Around 200 individuals connected to Jeffrey Epstein, spanning friends, associates, victims, and adversaries, will gradually have their identities revealed starting Wednesday, as disclosed by a senior court official speaking to USA TODAY.
These names, likely encompassing high-profile personalities from the realms of entertainment, politics, and business, have been extracted from numerous sealed court filings related to Epstein. The financier, accused of sex trafficking, died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019.
“The unveiling process is slated to commence today,” affirmed Edward Friedland, the district executive at the U.S. district court in Manhattan, in conversation with USA TODAY.
Notable public figures, including former Presidents Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, and Prince Andrew, have been associated with Epstein and his former partner Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell herself was convicted in 2022 for trafficking girls on behalf of Epstein and is presently serving a 20-year sentence.
The concealed documents housing these identities were originally part of a defamation lawsuit brought forth by one of Epstein’s accusers, Virginia Giuffre. Hitherto, individuals mentioned in public documents from the case had been shielded under the aliases “John Doe” and “Jane Doe.”
Judge Loretta Preska had initially ordered the unsealing of substantial information on December 18 but placed a 14-day pause to allow any affected “Does” to potentially appeal. Following this period, attorneys were tasked to collaborate, prepare the documents for disclosure, and submit them to the court docket.
Friedland mentioned that the unveiling of a small subset of “Does” has been temporarily suspended. Apart from these cases, “the process of unsealing will proceed starting today.”
Later in the day, Judge Preska issued an order confirming that she had received requests from two “Does” desiring to remain under seal. Preska granted one until January 22 to substantiate how unsealing their information might result in physical harm. Meanwhile, she’s reviewing the second inquiry, as per the order.
“In the absence of documents about these specific ‘Does,’ the involved parties have indicated their intent to initiate the filing of unsealed records as outlined in this Court’s December 18 Order, starting today,” wrote Judge Preska.
This post originally appeared on USA Today
