Jeffrey Epstein 2nd list: More big names tumble out; what we know of the case so far

A New York judge on Wednesday (January 3) made public the second tranche of documents related to the sex trafficking case involving American financier Jeff Epstein and his long-time associate Ghislaine Maxwell. The sleazy revelations in the unsealed documents have made headlines and may snowball into a political storm in the US, particularly in an election year.

The documents, which contain depositions in the case, have revealed big names like former US presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, noted scientist Stephen Hawking, pop star Michael Jackson and magician David Copperfield, who allegedly visited Epstein’s homes as clients to seek a ‘massage’ or ‘sexual gratification’ with teenage school-going girls coaxed into the trade by his associate.

Apart from his victims, the documents carry the testimonies in the case by former Palm Beach police detective Joseph Recarey, Virginia Giuffre, who accused Epstein and Maxwell of forcing her into a sexual encounter with Prince Andrew, King Charles’ younger brother, when she was 17, and Johanna Sjoberg.

According to media reports, the documents being unsealed are part of a 2015 lawsuit filed against Maxwell by one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre. She is one of the dozens of women who sued Epstein saying he had abused them at his homes in Florida, New York, the U.S. Virgin Islands and New Mexico.

Lawsuits against Andrew and Maxwell

Giuffre, now an Australian citizen, is one of the most vocal victims of Epstein who came forward to expose his high-profile clientele, even making an unsubstantiated claim about Clinton. In a 2011 e-mail to journalist Sharon Churcher, she claimed, “When I was doing some research into VF (Vanity Fair) yesterday, it does concern me what they could want to write about me considering that B. Clinton walked into VF and threatened them not to write sex-trafficking [sic] articles about his good friend JE.”

She filed a defamation suit against Maxwell, a British socialite, for claiming that Giuffre lied about Epstein, according to The Guardian, which was settled in 2017.

She also filed a suit against Prince Andrew, in which she claimed Andrew was one of the many powerful men who abused her at Epstein’s behest. Maxwell, in her deposition, had admitted Prince Andrew had visited Epstein’s Island in the US Virgin Islands but she did not corroborate the presence of any girl on the island. Though Prince Andrew denied having indulged in any wrongdoing settled the suit in 2022. He was stripped of all his honorific titles and patronages by the British royal family.

Testimony by Johanna Sjoberg

The documents released also include the testimony of Johanna Sjoberg, who accused Prince Andrew of placing a hand on her breast when he visited Epstein’s home. In her testimony, Sjoberg also recalled Epstein telling her that “Clinton likes them young, referring to girls.” Sjoberg alleged that Maxwell procured her for Epstein to perform sexual acts.

Sjoberg also testified that she met Michael Jackson at Epstein’s Palm Beach house.

Deposition by a detective

According to CNN, one document out of the 19 documents that have been released in public domain is related to a deposition by a Palm Beach detective Joseph Recarey, who was the lead detective in another case against Epstein. The document details the process that Recarey alleged Epstein and Maxwell used to recruit girls “to perform massages and work at Epstein’s home”.

In his deposition, Recarey said about 30 to 33 girls were recruited for the purpose. “When they went to perform a massage, it was for sexual gratification,” he said in his deposition. “Each of the victims that went to the home were asked to bring their friends to the home. Some complied and some didn’t,” Recarey quoted as saying by NBC News.

Another victim had in her 2016 deposition said that she was between 15 and 17 when she was paid to give Epstein massages. “I just was there, and all of a sudden something horrible happened to me… it wasn’t supposed to be sexual, but it was,”she said.

Epstein, who was accused of sex trafficking, killed himself in 2019 in jail before he could stand trial for sex crimes. His partner Maxwell was convicted in December 2021 of sex trafficking and procuring teen girls for Epstein.

The first set of documents related to the scandals was released in 2019.