The third round of documents from a lawsuit connected to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted pedophile who died in jail before he could face trial on federal sex-trafficking charges, was publicly released Friday.
Friday’s release included over one thousand pages as of mid-afternoon, and it follows hundreds of pages of documents already unsealed on Wednesday and Thursday, with more expected.
The unsealed documents are part of a 2015 civil defamation suit brought by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, an American woman who claimed Epstein sexually abused her as a minor and that Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend, aided in the abuse. The unsealing this week stems from a December 18 court order from the judge overseeing the lawsuit, a response to media’s legal efforts to publicly release the documents.
The documents in total, including material yet to be unsealed, are expected to include nearly 200 names, including some of Epstein’s accusers, prominent businesspeople, politicians and potentially more.
CNN is reviewing the documents.
A former Jeffrey Epstein employee recounted a litany of famous and influential people, including two former presidents, in Epstein’s orbit during a 2009 deposition unsealed on Friday.
Juan Alessi told attorneys that he had dinner with former president Donald Trump in the kitchen of Epstein’s Palm Beach home and met former president Bill Clinton on Epstein’s plane. He also said he met Prince Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, at the Palm Beach home, according to the deposition.
Alessi also said he met foreign beauty queens and an unnamed winner of a Nobel Prize in Chemistry, according to the document.
When asked on Wednesday about the appearance of Clinton’s name in an earlier batch of unsealed documents, a Clinton spokesman reiterated a 2019 statement that Clinton had flown on Epstein’s private plane but said Clinton knew nothing of the financier’s “terrible crimes.”
The spokesman said that it has now “been nearly 20 years since President Clinton last had contact with Epstein.” Clinton has not been accused of any crimes or wrongdoing related to Epstein.
Trump has also not been accused of any crimes or wrongdoing with regard to Epstein. When asked earlier this week about Trump’s name appearing in the newly unsealed documents, a Trump spokesman reacted by attacking the media.
Alessi also spoke about the young women who came to the house to give Epstein massages.
Alessi answered questions about one female whom he understood to be under the age of 18. Her name was still redacted from the unsealed documents. Alessi said her mother would occasionally accompany her to Epstein’s home.
In terms of payment, “everybody got US$100 an hour,” Alessi said.
Previous document releases included information about Epstein’s associates and accusers, though much of the information had previously been reported on by various media outlets or released through other court proceedings.
Giuffre and Maxwell settled their civil suit in 2017, but some court documents remained sealed until now.
Most of the documents from the suit were unsealed in 2019 – one day before Epstein died by suicide in jail.
Epstein was indicted in 2019 on federal charges of operating a sex trafficking ring in which he allegedly sexually abused dozens of underage girls.
Epstein died in jail while awaiting trial. Prosecutors in New York indicted Maxwell on sex trafficking charges involving multiple victims. She was convicted in 2021.
Below are the third batch of documents released.