That Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in a New York prison cell on August 10, 2019 was the perfect invitation for conspiracy theorists.
The autopsy determined that it was a suicide. He hung himself in the face of the incompetence of the officials, who fell asleep or failed to fulfill their obligations.
This set of circumstances led to the narrative that the most famous pedophile of recent times, a multi-millionaire and connected to the best of society (presidents, former presidents, princes, influential financiers or professors, scientists, lawyers, celebrities) actually s “had committed suicide”. That the official report of his death hid a calculated execution, to silence everything he knew about all these “friends”. Despite his disappearance, the conspiracies have not stopped these years and, once again, reality is stubborn and refuses to confirm the conspiracies that obsess especially the extreme right in their eagerness to show that former president Donald Trump is a another victim of this strategy.
About 900 pages related to the Epstein case, which were either classified or made public with names hidden, came to light on Wednesday. Waiting for more documents, there was disappointment. Taken from a list of nearly 200 people, mostly already known names such as Bill Clinton, Trump himself or Prince Andreu, these 45 documents do not reveal bombshell news. As they say, “there is no smoking gun”.
Judge Loretta A. Preska, the New York court judge overseeing the case and who ordered the declassification, cautioned that most of the names had come out because of other allegations, because of work of press investigation or during the trial that unfolded in Manhattan against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s ex-girlfriend, lieutenant and achiever, who received a 20-year sentence in 2022.
There had been speculation on the networks and a lot of atmosphere had been created with the speculation that this judicial measure would allow the discovery of the list of “clients” or “co-conspirators” who collaborated with Epstein. Beyond the criminal actions of the accused, with more than 100 victims, these papers do not include specific episodes of irregularities by these men.
Well, it is fair to highlight the exception of the Duke of York, who in 2022 reached an out-of-court agreement for Virgnia Giuffre to withdraw her accusation. This woman, recruited by Epstein and Maxwell as a minor, assured that the British prince abused her when she was 17 years old.
Although it has come to light, it remains an enigma how an individual who never even managed to finish high school amassed a fortune of around $600 million and cultivated such a network of relationships loaded with personalities . But these documents cover only a short period of time in more than two decades of work. In 2008, in Florida, they already put him on the list of sex offenders.
It was precisely another complaint by Giuffre, this one from 2015 and against Maxwell, which is at the origin of this summary of prestigious names.
Nothing direct, just quotes ranging from Michael Jackson to the magician David Copperfield, who went to one of Epstein’s houses to perform tricks and asked one of the young women if she was aware that there were girls who received money to recruit others. He told him yes, always based on this judicial version.
Among the John and Jane Doe, pseudonyms used by justice to hide those mentioned in the summary who are not accused, there are more Epstein workers or victims. At least two requested that their identities not be revealed and the judge will have to decide.
The most relevant concerns former President Clinton (Doe 36), one of the most famous passengers of the Lolita Express (the nickname of Epstein’s plane) who is mentioned on fifty occasions.
Among the documents in this case is the statement of Johanna Sjoberg, one of the financier’s victims from 2001 to 2006. She was asked if Epstein ever spoke to her about Clinton. “He once said that Clinton liked young women, referring to girls,” Sjoberg replied, without any other proof.
Clinton, 77, issued a statement in 2019 stressing that she knew nothing “of Epstein’s terrible crimes.” The former president has never been accused of any crime in relation to the missing person. There have even been witnesses who have denied that he visited the Caribbean island owned by Epstein. Clinton also did not raise any objection to the judge lifting the secrecy of the documents in which he is cited, one of his spokesmen remarked.
Sjoberg is the cornerstone. In his testimony he alluded to Trump, Epstein’s old friend who boasted that he introduced him to Melania, his current wife. During one flight, Epstein’s plane had to land in New Jersey due to bad weather. The financier gave an order. “Shout Trump” and went to visit him at one of his casinos in Atlantic City.
He was asked if he gave Trump a “massage” and he said no, an answer identical to the one he gave with Jackson. There is also no record of “massages” in Clinton.
This witness did allude to Prince Andrew touching Giuffre’s breasts and making her sit on his lap.
In one of the emails, Epstein instructed Maxwell that he should find Giuffre’s friends to prove that his accusations were false, including that the prestigious scientist Stephen Hawking had participated “in an orgy with girls”. Hawking died in 2018 and never accused him of anything related to it.
There are other names: Cate Blanchett, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Bruce Willis, without any evidence that they even knew each other. But Sjoberg explained that sometimes, while massaging Epstein, he would talk on the phone and say “it’s Leonardo or Cate”.