170 names to be revealed with alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein
Fox News' Eric Shawn reports on the approved release of names allegedly affiliated with Jeffrey Epstein on ‘Special Report.’
A key deadline for the unsealing of the names of nearly 200 associates of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein has passed, but it could still be days before the court records are made public, according to the legal team representing one of his most outspoken accusers.
The unsealing is scheduled to begin Wednesday, court officials told Fox News Digital, but a spokesperson for plaintiff Virginia Giuffre's legal team said documents could be delayed until next week.
A court-ordered Jan. 1 deadline for John and Jane Does to appeal the looming unsealing of their names in a lawsuit against Epstein's convicted sex-trafficking madam Ghislaine Maxwell expired at midnight Monday.
However, the judge's order contained no specifics about the timing for the next step: the preparation and unsealing of documents expected to include the names of former associates, friends, employees, accusers and potential accomplices.
Jeffrey Epstein pictured in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Sept. 8, 2004. (Rick Friedman/Rick Friedman Photography/Corbis via Getty Images)
U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska issued a 51-page order last month giving anyone whose name was set to be released in connection with the 2015 lawsuit Giuffre, a prominent Epstein accuser, brought against Maxwell two weeks to appeal.
"After which, counsel are asked to confer, prepare the documents for unsealing pursuant to this order, and post the documents on the docket," the judge ordered.
In a court filing Wednesday, Preska said two Does had reached out seeking to have their names remain sealed. One was Doe 110, identified in the Dec. 18 order as a person whose name and association with Epstein have already been widely publicized.
JEFFREY EPSTEIN SCANDAL: FEDERAL JUDGE TO UNSEAL 180 PREVIOUSLY REDACTED NAMES
A photo from 2001 that was included in court files shows Prince Andrew with his arm around the waist of 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre, who says Jeffrey Epstein paid her to have sex with the prince. Andrew has denied the charges. In the background is Ghislaine Maxwell. (U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals)
Preska identified the other as Doe 107, who was not mentioned in the judge's Dec. 18 order, but her attorney filed a request for a 30-day extension to raise arguments about why her identity should remain under seal.
The judge gave her until Jan. 22 to submit an affidavit, and only documents pertaining to Doe 107 will be held until then, court officials told Fox News Digital.
"With the exception of the documents relating to these Does, the parties have informed the Court that they will begin filing the unsealed records outlined in this Court's December 18 Order later today," Preska wrote. "The Court will render its determination on the documents relating to Does 107 and 110 in due course."
Although many of the Does were not publicly named in the Giuffre v. Maxwell lawsuit, Preska ruled that their identities should be revealed because they have "widely publicized" ties to Epstein, and some have been named as co-defendants in lawsuits against the disgraced financier.
Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell attend de Grisogono Sponsors The 2005 Wall Street Concert Series Benefitting Wall Street Rising at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City on March 15, 2005. (Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
The list is expected to include figures like Prince Andrew, whom Giuffre also sued; a top former aide to former President Clinton; and, according to ABC News, Clinton himself.
Some of the Does, whom the judge described as minor victims who have never spoken publicly about the case, will not be identified. Neither will a person who members of the media incorrectly labeled an Epstein accomplice.
Epstein-related lawsuits go beyond the scope of Giuffre's allegations against Maxwell and Prince Andrew. The government of the U.S. Virgin Islands sued JPMorgan Chase, claiming the bank aided Epstein's crimes.
DOZENS OF GHISLAINE MAXWELL FILES UNSEALED BY FEDERAL COURT IN SEX TRAFFICKING CASE
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)
That lawsuit revealed connections between Epstein and Barclays CEO Jes Staley, a former JPMorgan banker who resigned from his position in 2021.
It also alleged that the bank knew about Epstein's ties to French modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, who, like Epstein, died in jail awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Another lawsuit alleged that billionaire Leon Black, who resigned as CEO of Apollo Global Management in 2021, assaulted a 16-year-old with autism at Epstein's New York City mansion.
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Maxwell and Giuffre reached a settlement in 2017, but the names have remained secret for years. Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence in federal prison for sex trafficking.
Epstein controversially died in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while awaiting his own sex trafficking trial. His death was ruled a suicide.
Giuffre also settled her lawsuit with Prince Andrew, who has denied allegations that Epstein trafficked Giuffre when she was under 18 to have sex with him.
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