Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell attend Batman Forever/R. McDonald Event on June 13, 1995 in New York City.
Patrick McMullan | Getty Images
New York federal court documents containing previously hidden names of people associated in some way with the late notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein will be unsealed Wednesday, an official said.
Many of the more than 150 people named in the civil court filings have previously been publicly disclosed as connected in some way with Epstein, who killed himself in 2019 after being arrested on federal child sex trafficking charges.
The soon-to-be unsealed documents were filed in connection with a Manhattan federal court lawsuit by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre against Epstein’s longtime accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
“Things should start getting unsealed today,” Edward Friedland, the district executive for that court, told CNBC.
The fact that peoples’ names appear in the files does not necessarily mean they engaged in wrongdoing.
Only Epstein and Maxwell have been criminally charged in connection with his longstanding abuse of girls and young women at residences in New York, the U.S. Virgin Islands and elsewhere.
Judge Loretta Preska ordered the unsealing in mid-December.
Preska has granted a 30-day extension barring the disclosure of two names, including a woman identified as Doe 107 to review her claim that she faces a risk of physical harm in her home country if her identity is publicly revealed.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence on charges related to recruiting and grooming young women to be abused by Epstein.
Epstein for years had socialized with former Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, as well as Britain’s Prince Andrew and many other rich and powerful people.
On Tuesday, New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, during an interview on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show,” said in regards to the list of names, “There’s a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel are really hoping that doesn’t come out.”
“I’ll tell you what, if that list comes out, I definitely will be popping some sort of bottle,” Rodgers said.
Kimmel, the host of ABC’s “The Jimmy Kimmel Live!” show, quickly fired back at Rodgers in a tweet on the social media site X, suggesting he would sue the football player if he persisted in implying Kimmel had a connection with Epstein.
“Dear A——-: for the record, I’ve not met, flown with, visited, or had any contact whatsoever with Epstein, nor will you find my name on any ‘list’ other than the clearly-phony nonsense that soft-brained wackos like yourself can’t seem to distinguish from reality,” Kimmel wrote in the tweet.
“Your reckless words put my family in danger. Keep it up and we will debate the facts further in court.”
McAfee apologized Wednesday on his show “for being part of” Rodgers’ comments.
“I can understand why Jimmy got incredibly upset, yeah, I definitely completely understand that, especially with his position, but also I think Aaron is like, ‘hey, this guy has said some stuff about me in his monologue’ and he’s just trying to s— talk,” McAfee said. “I don’t think he meant anything else, but he’s gonna have to clarify that for us.”
This is breaking news. Check back for updates.
