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Jeffrey Epstein documents - latest: Claims made against Clinton and Prince Andrew as second batch of files released

Hundreds of pages of court documents relating to the late financier and paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, his relationship to Ghislaine Maxwell and alleged victims of sexual abuse, have been released.

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More court documents coming - and more Epstein contacts expected to be named

We are expecting more documents to be released by the New York court in the coming days.

The files made public so far have shone a light on Jeffrey Epstein's circle of high-profile friends and acquaintances, but there have been no bombshell revelations yet.

Among the well-known faces mentioned are Stephen Hawking (in relation to an "orgy" claim), Cameron Diaz, Leonardo DiCaprio and Bill Clinton. Many are not accused of any wrongdoing.

Prince Andrew, unsurprisingly, is referred to on multiple occasions.

Everything you need to know about the people named so far is in the story below - which we will be updating as more papers are released.

Virginia Guiffre accused of making up Prince Andrew claims

One of the documents reveals that disgraced socialite Ghislaine Maxwell claimed Virginia Guiffre "concocted" sexual assault claims against the Duke of York, with the help of a journalist.

Maxwell's lawyers made the submission that journalist Sharon Churcher should be compelled to give evidence, claiming that Churcher was "aware" that allegations against Prince Andrew were "false".

The lawyers claim Churcher "helped manufacture some of the stories that have been denied" and that a handwritten diary written by Guiffre was a "completely fabricated document".

Alleged victim's claims against Prince Andrew

In another document, one of Epstein's alleged victims repeats claims made against Prince Andrew. Jane Doe #3 claims she was a minor when she was "forced to have sexual relations" with Andrew at Ghislane Maxwell's apartment in London, in New York, and in an 'orgy' on Epstein's island.

She claims Epstein instructed her to "give the prince whatever he demanded and required".

A spokesperson for the prince has said the claims are "categorically untrue".

Jane Doe #3 also claims she was trafficked "to many other powerful men, including numerous prominent American politicians, powerful business executives, foreign presidents, a well-known prime minister, and other world leaders".

'Clinton threatened Vanity Fair not to write sex-trafficking articles about his good friend Epstein'

In one of the newly released documents, one email that was sent from Virginia Giuffre to a journalist in May 2011 suggested that Bill Clinton, the former US president, urged Vanity Fair not to publish articles about "his good friend" Jeffrey Epstein.

Ms Giuffre, Epstein's first public accuser, said in the email that she was concerned about what the magazine might publish about her upcoming book.

"It does concern me what they could want to write about me," she wrote, "considering B. Clinton walked into VF and threatened them not to write sex-trafficking articles about his good friend J.E."

Sky News has contacted the Clinton Foundation for comment.

Second batch of Epstein documents released

More than 300 pages relating to Jeffrey Epstein have been publicly filed.

It is the second batch of unsealed documents released by a US court relating to the American financier and sex offender who died in prison in 2019. 

The documents were all part of a 2015 civil lawsuit lodged by Virginia Giuffre, who says she was one of Epstein's principal victims of underage sex trafficking.

Court asked to release complete list of names in Epstein files

A US newspaper has filed a legal bid for a court to release a full list of names and pseudonyms mentioned in the Jeffrey Epstein files. 

The Miami Herald made the request to District Court Judge Loretta Preska, who evaluated the documents to decide what should be unsealed. 

"As a practical matter, the unsealing is garnering a significant amount of media coverage 鈥� by intervenors, other news organizations, and commentators on social media," it said in its legal bid. 

"Without this list, intervenors and the public are puzzling together the court's ruling with each of the unsealed documents to match the identities of each of the third parties with the court's ruling.

"Many of the documents contain references to multiple Does, which makes this more challenging."

The documents are expected to include nearly 200 names in total, including some of Epstein's accusers. Up until now, those people were identified only as Jane Doe or John Doe. 

Epstein's former lawyer responds to unsealed documents in 31 minute video

Jeffrey Epstein's former lawyer has responded to today's unsealed documents in a 31-minute video. 

Alan Dershowitz spoke about his relationship with the disgraced financier and maintained his innocence regarding allegations that have resurfaced in the files. 

The celebrity lawyer and Havard professor appeared in the documents several times. 

"The accusation against me from day one. I knew and said, and proved, was totally and completely false," he said. "The woman who accused me, ultimately admitted that she may have mistaken me for somebody else, and she dropped all her lawsuits and legal claims against me." 

Virginia Giuffre, Epstein's first public accuser, withdrew an accusation she had made against Mr Dershowitz in 2022 saying she "may have made a mistake" in identifying him as an abuser.

In the video, entitled "The Epstein list and guilt by association", Mr Dershowitz said: "Of course I'm on the list, I was his lawyer. I flew on his plane with other lawyers several times."

He said he also took his nephew on a flight to Cape Canaveral to see a satellite launch, his "whole family" had stayed at Epstein's house in Florida, and he had visited the disgraced financier's island once with his wife and daughter. 

"There were no pictures on the wall or anything that would lead anyone to suspect that anything untoward was going on," he said, referring to the Florida property. 

"There were no young people on the island, no Lolita express or anything like that," he added. 

"I had an innocent relationship with a man who I didn't know, nobody suspected, had done anything wrong." 

After accusations against Epstein were made, Mr Dershowitz said he didn't "terminate his association" with him, instead it "increased" due to his role as his lawyer. 

He briefly spoke about the "sweetheart deal" he helped secure for Epstein in 2008. 

It saw him plead guilty to state charges: one count of soliciting prostitution and one count of soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18. 

He is sentenced to 18 months in jail but served most of it in a work-release programme which allowed him to commute to an office outside the jail during the week.

"He hated it, in fact, he wouldn't pay me my fee because he thought I had done a terrible, terrible job in getting him a plea bargain that had required him to serve some time in jail and also to register as a sex offender." 

After Epstein had served his time, Mr Dershowitz said: "Some people either continued to associate with him... I did not. I just took his calls when they were legal calls.

"Everybody has to be judged on their own individual situation," he added.  

Watch: Epstein court documents released

Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and Stephen Hawking are just of the people named in the newly-released court documents relating to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. 

In the video below, our US correspondent Martha Kelner takes a look at some of the information in the files... 

Who are Epstein's alleged victims?

Numerous women have said they were abused by Jeffrey Epstein over several years.

One of the first to come forward was Virginia Giuffre - you can read more about her in our 17.26 post. 

The Miami Herald has said more than 100 women have given statements to prosecutors or lawyers.

Sixteen made statements to a hearing officially closing criminal proceedings against Epstein after his death.

Here are some of the other alleged victims: 

Anouska de Georgiou

The British actress and former model said she was one of Epstein's alleged victims at a hearing to declare criminal proceedings against him formally over.

Becoming the first Briton to publicly allege abuse by the financier, the 42-year-old told the court it spanned "several years" and affected her ability to form relationships.

Johanna Sjoberg

Ms Sjoberg claimed Prince Andrew touched her breast while they were at Epstein's mansion when she was 21.

She said she was lured into Epstein's circle by Maxwell, having been offered a job.

Courtney Wild

Ms Wild and another anonymous victim sued the federal government in 2011 over Epstein's 2008 plea deal. She accused Epstein of preying on vulnerable girls, like herself, at the time.

Michelle Licata

Ms Licata alleged she was assaulted by Epstein at his home in Palm Beach when she was 16.

Jena-Lisa Jones

Ms Jones said she was molested by Epstein when she was 14, and was paid $200 to give him a massage.

Sarah Ransome

Ms Ransome said Epstein flew her out to his private island in 2006 and forced her to have sex with him and other guests. She filed as part of Ms Giuffre's lawsuit and settled in December last year.

Maria Farmer

Ms Farmer also filed with Ms Giuffre's lawsuit, claiming she met Epstein and Maxwell in 1995, aged 26, and was sexually assaulted by both of them the following year. She said her underage younger sister (Annie Farmer) was also molested.

Jennifer Araoz
Ms Araoz said she was recruited outside school when she was 14 to massage Epstein once or twice a week in her underwear. She claimed he raped her. 

Unsealed documents are a step closer to 'shutting down sex trafficking', says Giuffre's lawyer

The unsealed documents related to Jeffrey Epstein take the fight to "shutting down sex trafficking wherever it exists" a step closer, the lawyer representing Virginia Giuffre has said. 

Ms Giuffre was one of the first alleged victims to speak out publicly, and all the latest documents to be released today are part of her 2015 civil lawsuit.

Sigrid McCawley, managing partner of Boies Schiller Flexner said the "world has been on watch" since a ruling was issued in her case in 2019 and Epstein was arrested. 

"The public has wondered and many have rightly demanded to know how Epstein operated his vast, global sex-trafficking enterprise and got away with it for decades," he said. 

"The public interest must still be served in learning more about the scale and scope of Epstein's racket to further the important goal of shutting down sex trafficking wherever it exists and holding more to account.

"The unsealing of these documents gets us closer to that goal."