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Dozens of court documents related to Jeffrey Epstein’s associates, including a billionaire businessman, will be made public after a judge ruled that the public interest outweighs the right to privacy.
Judge Loretta Preska on Friday ruled that the material on eight people should be unsealed, despite one test subject claiming it “might unduly harm his privacy and reputation.”
Among those whose names appear in the documents is a British woman, the former personal assistant of Ghislaine Maxwell, who was accused of participating in the sexual abuse of minors.
Judge Preska overruled the objections of Tom Pritzker, the billionaire executive chairman of the Hyatt Hotels, and ordered that material related to him be made public.
The documents are part of a defamation suit brought against Maxwell by prosecutor Virginia Roberts Giuffre in 2016 and later settled.
The trove of material has been continuously released since the first set came in 2019, two days before Epstein committed suicide, following numerous requests from media organizations.
Dozens of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein’s associate will be unsealed, a judge ruled today
Among those whose names are mentioned in the documents is billionaire hotel magnate Tom Pritzker (right) who objected to the unsealing
The documents are part of a defamation suit brought against Ghislaine Maxwell by prosecutor Virginia Roberts Giuffre in 2016 and later settled (pictured arriving at court in 2019)
A total of 16 ‘Non-Party Does’ objected to the disclosure of the files and the first set of eight has already been heard in federal court in New York.
The final batch covered the remaining eight, designated Does 12, 28, 97, 107, 144, 147, 171, and 183.
Judge Preska said much of the “supposedly sensitive information” had already been made public last year during Maxwell’s trial for trafficking underage girls to Epstein, leading to her 20-year prison sentence.
She went through dozens of documents and ordered them to be unsealed.
They contain material related to the British woman who has strongly denied that she has done anything wrong in relation to her work for Maxwell.
She filed a lawsuit against Miami Herald journalist Julie Brown in July over her book about the Epstein scandal.
Judge Preska noted that the lawsuit repeated some of the alleged defamatory statements in the book and referenced Tayler in other publicly available material.
“This document will be unsealed,” Judge Preska said.
Documents related to Doe 183 had to be made public as they were the “subject of intense media attention” and surfaced in Maxwell’s trial.
However, Judge Preska delayed the release of this material until November 28, allowing the Doe to appeal if they wished.
Doe 107 claimed that unsealing their material would “connect” them to the Epstein and “needlessly invade (their) privacy.”
Maxwell, who is rumored to have been Epstein’s Mrs as well as his former girlfriend, poses with the pedophile in evidence photos displayed in court
Judge Preska disagreed and ordered the unsealing of their material, noting that the public’s right of access outweighed any “general concerns” about privacy and that the material was “not particularly lecherous.”
In his submission to the court, Pritzker claimed that it would “unjustifiably harm his privacy and reputation” if material pertaining to him were made public.
But Judge Preska said there was “no reason” to keep the material sealed, adding it was just a cursory mention.
Judge Preska did make some concessions to the objectors.
She said: ‘Certain details in certain documents which are not public… objecting has shown sufficient importance to keep the seal’.
Documents related to Doe 12 remained sealed because Judge Preska said they were a “classic outsider.”
Doe 12 is “random of the events in question” and is “neither victim not associated with Epstein or Maxwell.”
Documents related to Doe 28 remain sealed as they are a “sexual assault victim who continues to experience trauma as a result of these events”
But material related to Doe 147, whom Judge Preska identified as Epstein victim Sarah Ransome, must be unsealed.
Judge Preska said Ransome was a “victim of sexual trauma and abuse” at the hands of Epstein and Maxwell, but she testified publicly about Maxwell’s conviction.
She published a book about her experience and wrote an opinion piece about it in the Washington Post.
Giuffre was allegedly recruited to become Epstein’s sex slave in 1999 and has been at the center of much of the Epstein scandal since it first came to light, particularly due to her claims against Prince Andrew, who has denied any wrongdoing.
Epstein was found dead in his New York prison cell on August 10, 2019. Media organizations began submitting requests for the material just days before his death.
Judge Preska noted that Ransome had “entered the public forum regarding these issues.”
The judge has not set a timeline for when the material should be made public, but it will likely be weeks.
Unlike previous sets of documents, Maxwell did not oppose it or file representation with the court.
Among the revelations in the documents that have already been made public were two statements Maxwell made in 2016 as part of the defamation case.
For more than seven hours, Maxwell was questioned about everything from her sex life to her relationship with Andrew and Epstein.
At one point, she denied having a “laundry basket of sex toys” at Epstein’s Palm Beach, Florida home.
Maxwell was asked about triple sexual massages with Epstein and his sexual “oddities” such as nipple pinching.
When asked if she ever gave Roberts “schoolgirl outfits” to wear to a massage, Maxwell replied, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Elsewhere in the statement, Maxwell called Giuffre a “terrible fantasist” and at one point became so angry that she slammed her hand on the table.
Among the other material already unsealed was Roberts’ version of her memoir, which detailed how she was flown around the world by Epstein and loaned to his powerful friends.
She explained how she was forced to have sex with Andrew in London when she was 17, at Epstein’s mansion in New York and on his private island in the Caribbean.
Earlier this year, the Duke settled a civil lawsuit filed by Roberts for a reported $12 million.