Explosive Jeffrey Epstein court documents have revealed claims the billionaire told one of his victims that Bill Clinton "likes them young" and details allegations about Prince Andrew's "grope" at the paedophile's house.
The bombshell records include transcripts of interviews with some of Epstein’s victims and old police reports that show the billionaire surrounded himself with famous and powerful figures, including a few who have also been accused of misconduct.
There were mentions of Epstein’s past friendship with Bill Clinton — who is not accused of any wrongdoing — and of Prince Andrew, who previously settled a lawsuit accusing him of having sex with a 17-year-old girl who travelled with Epstein. Prince Andrew has strenuously denied all allegations. Buckingham Palace previously said the allegations are "categorically untrue".
READ MORE: Jeffrey Epstein told victim ex-US president Clinton 'likes them young' in court files
Epstein meets Clinton at the White House in 1993, at an event for donors to the White House Historical Association (The William J. Clinton President / MEGA)Epstein accuser Johanna Sjoberg testified in a newly released deposition that she once met Michael Jackson at Epstein’s Palm Beach, Florida, home, but that nothing untoward happened with the late pop icon. Meanwhile an email Epstein sent to Ghislaine Maxwell was revealed, in which he suggested accuser Virginia Giuffre was claiming revered British physicist Stephen Hawking had taken part in an "underage orgy".
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Singer Michael Jackson in 2002 (Getty Images)The documents being unsealed are related to a lawsuit filed in 2015 by one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre. She is one of dozens of women who sued Epstein for abusing them at his homes in Florida, New York, the US Virgin Islands, and New Mexico. This suit was against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend who is now serving a 20-year prison term for helping recruit and abuse his victims.
Giuffre’s lawsuit was settled in 2017, but the court had kept some documents blacked out or sealed because of concerns about the privacy rights of Epstein’s victims and others whose names had come up during the legal battle. More documents were to be released in the coming days.
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Ghislaine Maxwell, who is now in jail, with Jeffrey Epstein (SDNY/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)Among newly unsealed records were court memos in which Giuffre’s lawyers complained that some women who had worked for Epstein were proving difficult to serve with subpoenas, as was Epstein himself. Two of those women had invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when questioned in other lawsuits about whether they had helped procure young women for Epstein to abuse.
Jeffrey Epstein's former home on the island of Little St. James in the U.S. Virgin Islands (TNS)Maxwell, in her deposition, chafed at being asked about Giuffre’s allegations that she had arranged for her to have sexual encounters with Prince Andrew. She also reacted angrily to being asked about whether she had purchased sex toys or revealing outfits, or seen young, topless women at Epstein’s home.
One former member of Epstein’s domestic staff said in a deposition that he felt uncomfortable with the number of young women showing up at the house, and felt threatened by Maxwell to stay quiet.
Ghislaine Maxwell with Jeffrey Epstein (Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)Other documents included legal arguments over whether Giuffre should be allowed more time to depose potential witnesses, including Clinton. Giuffre never alleged he was involved in illegal behaviour, but her attorneys said the former president was a “key person who can provide information about his close relationship” with Maxwell and Epstein.
Maxwell’s lawyers countered that Clinton's testimony was not relevant. The records included depositions of several Epstein victims, many of whom have told their stories publicly previously.
David Copperfield
In her May 2016 deposition, Sjoberg described going to a dinner at one of Epstein’s homes also attended by magician David Copperfield.
Illusionist David Copperfield (Getty Images)
Epstein with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in 1997 (Getty Images)She claimed Copperfield did magic tricks before asking if she was aware “that girls were getting paid to find other girls.” One of the key allegations against Epstein and Maxwell was that some of the girls he paid for sex acts then acted as recruiters to find him other victims. Sjoberg said Copperfield didn’t get more specific about what he meant.
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A publicist for Copperfield did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The rich and powerful cosied up to Epstein (Getty Images)Prince Andrew puppet
Sjoberg also shed new light on an April 2001 trip to New York in which she said Prince Andrew touched her breast while they posed for a photo at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse.
In the testimony, some of which appeared as excerpts in previous court filings, Sjoberg said she and Giuffre had flown with Epstein to New York on his private jet. Maxwell and Prince Andrew met them there.
Epstein surrounded himself with famous and powerful figures such as Prince Andrew (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)At one point, she testified, Maxwell called her to an upstairs closet where they pulled out a puppet of Prince Andrew that had been made for a television program.
“It looked like him,” Sjoberg said. “And she brought it down and presented it to him, and that was a great joke because apparently it was a production from a show on BBC.”
Virginia Roberts Giuffre claims she was abused by Epstein (Zuma Press/PA Images)“And they decided to take a picture with it, in which Virginia and Andrew sat on a couch. They put the puppet on Virginia’s lap, and I sat on Andrew’s lap, and they put the puppet’s hand on Virginia’s breast, and Andrew put his hand on my breast, and they took a photo.”
Sjoberg had an option to bring a civil claim against Andrew but never took that course. Her opportunity to bring a claim has now expired.
On the way to New York, Sjoberg testified, Epstein’s jet diverted to Atlantic City, New Jersey, and spent a few hours at one of Donald Trump’s casinos, because of bad weather.
Upon hearing the change of plans, Sjoberg recalled Epstein saying, “Great, we’ll call up Trump and we’ll go to” the casino. Sjoberg wasn’t asked if they’d met up with Trump that night. Later in her testimony, she said she was never asked to give Trump a massage.
Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein at 1992 party (NBC)Clinton comment
Sjoberg also testified that though she never met Clinton, Epstein once remarked to her that “Clinton likes them young."
Clinton has previously said through a spokesperson that while he travelled on Epstein’s jet several times, he never visited his homes, did not know about his crimes, and hadn’t spoken to him since his conviction.
Hawking claim suggested
And in the 2015 email, Epstein told Maxwell she could offer money to any friends or family of Ms Giuffre if they could help prove her claims were false. He suggested to Maxwell that Ms Giuffre had claimed Prof Hawking had taken part in an "underage orgy".
Physicist Stephen Hawking enjoys a barbecue on Jeffrey Epstein's Caribbean island Little St James (TIM STEWART NEWS LIMITED)And the newly released court filings show that, in the same email, Epstein told Maxwell that the "strongest" of Ms Giuffre's claims was that former US President Bill Clinton had dined on Epstein's private island. Mr Clinton has strongly denied this.
The email read: “You can issue a reward to any of Virginia’s friends, acquaints, family that come forward and help prove her allegations are false. The strongest is the Clinton dinner, and the new version in the Virgin Islands that Stephen Hawking participated in an underage orgy.”
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