Newly unsealed court documents reveal more unsettling details about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, including the identities of prominent men who were involved in the alleged sex-trafficking ring.
The Miami Herald reports the cache of documents include the 2016 deposition of Virginia Giuffre, who has accused Epstein and his alleged madam, Ghislaine Maxwell, of trafficking her to high-profile men. The deposition was part of a federal defamation lawsuit Giuffre had filed against Maxwell in 2015. The suit was ultimately settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, and the case documents remained hidden from the public—that is, until this Friday, when a New York appeals court unsealed 2,000 documents related to the defamation lawsuit.
In her deposition, Giuffre claimed the wealthy financier and Maxwell ordered her to have sex with former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, former Senator George Mitchell, Hyatt hotels executive chairman Tom Pritzker, the late MIT professor Marvin Minsky, and fund manager Glenn Dubin, among others.
The Herald points out that none of the accused men—with the exception of Epstein—have been charged for their alleged involvement in the sex-trafficking ring. A number of those who were named in the unsealed documents have denied the allegations.
"I have never met, spoken with or had any contact with Ms. Giuffre," Mitchell told the Portland Press Herald. "In my contacts with Mr. Epstein I never observed or suspected any inappropriate conduct with underage girls. I only learned of his actions when they were reported in the media related to his prosecution in Florida. We have had no further contact."
A spokesman for Richardson issued the following statement: "These allegations and inferences are completely false...To be clear, in Governor Richardson’s limited interactions with Mr. Epstein, he never saw him in the presence of young or underage girls."
In her sworn testimony, Giuffre also claimed to have met Donald Trump and former president Bill Clinton through Epstein; however, she denied having any sexual contact with the men.
Per the Herald:
She said in a 2016 deposition she met Trump through her father, who worked as a maintenance man at Trump’s Palm Beach home, Mar-a-lago, and that to her knowledge, neither Trump nor Clinton had any intimate contact with “us’’ — referring to girls Epstein kept as sex slaves.
"We know both Trump and Clinton were associated with Epstein at various times in various ways," Giuffre’s attorney, David Boies, said, "but in terms of what we have, there’s no indication that any of three of them did anything improper."
Epstein was arrested last month for the alleged sex trafficking of dozens of minors in New York and Florida between 2002 and 2005. The 66-year-old has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is being held in jail without bond because he's considered a flight risk.
"The charges are very serious, and they carry a maximum of 45 years in jail, which to someone of Epstein's age is basically a life sentence," said Jeoffrey Berman, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. "We think he has every incentive to try and flee the jurisdiction. And when you have two planes and you live much of the year abroad, you know, we think that's a very real risk."
