The Jeffrey Epstein documents have shed light on the paedophile businessman’s jet-set lifestyle and celebrities who entered his orbit, including Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.
Mr Clinton “likes them young”, according to hearsay testimony cited in the newly released court papers. The former president has denied any knowledge of the billionaire’s “terrible” crimes.
Via his spokesman, Bill Clinton has conceded to travelling on Epstein’s private jet but says that he never visited his homes, including a Caribbean island that was a hotbed of criminality involving the financier and his British accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
Speculation was stoked in recent days by Donald Trump Jr, the son of the Republican former president, accusing Mr Clinton of covering up the extent of his own friendship with Epstein.
The papers have become the fevered subject of conspiracy theories including one stoked by New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, targeting talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel. The popular TV presenter does not appear in the papers. He wrote on X/Twitter that he had never met Epstein, and that Rodgers’ “reckless words put my family in danger”.
Mr Clinton and Donald Trump both feature in the file partly because Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre was questioned by Maxwell’s lawyers about inaccuracies in newspaper stories about her time with them. One story quoted her as saying she had taken a ride in a helicopter with Mr Clinton and flirted with Mr Trump. Ms Giuffre said neither of those things happened, and has not accused either politician of wrongdoing.
Mr Trump has said that he once thought Epstein was a “terrific guy”, but that they later fell out.
In 2022, after reaching an out-of-court settlement with Prince Andrew, Ms Giuffre withdrew an accusation she had made against Epstein’s former attorney, law professor Alan Dershowitz, saying she “may have made a mistake” in identifying him as an abuser.
Ms Giuffre also says she was pressured into having sex with other men in Epstein’s circle including former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, former US Senator George Mitchell and the billionaire Glenn Dubin. All of those men deny the claims.
More of the court documents are expected to be released by US Judge Loretta Preska in the coming days.
While Epstein killed himself in pre-trial custody, Maxwell is serving 20 years on charges including child sex trafficking, and faces a second trial for allegedly lying under oath about his abuse of underage girls including Ms Giuffre.
