Names mentioned in Epstein's as yet unsealed documents US News

A US court has released about 40 of 250 previously sealed documents related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

After Judge Loretta Preska ruled that the seal could be opened in December without any objections being filed, the first set of court papers was released. Published on January 3.

It consists largely of legal arguments and interviews conducted for Virginia Giuffre's 2015 civil lawsuit against Epstein's former mistress Ghislaine Maxwell, who was… He was sentenced to 20 years in prison To recruit girls and woo them.

Epstein offered reward to disprove orgy allegation – follow the latest

Ms. Jeffrey has been the most vocal of Epstein's accusers Sexual assault lawsuit against Prince Andrew settled For $12 million (£9.5 million) in 2022. The Duke of York, who has retreated from public life and was And stripped of his titles Because of his association with Epstein, he vehemently denies Ms. Jeffrey's allegations.

One of the files released this week is evidence from a woman named Joanna Sjoberg, one of Epstein's alleged victims.

The book contains references to celebrities, politicians and philanthropists, many of whom have not been accused of wrongdoing but are believed to have known or been associated with the late pedophile. Epstein was first arrested in 2005, then found dead in his New York prison cell awaiting trial on other sex trafficking charges.

Here we take a look at some of the most popular names in the newly released docs.

Michael Jackson

Ms. Sjoberg was asked in evidence: “Did you meet anyone famous when you were with Jeffrey?”

“I met Michael Jackson,” she replies, adding that he was “at Jeffrey’s house in Palm Beach.”

But when asked if she “massaged him” as she claimed she was forced to do with Epstein and others, she replied: “I did not.”

Donald Trump

The former US president was filmed socializing with Epstein and Maxwell, and they are believed to have been friends.

When asked in her testimony whether she gave him massages at the request of Epstein or Maxwell, she said no.

She later said that on one occasion she was on a plane with the couple and Virginia Giuffre, who was told she could not land as expected in New York. Instead, it was diverted to Atlantic City, where Trump had a casino.

“Jeffrey said, ‘Great, we'll call Trump and we'll go to — I don't remember the name of the casino, but — we'll go to the casino,’” Ms. Sjoberg says.

Bill Clinton

A Clinton spokesman said in 2019 that he “knew nothing about Epstein's horrific crimes” and cut off all contact with him after his first arrest in 2005.

Ms. Sjoberg was asked: “Do you know if Bill Clinton was friends with Jeffrey Epstein?”

“I didn't know they were friends until I read the Vanity Fair article about them going to Africa together,” she answers.

Epstein flew many well-known philanthropists and politicians around the world on his private plane to visit the sites of various international development projects.

When asked if Epstein “talked to her about Clinton,” she responded: “He once said that Clinton liked them at a young age, referring to girls.”

Stephen Hawking

In addition to Ms. Sjoberg's evidence, an email from Epstein to Maxwell was included in the unsealed files shortly after Ms. Giuffre filed the 2015 lawsuit.

In it, Epstein says Maxwell should “issue a bounty” to any of Ms. Jeffrey's associates who can prove that any of the allegations in the lawsuit are false.

“You may issue a reward to any of Virginia’s friends, acquaintances and family who come forward and help prove that her claims are false,” the letter read.

“The most powerful is the Clinton dinner, and the new version in the Virgin Islands in which Stephen Hawking engaged in an underage orgy.”

The late physicist Stephen Hawking was photographed on Epstein's island in the Caribbean Sea in March 2006, as part of a trip to a scientific conference on the neighboring island of St. Thomas.

The conference was paid for by Epstein and saw 20 other scientists attend. There is no accusation of any wrongdoing by Mr Hawking.

Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett and Bruce Willis

Ms. Sjoberg was asked about “a newspaper report that said you met Cate Blanchett or Leonardo DiCaprio” in her testimony.

She says she never met either of them, but “when I was giving him a massage [Epstein]He was on the phone a lot of the time, and one time he said, 'Oh, that was Leonardo,' or 'That was Cate Blanchett, or Bruce Willis.' That kind of thing.”

The interviewer explains: “So dropping the name?”, and she answers: “Yes.”

Cameron Diaz

Other Hollywood stars she was asked about included actor Cameron Diaz.

But like the others, when asked if she met her through Epstein, she said: “No.”

Prince Andrew

Ms Sjoberg's evidence says Prince Andrew groped her breasts while on the sofa at Epstein's New York mansion in 2001 while he, Maxwell and Ms Giuffre were there. The Duke of York and Buckingham Palace strongly deny this.

It says Maxwell brought out a puppet – believed to be the Duke puppet used in the BBC satirical show Spitting Image.

“He looked like him,” the evidence said [Maxwell] So he took it down and presented it to him. Which was a great joke, because apparently it was a production of a BBC programme.

“They decided to take a picture with her, as Virginia and Andrew sat on the sofa.

“They put the doll on Virginia's lap, and she sat on Andrew's lap, and they put the doll's hand on Virginia's chest, and Andrew put his hand on my breast, and they took a picture.”

David Copperfield

Ms Sjoberg claims that prankster David Copperfield was a friend of Epstein and that she met him once.

“Someone called me from home and said he would be there and if I wanted to come to dinner I could meet him,” she testified.

When she arrived, he wasn't there, but there was a girl called Sarah Killeen, with another girl she didn't know but who “looked young.”

I asked her what “school” she went to, but she didn't recognize its name, she says. So I assumed “she might be younger than 25 college age”.

Read more:
Who is in the Epstein scandal?
The Epstein documents – what you need to know

But she then agreed with the interviewer that “school” could have meant high school rather than university, meaning she might have been younger.

When asked what Copperfield did during dinner, she only said: “Some magic tricks.”

Asked if Copperfield “discussed Jeffrey's relationship with young girls with you,” she said: “He asked me if I was aware of girls being paid to find other girls.”

But she adds that he did not go into further details.

Ehud Barak

Ms. Sjoberg was asked whether she had met former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

She said she had not, adding that she had never met “any foreign president” or “Nobel laureate.”

Bill Richardson

She was also asked about the Democratic governor of the US state of New Mexico at the time.

“I want to say he was supposed to come to dinner when we were in New Mexico. I don't know if I met him,” she says.

“I think he and Ghislaine had dinner separately from me,” she adds.