Unsealed documents in Jeffrey Epstein case reveal more alleged high-profile connections
Thousands of pages of court documents were released Friday from a lawsuit filed by a woman who claims financier Jeffrey Epstein kept her as a teen sex slave. Newly unsealed documents include a sworn deposition from 2016 when one of Epstein's alleged victims was asked which politically connected and financially powerful people she was directed to have sex with as a minor.
That woman, Virginia Giuffre, has long accused Epstein and his one-time girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, of sexually abusing her and recruiting her into the alleged trafficking ring.
But the new documents name more names, including former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson — both of whom deny any involvement.
Richardson issued a statment on Friday calling the allegations "completely false ... Gov. Richardson has never met Ms. Giuffre."
Mitchell also said in a statement that he "has never met, spoken with or had any contact with Ms. Giuffre."
The court documents stem from a now-settled defamation lawsuit between Giuffre and Maxwell.
Giuffre has been among the most vocal of Epstein's accusers.
"And then before you know it I'm being lent out to politicians and academics and to people that were royalty," she said.
In her deposition, Giuffre mentioned, among others, Prince Andrew of Britain and high-powered attorney Alan Dershowitz. Giuffre claimed she was trafficked for sex in New York, Palm Beach, New Mexico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and on Epstein's private jet, known as the "Lolita Express."
Dershowitz, who has emphatically denied the allegations, told CBS News on Friday that these documents exonerate him.
He followed up with a statement saying Giuffre "invented the false accusation against me only in 2014, when her lawyers 'pressured' her to do so for financial reasons ... I never had sex with an underage person." Dershowitz claimed he "never socialized or had sex with any woman connected to Jeffrey Epstein."
The court documents also include some new details about President Trump's relationship with Epstein. Giuffre alleged Trump and Epstein were friends, and flight records show Trump flew on Epstein's jet in 1997.
But Giuffre also said, according to the documents, she never had sex with Mr. Trump, nor did she witness him have sex with any other girls.
The president has said he had a falling out with Epstein and stopped speaking to him years ago.
