Federal judge orders unsealing of documents naming over 150 Jeffrey Epstein associates

A federal judge in New York has ordered a mass unsealing of court documents in early 2024 that will release to the public the names of scores of Jeffrey Epstein’s associates. The documents are part of a settled 2017 lawsuit claiming Epstein’s ex-beau Ghislaine Maxwell facilitated the sexual abuse of Virginia Giuffre, the settlement terms of which were not disclosed. According to ABC News, Judge Loretta Preska slated the document release for Jan. 1, providing anyone who objects to their documents becoming public time to object.

Anyone who did not successfully work to have their name excluded from the civil case could see their name released to the public upon the documents’ unsealing, including Epstein’s victims, co-conspirators and innocent associates. Certain minor victims’ names will stay redacted. Preska’s decision notes, however, that because some of the included individuals have done media interviews their names should not remain private. Some names belong to individuals who were simply included in depositions, email or legal documents, while others belong to people who have already been publicly associated with Epstein.

Though the documents may not clarify why a certain individual became associated with Giuffre’s lawsuit, more than 150 people are expected to be identified between the hundreds of files that may expose more about Epstein’s sex trafficking of women and girls in New York, New Mexico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and other locations. Maxwell is currently serving 20 years in prison after she was convicted of sex trafficking and procuring girls for Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.