Court to unseal partial list of Epstein’s associates on Wednesday

The first part of a trove of documents listing the names of more than 150 associates of Jeffrey Epstein will be released on Wednesday, according to a new filing.

The legal files are part of a long-running defamation lawsuit brought by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre against his former fixer and convicted child trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell in 2015.

Although the case was settled in 2017, Maxwell’s attorneys had fought for the names to continue to remain private. Their objection was lifted in 2022, a year after she was convicted and sentenced to two decades in prison.

In December, New York Judge Loretta Preska issued an order to unseal materials connected to the case.

The documents identify individuals whose names had been previously redacted. Those listed include “alleged victims, people not accused of wrongdoing…and absent third parties.”

The parties had until midnight on 1 January to object to the ruling, with only 10 people identified in the papers successfully arguing that their right to privacy as victims outweighs the public’s right to know their names.

In court documents filed on Wednesday evening, Judge Preska wrote that Doe 107 had been granted until 22 January to submit support for “her assertion that unsealing would cause her physical harm.”

A request from Doe 110 is being reviewed by the court.

“With the exception of the documents relating to these Does, the parties have informed the Court that they will begin filing the unsealed records outlined in this Court’s December 18 Order later today,” the filing read. “The Court will render its determination on the documents relating to Does 107 and 110 in due course.”

Being identified through the court documents does not necessarily mean that the individual was involved in or aware of any wrongdoing by Epstein.

Ms Giuffre first brought the civil case against Maxwell in 2015 after a spokesperson for the former socialite called Ms Giuffre’s allegations “obvious lies”.

The civil case helped consolidate the criminal case against Maxwell, who was later sentenced to 20 years in prison on five charges of sex trafficking minor girls. She has since appealed her conviction.

Ms Giuffre also went on to sue Prince Andrew for sexual assault and infliction of emotional distress before that case was also settled in 2022. Prince Andrew has adamantly denied the sexual abuse allegations.

However, hundreds of names included in the Giuffre v Maxwell lawsuit remained under seal. The Miami Herald, whose investigation into Epstein led to his arrest in 2019, first sued in 2018 for the release of all documents related to the lawsuit.

The first set of those documents was unsealed on 9 August 2019, just a day before Epstein killed himself in his jail cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.

This is a developing story ... check again for updates.