From our correspondent in the United States,
Don’t call it a “list”, much less a “client” list. After years of waiting, nearly 1,000 pages of court documents linked to child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide in prison in August 2019, and to his ex-partner Ghislaine Maxwell, sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex trafficking minors, were made public on Wednesday. The entire PDF compiled by 20 minutes maybe downloaded here.
While it does not offer any new shattering revelations, the file includes nearly 180 names of contacts, acquaintances, relatives, alleged accomplices or victims of Epstein, who had sometimes been mentioned in the media – who had been able to obtain documents from the file – but whose anonymity had been preserved by the courts. Here’s what you need to know about the main personalities cited.
Prince Andrew (mentioned 76 times)
The Duke of York has become a pariah for his links to Jeffrey Epstein, particularly after his BBC interview fiasco. Virginia Giuffre claims to have been forced to have non-consensual sexual relations with Prince Andrew on three occasions: in London, at Ghislaine Maxwell’s house, when she was a minor, then in New York and on Epstein’s island of Little Saint-James , In the Caribbean. The complaint mentions an “orgy” on the island including “numerous underage girls.”
Queen Elizabeth II’s favorite son has always denied it and has never been criminally charged in the United States. He ended Virginia Giuffre’s civil lawsuits in 2022 via an out-of-court settlement. According to Telegraph, he would have notably paid 16 million euros to his accuser. Another Epstein victim, Johanna Sjoberg, claims Andrew “put a hand on her breast” in 2001 for a photo.
Jean-Luc Brunel (mentioned 56 times)
Accused of having played the tout for Epstein, the modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel also committed suicide. After Epstein’s arrest, the French scout remained untraceable for 18 months. But after a complaint from Virginia Giuffre, Brunel was arrested at Charles de Gaulle airport in December 2020 while trying to reach Dakar. Indicted for two rapes, he was placed in pre-trial detention and committed suicide by hanging in February 2022 after proclaiming his innocence.
Bill Clinton (mentioned 73 times)
Bill Clinton received Jeffrey Epstein several times at the White House. After his presidency, he traveled around ten times (not counting stopovers) aboard the financier’s private jet, nicknamed the “Lolita express”, officially for charitable activities. To date, there is no evidence of the former president’s presence on Epstein’s island, contrary to the claims of many conspiracy accounts on social networks.
In 2011, a journalist from Daily Mail, Sharon Churcher, had claimed that Virginia Giuffre had certified to her that she had seen Bill Clinton arrive in Little Saint James in a helicopter piloted by Ghislaine Maxwell. But during his hearing, Giuffre denied it, as did Maxwell. A former FBI boss also denied this, ensuring that the Secret Service would have been forced to mention such a trip. There remains the embarrassing testimony of Johanna Sjoberg. According to her, Epstein “once said that he (Bill Clinton) liked them young, when talking about girls.”
Donald Trump (mentioned 4 times)
Jeffrey Epstein bragged that he was going to call Donald Trump to go to one of his casinos in Atlantic City with Virginia Giuffre and Johanna Sjoberg, according to the latter’s testimony. “Have you ever massaged Donald Trump?” », asks a lawyer. “No,” says Sjoberg.
Donald Trump frequented the same Manhattan and Palm Beach circles as Jeffrey Epstein in the early 1990s. He also rode his private jet a half-dozen times between 1993 and 1997. In 2002, Donald told New York Magazine: “I’ve known Jeff for 15 years, he’s a great guy, we have fun with him. They say he likes beautiful women as much as I do, most of them are a little young.” But in 2007, the real estate mogul reportedly ended their relationship and terminated Jeffrey Epstein’s membership at his Mar-a-Lago country club for, according to one book, “harassing” his underage daughter. another member.