Even though the names of many Hollywood celebrities and politicians appear on the listList of relatives of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein made public in New York on Wednesday evening, little new information was released about the vast sex trafficking conspiracy at the center of the story.
The documents made public so far tell an interesting story: in the 1990s, many distinguished guests from around the world happily accepted the luxurious hospitality of a corrupt financier with a jet and a private island in the Caribbean.
On the sidelines of the defamation trial against Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-partner and accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, the lawyer representing a victim of the billionaire, Sigrid McCawley, reminded the media that “the public questioned and many demanded rightly to know how Epstein managed his vast global sex trafficking enterprise and got away with it for decades.”
Are invitations to Epstein’s private island proof of complicity? Could revealing these names help bring justice to the victims of the sexual predator and his accomplice?
While there is no doubt that several people were involved in this minor trafficking network, Mr.me Maxwell remains the only Esptein accomplice to have been convicted so far. She is serving a 20-year prison sentence in Florida for recruiting and grooming minors to have sexual relations with her ex-partner.
Remember that the late billionaire committed suicide in prison.
Divide friends from accomplices
Some details in the leaked documents could prove incriminating if confirmed.
For example, it is alleged that Prince Andrew participated in an “underage orgy” on Epstein’s private island. The papers claim that an underage girl, identified only as “Jane Doe 3,” was “forced to have sex with this prince while she was a minor, in three separate geographic locations.”
Buckingham Palace said the allegations were “categorically false” and the British prince has always denied wrongdoing.
Second, various figures mentioned in the deposition of another Epstein accuser, Johanna Sjoberg, who worked for the late billionaire for five years, are currently indirectly linked to the sex offender.
The victim names Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz and Bruce Willis, but she admits she never met them. She claims to have heard the billionaire mention these names during telephone conversations in which he asked if he could find women for them. Epstein also reportedly named Bill Clinton, specifying that he liked young girls.
The former employee admits that these could be boasts made up by Epstein, who was crazy about fame.
In November 2022, Mme Giuffre dropped charges against someone close to Espstein, saying she “may have made a mistake” in identifying him as one of her attackers. She then explained that she was young at the time and that she found herself in a “very stressful and traumatic environment”.
An “awkward” relationship
A New York-based public relations specialist recalled that “Jeffrey Epstein was a hedge fund man” and that “wealthy people did business with him outside of what he is now known for.”
“It was not uncommon for people to be in contact with him and mingle with him,” he said. Just being there, being in his book, doesn’t mean anything, and people need to keep that in mind.”
But although the figures mentioned so far in court documents are not accused of criminal wrongdoing, their proximity to Epstein is likely to taint their reputations and raise uncomfortable questions.
− With information from The Guardian
