The people who looked away from what Jeffrey Epstein did enabled him: Tara Palmeri
Puck senior political correspondent Tara Palmeri joins 'Jesse Watters Primetime' to discuss the release of court documents related to Jeffrey Epstein.
The final set of Jeffrey Epstein-related documents in a 2015 lawsuit between accuser Virginia Giuffre and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell revealed the plaintiff had accused Bill Richardson, Marvin Minsky and Les Wexner of sex trafficking her in a 2016 deposition.
Their names had been redacted in a previous version of the 223-page filing unsealed in May 2022. Jean-Luc Brunel, who died in a French jail while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges of his own, is also accused of victimizing her in the latest filings. So is Glenn Dubin, but the allegations against him were unsealed previously, and he has denied them.
Richardson was the former Democratic governor of New Mexico and former President Clinton's ambassador to the United Nations. He died in September. Minsky was a leading computer scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who died in 2016. Wexner is the founder of Limited Brands and former Victoria's Secret CEO. The Wexner Foundation did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment.
FINAL JEFFREY EPSTEIN FILES RELEASE LOOMING AS COURT REPOSTS STRICKEN ISLAND PHOTOGRAPHS
Jeffrey Epstein in conversation with Professor Marvin Minsky known as "the father" of Artificial Intelligence in 2004. (Rick Friedman/Corbis via Getty Images)
Wexner has not been charged with a crime and previously said he cut ties with Epstein in 2007. Giuffre claimed she'd had sex with him on multiple occasions including at least once at the same time as another of Epstein's victims, Sarah Kellen.
The judge later ordered Giuffre's deposition to be stricken from the record and re-filed with new redactions. It was not immediately clear what needed to be redacted.
Wexner previously denied knowledge of other Epstein-related allegations, and in 2019 an attorney representing Epstein victims said it's unlikely Wexner was aware of Epstein's conduct, FOX Business has reported.
Giuffre also said she was sex trafficked to a "well known prime minister." whose name was not mentioned and accused Alan Dershowitz, a prominent criminal defense attorney, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Giuffre and Dershowitz had previously sued one another and then agreed to drop their cases as she publicly said she "made a mistake in identifying Mr. Dershowitz."
Dershowitz told Fox News Digital he approved of the unsealing and that he has nothing to hide. He has denied all wrongdoing.
A comparison showing the latest unsealed document compared to the same passage released in May 2022. (SDNY)
"Nobody's name should be redacted," Dershowitz said. "All the names should be out there."
Still, some names continue to be redacted in Giuffre's transcript, including at least one belonging to someone she accused of trafficking.
Giuffre said former President Bill Clinton would have witnessed the sexual abuse of minors and knew why she was acquainted with Epstein during a line of questioning about the model Hedi Klum.
She said she saw the pair together at parties before noting that she couldn't say whether Klum had witnessed any sexual abuse of minors.
"Is Bill Clinton a witness to the sexual abuse of minors," she was then asked.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre holds a photo of herself as a teen, when she says she was abused by Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Prince Andrew, among others. (Emily Michot/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
"Yes, he would be a witness because he knew what my purpose there was for Jeffrey and he visited Jeffrey's island," Giuffre said. "There's pictures of nude girls all around the house at all of his houses and it's something that Jeffrey Epstein wasn't shy about admitting to people."
Clinton has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and last week his spokesperson disputed other claims in the documents that the former president had a close personal relationship with Epstein.
Giuffre also claimed she was paid $15,000 to have sex with British Prince Andrew and that she was later paid $160,000 for a photo showing them together.
Yes, I did receive $15,000.
"Were you paid 10 to $15,000 by or on behalf of Jeffrey Epstein for having sex with Prince Andrew?" Giuffre was asked, according to the transcript.
"Yes, I did receive $15,000. I don't know what equivalent that is to pounds," she replied. "I received it in American dollars."
Then-New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson addresses casino workers during a rally 23 March 2007 in Las Vegas. Richardson was one of four Democratic presidential candidates to speak at the large labor union event. (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images)
The final unsealing included nearly 1,500 pages of documents, including the "highly confidential" deposition of Epstein accuser Sarah Ransome, in 2017, and depositions of Maxwell and Giuffre.
Maxwell, in one filing, denied awareness of Jean-Luc Brunel's alleged sexual activities at Epstein residences – despite appearing in photographs alongside him on the sex-trafficking financier's plane and at his private island. Brunel, like Epstein, died in a jail cell while awaiting trial.
In Ransome's deposition, she identified a man named Peter Lambrakis as a cocaine supplier and possible witness.
Les Wexner speaks onstage at the 2016 Fragrance Foundation Awards presented by Hearst Magazines - Show on June 7, 2016 in New York City. (Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images for Fragrance Foundation)
Lawyers for Giuffre initially expected to disclose about 240 previously redacted or sealed documents, identifying more than 170 John or Jane Does who came up in the lawsuit, which ended in a settlement in 2017. The final sum was about 215 documents.
U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska ordered the names to be unsealed in December, providing a two-week window for people to appeal the release of their names.
She has not yet decided on whether the court should identify two Does who requested the court continue to withhold their identities from the public, including one woman who argued she believes her life could be in danger if her name comes out.
3RD BATCH INCLUDES ALLEGATIONS SEX TRAFFICKER TROLLED NIGHTCLUBS FOR UNDERAGE GIRLS
In a separate criminal case, Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years behind bars for sex trafficking Epstein's victims. She is appealing that conviction and has declined to comment on the document dump.
JEFFREY EPSTEIN NAME-DROPPED STEPHEN HAWKING; PHOTOS SHOW PHYSICIST ON SEX TRAFFICKER'S ISLAND
SEE THE FACES IN EPSTEIN DOCUMENTS
Epstein died in federal custody in 2019. A Justice Department investigation accused the U.S. Bureau of Prisons of negligence in allowing him to commit suicide behind bars, depriving "his numerous victims, many of whom were underage girls at the time of the alleged crimes, of their ability to seek justice through the criminal justice process."
Ghislaine Maxwell attends Private Screening of Kung Fu Hustle at Sony Screening Room on March 2, 2005 in New York City. (Jimi Celeste/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
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Maxwell has said she believes he was killed.
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