By Irmak Akcan
ANKARA (AA) – The unsealed court documents in Jeffrey Epstein's case, involving allegations of sex trafficking of minors, and pedophilia, reveal names like former US presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, Prince Andrew, and other celebrities.
The case files publicly disclosed by US Judge Loretta Preska include the names of globally renowned figures, according to BBC.
In the files, Prince Andrew, former US presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, former US Vice President Al Gore, actor Kevin Spacey, singer Michael Jackson, magician David Copperfield, lawyer Alan Dershowitz, and former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson are mentioned.
The files also reveal Johanna Sjoberg's testimony, in which she claims that she was harassed by Prince Andrew at Epstein's Manhattan apartment in 2001. Prince Andrew denies the harassment allegation.
While Judge Preska decided to keep the names of sexual harassment victims confidential for security reasons, the inclusion of Clinton and Trump in the files did not lead to any charges against the former presidents.
According to the documents, Sjoberg accused Bill Clinton of having an interest in "likes them young, referring to girls," and communicated with Trump before going to Epstein's locations in New Jersey.
Sjoberg mentioned meeting celebrities like Michael Jackson and David Copperfield through Epstein.
The files also include a claim that Epstein's victim, Virginia Giuffre, was forced into a relationship with former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
Epstein's security guard Alfredo Rodriguez had to carry cash with him "all times to give to high school girls, and the girls who were helping recruit for Epstein," the documents said.
Representatives for Clinton argued that the former president did not know about Epstein's crimes.
Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyers, Epstein's girlfriend convicted of aiding him, claimed that if Clinton had visited Epstein's island, the US Intelligence Service should have documented it, and since there is no such evidence, they argued that the former president did not visit the island.
- Jeffrey Epstein Case
Epstein, the US financier and disgraced millionaire, committed suicide in his cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
He was being held in a federal lock-up in Manhattan while facing one count of sex trafficking minors, which carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, and another count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors, which carries a maximum sentence of five years.
Epstein allegedly committed the crimes at his Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida properties, where he abused dozens of underage girls, some as young as 14, and conspired to commit sex trafficking, according to prosecutors.
Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's girlfriend, was found guilty in a trial where she was accused of aiding Epstein's illegal activities in luring underage girls into prostitution for some wealthy individuals, celebrities, and government officials.
Meanwhile, one of Epstein's victims, Virginia Giuffre, filed a lawsuit in New York in 2021, alleging that Prince Andrew sexually abused her when she was 17 in New York and London. Giuffre claimed that the prince, knowing she was underage, sexually harassed her without her consent.