, who is named once in the documents. Other big indsutry names included Cate Blanchett, Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz.
Diaz’s representative told The Independent: “Cameron never met Jeffrey Epstein, nor was she ever in the same place as him or had any association with him whatsoever, regardless of the fact he may or may not have mentioned her name or implied that he knew her.”
Reps for DiCaprio and Blanchett also denied any involvement with the paedophile.
Late King of Pop Michael Jackson is also named twice, after Ms Sjolberg is asked if she met “anybody famous” while with Epstein. She said she did meet Jackson.
On Friday, Spacey was mentioned again as well as comedian Chris Tucker – both of whom were alleged to have been potential passengers during a ride on Epstein’s private jet.
In the final batch of documents other famous names appeared including super-model Heidi Klum and Bianca Jagger, wife of The Rolling Stones frontman, Sir Mick Jagger.
Alleged Epstein victim Sarah Ransome claimed in a 2016 deposition that she had contacted human rights activist Ms Jagger for help.
Alan Dershowitz
Epstein’s lawyer Alan Dershowitz is also named hundreds times, though in some places this is simply in footnotes referring to legal matters.
However in other material it is claimed that the former Harvard Law School professor was one of several “powerful individuals” that Epstein made young women have sexual relations with “on numerous occasions”.
Ms Sjoberg is also asked about having sexual relations with Mr Dershowitz specifically, in the back of a limousine, during her testimony. She denies this happened.
Mr Dershowitz was previously accused by Ms Guiffre of sexual abuse, claiming that she was trafficked by Epstein to him for sex. Mr Dershowitz has vehemently denied all claims.
Prior to the unsealing of the documents, he said that he wanted every last document and “piece of paper” relating to Epstein to be publicly released – asserting that it will prove that he “did nothing wrong”.
Sharon Churcher
British journalist Sharon Churcher made over 300 appearances in the second tranche of documents, released on Thursday – her first appearance in the documents.
Ms Churcher was the sole source of regarding the original Epstein story from Giuffre, according to the response filing. Maxwell also claimed she helped Virginia Giuffre “concoct” sexual assault allegations against the Duke of York.
In one document from 2016 Maxwell’s lawyers made submissions that Ms Churcher should be compelled to give evidence as part of the case.
“She was actively and personally involved in changing those stories over time and in the creation and addition of new salacious details about public figures, including the fabrication of Alan Dershowitz’s alleged sexual relations with Plaintiff,” the document said.
References to Ms Churcher were made in later batches, during parts of Ms Guiffre’s deposition.
