Jeffrey Epstein documents: Final files reveal trafficking allegations against prominent figures
NEW YORK - 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.
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.
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."
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.
Read the transcript of Virginia Giuffre's 2016 deposition
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.
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.
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."
Maxwell has said she believes he was killed.