More Jeffrey Epstein court documents unsealed
A new set of unsealed documents related to the case of Jeffrey Epstein, the American financier who killed himself in 2019 as he awaited trial for his sex crimes, were released on Friday, Jan. 5 (Manila time).
The Associated Press reported that the 19 documents amounted to over 300 pages. More documents will be released in the coming weeks.
So far, the documents contain names of celebrities, politicians, and businessmen who worked or socialized with Epstein before he was first publicly accused of paying underage girls for sex nearly two decades ago.
The documents also contain the accounts of Epstein’s victims, many of whom were high school students who took payments of $200 (P11,000) to give him illicit massages, AP reported.
They also include technical legal arguments and exhibits to depositions recounting allegations and descriptions of alleged crimes, many or all of which appear to have been previously known through other releases, media interviews, and other avenues, according to CNN International.
A few fresh details included an excerpt from the deposition of a victim, who recalled being in high school when she went to Epstein’s house under the belief that she was hired to give him a massage.
In another deposition from Palm Beach Detective Joseph Recarey, he estimated that he talked to about 30 girls being recruited by Maxwell.
AP noted in its report that those who were named in the unsealed documents don’t necessarily mean they committed wrongdoing, like those in the first batch of unsealed documents. These include former US presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, singer Michael Jackson, and magician David Copperfield.
The unsealing of the documents was part of a lawsuit filed by one victim, Virginia Giuffre, against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former partner who aided him in his crimes.
Maxwell was sentenced in 2022 to 20 years in prison.
Last Dec. 18, a judge overseeing the lawsuit ordered that the identities of people in the hundreds of cases be made public.
Some individuals have objected to the disclosure of their identities in the case.