#;; court magician | donald

[dawnled]

tag post #2 ( character tags ) !

[misfitwashere]

The Shamans and the Chieftain

Timothy Snyder

Jun 12, 2024

            We have the rule of law so as not to have a culture of revenge.

            For much of human history, it was an eye for an eye, as we read in the Bible.  In a revenge culture, a chieftain decides who is to blame, and the shamans explain how the blood and chaos is just and necessary.

In the Greek tragedies of Aeschylus and Euripides, the grand problem is escaping from reciprocal violence within and among families.  In early discussions of European law, in Icelandic sagas or in the Primary Chronicle of Kyivan Rus, an incipient government regulates revenge, so that it does not continue indefintely. 

            The rule of law is a solution: if we are all equal subjects of law, then we plead our case before a court, rather than seek after blood.  A constitution, like ours, gives flesh to this conception. It might not be perfect: when it is not, we interpret it in the spirit of equality and non-violence rather than grievance and violence. No one can be above the law, and no one can be the judge in their own case. A constitutional order will depend upon judges who understands these fundamental ideas.

            The other day, Mrs. Alito gave us a good exhibition of revenge culture: “I’m German. I’m German.  My heritage is German.  You come after me, I’m going to give it back to you.  And there will be a way. It doesn’t have to be now. But there will be a way – they will know."  Those remarks about the delights of revenge related to her choice to fly an insurrectionist flag after Donald Trump's attempt to overthrow American constitutional order in January 2021.

            The political theory of Trump's coup attempt is that all that matters is the chieftain.  He does not have to win an election, because the chieftain has the right to rule simply because he is the chieftain.  Requiring Trump to win an election is thus a provocation.  The claim that he should leave office when he loses an election justifies revenge.  And of course retribution is Trump's platform.

            The legal theory of Trump's coup attempt, made explicit in argument before the Supreme Court, is that the chieftain is immune to law.  There is magic around the chieftain's person, such that he need respond only to himself.  The words "presidential immunity" are an incantation directed to directed to people in black robes, summoning them to act as the chieftain's shamans and confirm his magical status.

Some of the people in black robes, Supreme Court justices, like being shamans. Our shamans are allowed to take bribes from those who support the chieftain, and also allowed to claim that as magicians, people unlike others, they are unaffected by them. If there is any doubt, our shamans tell us, they can be trusted to be judges in their own case.

Shamans thus installed will protect their chieftain, and surround him with their magical aura. Unlike other courts, the Supreme Court can make things up as it goes along, and there has been a good deal of that lately, especially on the part of Mr. Alito. Its members can claim fidelity to the words of the Constitution, then cast all that aside when the chieftain is threatened.

            To contemplate "presidential immunity," as the shamans are now doing, is to cast aside the rule of law and summon up the ghost of revenge culture.  It is constitutionally ridiculous to say that the person whose responsibility is to execute the laws is above them. 

But the problem is deeper than that.  If any individual is untouched by law, that individual can be expected to shift the entire society back towards revenge.  Trump openly affirms this. His entire platform is retribution — retribution against others for the crime that he himself committed. Once we replace law with revenge, there will be no way to hold him back. And, as we know from experience, revenge culture quickly spreads. As we know from history, it takes on a certain political form.

            Mrs. Alito affirmed revenge culture as a German way of doing things. The context was America's Reichstag fire, Trump’s attempted coup of January 2021. She flew the insurrectionist flag, defending the chieftain’s Big Lie, and his magical claim to keep power regardless of reality and constitutional order.

The fascist attitude towards law was a modernization of the notion that the chieftain, the shamans, and the enemy who is to be attacked for our own crimes.  For the Nazis, this was the natural order to be restored. Because a constitutional order already existed, part of the restoration of revenge culture had to be carried out by the judges themselves.

Nazi legal theorists argued that politics was a matter of defining the enemy and choosing a side.  The rule of law was to yield to a special sort unrule, in which the chieftain defined politics by choosing an enemy to be blamed for his own crimes. Law would be whatever shielded the chieftain as he divided society, in what the Nazi legal theorists would then describe as a natural struggle for power.

Following the Nazi logic, sitting judges would reverse their previous role in a constitutional order, covering up the transformation with legalistic language. They would accept their role by warping law so that it served the chieftain, defining an us-and-them, rather than protecting everyone.

As a judge put it: "one side or the other is going to win."

            That was Mr. Alito.

[thesc00p]

The first two batches of unsealed court documents related to Jeffrey Epstein reveal that several high-profile individuals, including footnotes, had their names mentioned multiple times in various materials. 

Among them are two former US presidents, Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, and Prince Andrew, all of whom have been pictured with and known to associate with the disgraced financier in the past. Other names include lawyer Alan Dershowitz and magician David Copperfield. 

However, it is important to note that being identified through the court documents does not necessarily mean that the individual was involved in or aware of any wrongdoing by Epstein.

Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/jeffrey-epstein

[heartslight]

there's no helping the surprise that paints his face, eyes wide and jaw only slightly slacked. he just wasn't expecting someone outside of the usual cast of characters to be able of using magic! ❛ that was a pretty impressive spell! are you a wizard? ❜ what was donald's official title in king mickey’s court? the royal magician? yeah, he wasn't going to call @windbreakes that because that felt just a little silly. ❛ i didn't know there was someone in twilight town who practiced magic! ❜

[nonbinary-nahuyta]

Heads up I’ll be live-blogging 6-3 so if you want to avoid soj spoilers at all I tag it as aa6 and also aa6 spoilers anyway thoughts about 6-2 under the cut

First off, I’m so glad we got to see Trucy in her element! This case is exactly what the waa needed, an Apollo & Athena team focused on helping Trucy while Phoenix is off in Khura’in. Plus learning more about the Gramaryes was really nice too (even if it does feel a bit invented and contrived but hey it’s ace attorney I’m used to that by now)! I loved the de Famme twins, their names are the perfect puns (those umbrellas are super clever too) and Bonny learning to stand up for herself and take inspiration from Trucy just goes to show how much she influences everyone she interacts with.

Speaking of Trucy, seeing her constant smile slip and her actually cry was so… not nice because she was sad but releasing? Satisfying? I wish we got to see this bigger range of emotions from her. The Gramarye creed that she follows so closely is doing a number on her ability to express her emotions (think Donald and Goofy in Kingdom Hearts constantly grilling into Sora that he needs to smile, then apply that to the words of a revered biological family member). Then again anything Gramarye-related is going to give me brainrot so

Speaking of the Gramaryes, the flowers from Lamiroir are going to make me cry every time I think about them Retinz as a character makes my blood boil in the best way possible. I’m so impressed that they wrote a character that’s not only fun to hate, but also has (imo and this might just be recency bias) the best breakdown in the series so far as he tries to burn away his memories/ties to the Gramaryes and ends up burning himself in the process. Of course, I saw the twist from a mile away but it was fun nonetheless (I honestly thought he was going to be [redacted] as well and was like “wait they revealed him this early” but once I found out he was a magician it debunked my theory so.) I heard a snippet of his character theme in a video once and desperately wanted to listen to it in full, and now that I’ve played the case I can confidently say only the first bar does it for me, the rest is too subdued tbh

It was great to see Ema again too, especially now that she’s a full-fledged forensic investigator and can, in her own words, “freely take fingerprints whenever she wants”. I’m glad she retained her Snackoos and her model animations like her swaying when she’s thinking add so much character that the 2d sprites just couldn’t capture! Her interactions (or lack thereof since she’s so focused on her job) with Athena and Apollo are wonderful, and her weird needs-to-be-professional-but-the-other-person-is-in-a-higher-position-than-you-and-doesn’t-seem-to-want-anything-to-do-with-you relationship with the prosecutor is extremely interesting.

SPEAKING OF NAHYUTA I’m so happy to finally see my blog’s namesake onscreen! I knew I was gonna love him from the moment I saw him (also forgive if I accidentally use they for him, I saw that he was originally going to use neutral language and kinda ran with the idea which is how I got the blog name in the first place lmao). But how to express my deep love of this Khura’inist monk and international prosecutor who stood in line for an hour waiting for burgers (recommending a specific one in court without being prompted even) just because he delved deep into investigating a case and calls his childhood friend a stink bug and a red pepper just to rile him up?

Exactly like that. He seems so untouchable, but he’s endlessly fascinating and fascinated and in touch with himself and humanized despite intentionally projecting a persona of intense piety (Last Rites Prosecutor anyone) in that he’s almost overly passionate about whatever he throws himself into and intensely curious about Japanese/Japanifornian culture to the point where he’d probably use a case as an excuse to experience all the locals have to offer (which might also be related to his being an international prosecutor).

However, his interactions with his ol’ pal Apollo outside the courtroom are (and will probably be) the most interesting to me. As you can tell, I’ve been spoiled on the nature of their relationship but the game definitely leaves its hints so I’m not really going to call it something super spoilery per se. I’m excited to see just how well Apollo takes Nahyuta “not remembering” him and I’ve already thought about it way too hard so I’m gonna be severely disappointed when what’s in the game isn’t as dramatic as I’d imagined but such is the way of mediocre media with a ton of potential. Whether or not Nahyuta actually remembers Apollo or not remains to be seen and if it’s the first then that adds SO much more drama so it’s kinda what I’m hoping for ngl. That being said, idk if he’s my favorite prosecutor quite yet considering I haven’t spent much time with him, but he’s definitely in the running behind Franziska (especially after playing the Investigations duology) , Klavier, and Simon. Guess I’ll see how the rest of the game goes and make my judgements after the fact. And yes I’m going to be playing the shitty Larry dlc case because of course I am I wanna see Laurice again (especially after aai2-3).

[didierleclair]

THE DEMOCRATIC MASQUERADE IN THE WEST

Donald Trump, the Republican candidate and former President of the United States, managed to escape all the pitfalls on his road to a second chance to preside over the destiny of the United States of America.

Recently, a killer made an attempt on his life. I deplore all violence and this assassination attempt in particular. That said, I remain amazed by the luck of this man adored by his supporters.

His other great victory is having convinced the majority of the judges of the Supreme Court of his country that he could run again in the American elections of November 2024. This success can be described as the crown of his political career.

Indeed, on a personal level, it is a masterstroke. No president in modern American history who encouraged an insurrection at the Capitol (in 2021) has been able to embark on a second run for president.

The nation's highest court is giving Donald Trump enough time to seek re-election in November. If he wins, he will regain immunity from trial as president.

In simple words, the Supreme Court got rid of a problem that weighed heavily on the conscience of judges. Donald Trump appointed the majority of the members of this court. The judges were not ungrateful. This is a return of favor.

This is also the case for French President Emmanuel Macron. No resemblance in the ideology of the two men, even if Macron has no clear ideology. He was a minister in a socialist government and president in a right-wing government. He does what he wants.

Thus, despite the victory in the legislative elections of a left-wing coalition with the pompous title “The New Popular Front”, Emmanuel Macron refuses to appoint a Prime Minister from this victorious coalition. He takes his time; he calculates and smiles for pictures.

The victorious deputies are nervous. They fear that he will decide to set up an alliance with the losers to appoint a right-wing prime minister. It could also trigger article 16 of the French Constitution, which gives the president full powers in the event of a situation of danger for the republic and its institutions. General de Gaulle used it following the putch in Algeria in 1958.

This will lead to an outcry among left-wing politicians. They will knock on the door of the Constitutional Council, the equivalent of the Supreme Court, to examine whether the conditions for the establishment of full powers to the President of the Republic are legitimate.

Who appoints the members of the Constitutional Council? The President of the Republic, assisted by the President of the National Assembly and the Senate. However, Emmanuel Macron dissolved parliament.

Let us recap, if you like. Donald Trump has appointed many Supreme Court justices in the United States and Emmanuel Macron is responsible for choosing members of the Constitutional Court in France. These powers are at the heart of the question of democracy in the West. The independence of justice within these countries is not real, especially when it comes to political issues.

We are witnessing the iron dome of the West melting under the rays of the sun of truth. The more the building liquefies, the more we discover the workings that we are supposed to ignore. The magician let the rabbit out of the hat when he misplaced his magic wand.

Donald Trump never believed in the Supreme Court, in its objective role. This is why he appointed judges who think like him. Emmanuel Macron has no ideology. He also does not believe that the Constitutional Court can prevent him from reigning. We have two demagogues who have only one goal: power. They are ready to show the whole world that the West does not have a truly democratic system. The main thing is to gain power or stay on top.

Didier Leclair, writer

[raybeanschildrenslit]

The Legend of the First Unicorn - Traditional Tale

The Legend of the First Unicorn Lari Don, Nataša Ilinčić (Illustrator) Published 2020 by Kelpies - Floris Books

Published in 2020, The Legend of the First Unicorn follows the Scottish origin story of one of the most well-known mythical creatures in media and folklore/ mythology- the Unicorn. Don and Ilinčić introduce readers to a kingdom in which the young Prince- Donald- has not been able to smile in quite a long time. It’s up to the court magician to create something using magic to bring a smile to his face. Where the magician fails to create something worthy of the Prince, his child Hana actually manages to combine the right pieces to create the first unicorn. That evening and the following day, Hana and Prince Donald follow the Unicorn into the forest where they eventually find it coming face-to-face with a lion-headed beast. Prince Donald and the Unicorn protect each other until Hana can defeat the beast with a little magic and Prince Donald finds himself smiling once again.

In Vardell’s 2019 text- Children’s Literature in Action: A Librarian’s Guide (3rd ed.)- we are given evaluation criteria regarding children’s picture books such as characters, plot, setting, theme, style, illustrations, and cultural markers- let’s take a look(2019). As I mentioned previously, this is the Scottish origin story for the mythical Unicorn so we can mark the criteria of Cultural Markers because of this distinction and in knowing that different cultures have different stories to tell. Currently, the most mainstream interpretation of what a Unicorn looks like and symbolizes can be considered more Eurocentric given the traditional tales that shape a lot of Western perceptions of myths and legends and the like- with this in mind we can assume that similar entities should look and behave differently in Eastern/ Other cultures. Take a look at this article from the American Museum of Natural History: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/mythic-creatures/land/unicorns-west-and-east . We can also consider the criteria of Setting and Plot regarding the previously mentioned Cultural Markers. Each of these points ties into the Scottage heritage of this story. 

This could be a fantastic piece to tie into any classroom/ educational discussion on myths and legends- especially if there is going to be a focus on mythical creatures across different cultures. We could see this easily be displayed and discussed alongside dragons in talk of Western perspectives of these creatures and transition over to how they differ culturally and regionally from the East/ Other. I like the idea of making patrons interested and willing to learn and see how mythical creatures and tales and origin stories differ across time, space, and culture. Also, specifically with children, we love an art project- maybe coloring pages or drawing our own unicorns.

-Ray 11/20/2024

Don, L., & Ilinčić, N. (2020). Legend of the first unicorn. Kelpie - Floris Books.

Unicorns, West and East: AMNH. American Museum of Natural History. (n.d.). https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/mythic-creatures/land/unicorns-west-and-east 

Vardell, S.M. (2019). Children’s literature in action: A librarians’s guide (3rd ed.). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio.

[cygexcen]

In third batch of Epstein documents, a call from Harvey Weinstein, more famous men and disquieting details

The third round of documents from a lawsuit connected to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted pedophile who died in jail before he could face trial on federal sex-trafficking charges, was publicly released Friday.#Epstein  #EpsteinList #Epsteinadasi #EpsteinClientList EpsteinIsland EpsteinFiles EpsteinDocs

Friday’s release included over thirteen hundred pages as of mid-afternoon, and it follows hundreds of pages of documents already unsealed on Wednesday and Thursday, with more expected.

The unsealed documents are part of a 2015 civil defamation suit brought by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, an American woman who claimed Epstein sexually abused her as a minor and that Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend, aided in the abuse. The unsealing this week stems from a December 18 court order from the judge overseeing the lawsuit, a response to media’s legal efforts to publicly release the documents.

The documents in total, including material yet to be unsealed, are expected to include nearly 200 names, including some of Epstein’s accusers, prominent businesspeople, politicians and potentially more.

CNN is reviewing the documents.

Famous friends and acquaintances

A former Jeffrey Epstein employee recounted a litany of famous and influential people, including two former presidents, in Epstein’s orbit during a 2009 deposition unsealed on Friday.

Juan Alessi told attorneys that he had dinner with former president Donald Trump in the kitchen of Epstein’s Palm Beach home and met former president Bill Clinton on Epstein’s plane. He also said he met Prince Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, at the Palm Beach home, according to the deposition.

Alessi also said he met foreign beauty queens and an unnamed winner of a Nobel Prize in Chemistry, according to the document.

When asked on Wednesday about the appearance of Clinton’s name in an earlier batch of unsealed documents, a Clinton spokesman reiterated a 2019 statement that Clinton had flown on Epstein’s private plane but said Clinton knew nothing of the financier’s “terrible crimes.”

The spokesman said that it has now “been nearly 20 years since President Clinton last had contact with Epstein.” Clinton has not been accused of any crimes or wrongdoing related to Epstein.

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Trump has also not been accused of any crimes or wrongdoing with regard to Epstein. When asked earlier this week about Trump’s name appearing in the newly unsealed documents, a Trump spokesman reacted by attacking the media.

Alessi also spoke about the young women who came to the house to give Epstein massages.

Alessi answered questions about one female whom he understood to be under the age of 18. Her name was still redacted from the unsealed documents. Alessi said her mother would occasionally accompany her to Epstein’s home.

In terms of payment, “everybody got $100 an hour,” Alessi said.

Famed magician and illusionist David Copperfield is also among the high-profile men identified as a friend to Epstein.

Copperfield’s name is mentioned during deposition testimony released Friday of one of Epstein’s then-employees, Sarah Kellen. A lawyer for the plaintiffs asked about Epstein’s relationship with the illusionist and whether they recruit girls for each other. The lawyer questioned if Copperfield gives tickets to Epstein for young women when he is performing shows and if the girls are invited backstage after the shows.

To all questions, Kellen asserts her Fifth Amendment right and refuses to answer the question.

Copperfield is also named in a 2016 deposition released Wednesday by a woman who massaged Epstein for years in the early 2000s. She said she met the illusionist at a dinner at Epstein’s Palm Beach residence and testified it was her observation the two were friends.

Johanna Sjoberg testified in the deposition that Copperfield performed magic tricks while he was at the Palm Beach House and asked her what she knew about Epstein’s methods for procuring girls to work for him.

“He questioned me if I was aware that girls were getting paid to find other girls,” Sjoberg said.

Copperfield didn’t elaborate at the time, Sjoberg said.

She also said there was another girl at the house that “seemed young” at a dinner that included Copperfield. She recalled thinking at the time that the girl could have been in high school.

CNN has reached out to representatives for Copperfield for comment.

The name of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein appears in a 2005 handwritten note left for Epstein as well.

An unsealed legal document in a civil case related to Jeffrey Epstein shows a handwritten phone message saying Harvey Weinstein called. A close-up of that message is seen here.From Exhibit in Epstein-related litigation

Brad Edwards, Giuffre’s lawyer at one point, wrote a book titled “Relentless Pursuit: My Fight for the Victims of Jeffrey Epstein,” released in 2020, in which he discusses Weinstein’s involvement in Epstein’s world. Edwards wrote that Epstein told a victim he would introduce her to Weinstein. In another excerpt, Edwards wrote Epstein ended his relationship with Weinstein after he acted too aggressively with one of his “favorite girls.”

There is no implication of wrongdoing by Weinstein in connection to Epstein in the documents.

CNN has reached out to an attorney for Weinstein.

Weinstein, 71, remains in prison after being convicted on sex crimes charges in New York and California linked to allegations that he used his influence to lure women into private meetings, assault them and then silence any accusations.

Disquieting documents

Some of the documents are unsettling.

In a newly unsealed excerpt from a deposition of Nadia Marcinkova, an Epstein assistant who was accused in civil lawsuits of having perpetrated abuse alongside Epstein, an attorney asked her: “Were you with Jeffrey Epstein on his birthday when one of his friends sent to him 12 – sorry, three 12-year-olds for the purposes of Jeffrey Epstein sexually abusing them?”

He then asks if “these three 12-year-olds were from France. Were they sent to him on his birthday by Jean Luc Brunel or by somebody else?”

Marcinkova invoked the Fifth Amendment to that question and throughout her deposition, which includes multiple still-redacted names.

Brunel, a French modeling scout, died in a jail cell in 2022 while under investigation by French authorities for his ties to Epstein.

Virginia Giuffre has also recounted the story of 12-year-olds being sent to Epstein in her own court depositions.

Previous document releases included information about Epstein’s associates and accusers, though much of the information had previously been reported on by various media outlets or released through other court proceedings.

Giuffre and Maxwell settled their civil suit in 2017, but some court documents remained sealed until now.

Most of the documents from the suit were unsealed in 2019 – one day before Epstein died by suicide in jail.

Epstein was indicted in 2019 on federal charges of operating a sex trafficking ring in which he allegedly sexually abused dozens of underage girls.

Epstein died in jail while awaiting trial. Prosecutors in New York indicted Maxwell on sex trafficking charges involving multiple victims. She was convicted in 2021.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

Contributing: CNN’s Riley Gutiérrez McDermid, Kara Scannell and Curt Devine.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified the lawyer questioning Nadia Marcinkova, as well as Marcinkova’s relationship to Epstein. She was an Epstein assistant.

[nicklesonraison]

In third batch of Epstein documents, a call from Harvey Weinstein, more famous men and disquieting details

The third round of documents from a lawsuit connected to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted pedophile who died in jail before he could face trial on federal sex-trafficking charges, was publicly released Friday. #Epstein  #EpsteinList #Epsteinadasi #EpsteinClientList EpsteinIsland EpsteinFiles EpsteinDocs

Friday’s release included over thirteen hundred pages as of mid-afternoon, and it follows hundreds of pages of documents already unsealed on Wednesday and Thursday, with more expected.

The unsealed documents are part of a 2015 civil defamation suit brought by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, an American woman who claimed Epstein sexually abused her as a minor and that Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend, aided in the abuse. The unsealing this week stems from a December 18 court order from the judge overseeing the lawsuit, a response to media’s legal efforts to publicly release the documents.

The documents in total, including material yet to be unsealed, are expected to include nearly 200 names, including some of Epstein’s accusers, prominent businesspeople, politicians and potentially more.

CNN is reviewing the documents.

Famous friends and acquaintances A former Jeffrey Epstein employee recounted a litany of famous and influential people, including two former presidents, in Epstein’s orbit during a 2009 deposition unsealed on Friday.

Juan Alessi told attorneys that he had dinner with former president Donald Trump in the kitchen of Epstein’s Palm Beach home and met former president Bill Clinton on Epstein’s plane. He also said he met Prince Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, at the Palm Beach home, according to the deposition.

Alessi also said he met foreign beauty queens and an unnamed winner of a Nobel Prize in Chemistry, according to the document.

When asked on Wednesday about the appearance of Clinton’s name in an earlier batch of unsealed documents, a Clinton spokesman reiterated a 2019 statement that Clinton had flown on Epstein’s private plane but said Clinton knew nothing of the financier’s “terrible crimes.”

The spokesman said that it has now “been nearly 20 years since President Clinton last had contact with Epstein.” Clinton has not been accused of any crimes or wrongdoing related to Epstein.

Trump has also not been accused of any crimes or wrongdoing with regard to Epstein. When asked earlier this week about Trump’s name appearing in the newly unsealed documents, a Trump spokesman reacted by attacking the media.

Alessi also spoke about the young women who came to the house to give Epstein massages.

Alessi answered questions about one female whom he understood to be under the age of 18. Her name was still redacted from the unsealed documents. Alessi said her mother would occasionally accompany her to Epstein’s home.

In terms of payment, “everybody got $100 an hour,” Alessi said.

Famed magician and illusionist David Copperfield is also among the high-profile men identified as a friend to Epstein.

Copperfield’s name is mentioned during deposition testimony released Friday of one of Epstein’s then-employees, Sarah Kellen. A lawyer for the plaintiffs asked about Epstein’s relationship with the illusionist and whether they recruit girls for each other. The lawyer questioned if Copperfield gives tickets to Epstein for young women when he is performing shows and if the girls are invited backstage after the shows.

To all questions, Kellen asserts her Fifth Amendment right and refuses to answer the question.

Copperfield is also named in a 2016 deposition released Wednesday by a woman who massaged Epstein for years in the early 2000s. She said she met the illusionist at a dinner at Epstein’s Palm Beach residence and testified it was her observation the two were friends.

Johanna Sjoberg testified in the deposition that Copperfield performed magic tricks while he was at the Palm Beach House and asked her what she knew about Epstein’s methods for procuring girls to work for him.

“He questioned me if I was aware that girls were getting paid to find other girls,” Sjoberg said.

Copperfield didn’t elaborate at the time, Sjoberg said.

She also said there was another girl at the house that “seemed young” at a dinner that included Copperfield. She recalled thinking at the time that the girl could have been in high school.

CNN has reached out to representatives for Copperfield for comment.

The name of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein appears in a 2005 handwritten note left for Epstein as well.

The handwritten note, dated March 1, 2005, appears to be a telephone message left for Epstein that Weinstein attempted to call Epstein that morning. “She had on the phone Mr. Harvey Weinstein,” the message reads. It was included among nearly 200 written phone messages.

An unsealed legal document in a civil case related to Jeffrey Epstein shows a handwritten phone message saying Harvey Weinstein called. A close-up of that message is seen here. An unsealed legal document in a civil case related to Jeffrey Epstein shows a handwritten phone message saying Harvey Weinstein called. A close-up of that message is seen here. From Exhibit in Epstein-related litigation Brad Edwards, Giuffre’s lawyer at one point, wrote a book titled “Relentless Pursuit: My Fight for the Victims of Jeffrey Epstein,” released in 2020, in which he discusses Weinstein’s involvement in Epstein’s world. Edwards wrote that Epstein told a victim he would introduce her to Weinstein. In another excerpt, Edwards wrote Epstein ended his relationship with Weinstein after he acted too aggressively with one of his “favorite girls.”

There is no implication of wrongdoing by Weinstein in connection to Epstein in the documents.

CNN has reached out to an attorney for Weinstein.

Weinstein, 71, remains in prison after being convicted on sex crimes charges in New York and California linked to allegations that he used his influence to lure women into private meetings, assault them and then silence any accusations.

Disquieting documents Some of the documents are unsettling.

In a newly unsealed excerpt from a deposition of Nadia Marcinkova, an Epstein assistant who was accused in civil lawsuits of having perpetrated abuse alongside Epstein, an attorney asked her: “Were you with Jeffrey Epstein on his birthday when one of his friends sent to him 12 – sorry, three 12-year-olds for the purposes of Jeffrey Epstein sexually abusing them?”

He then asks if “these three 12-year-olds were from France. Were they sent to him on his birthday by Jean Luc Brunel or by somebody else?”

Marcinkova invoked the Fifth Amendment to that question and throughout her deposition, which includes multiple still-redacted names.

Brunel, a French modeling scout, died in a jail cell in 2022 while under investigation by French authorities for his ties to Epstein.

Virginia Giuffre has also recounted the story of 12-year-olds being sent to Epstein in her own court depositions.

Previous document releases included information about Epstein’s associates and accusers, though much of the information had previously been reported on by various media outlets or released through other court proceedings.

Giuffre and Maxwell settled their civil suit in 2017, but some court documents remained sealed until now.

Most of the documents from the suit were unsealed in 2019 – one day before Epstein died by suicide in jail.

Epstein was indicted in 2019 on federal charges of operating a sex trafficking ring in which he allegedly sexually abused dozens of underage girls.

Epstein died in jail while awaiting trial. Prosecutors in New York indicted Maxwell on sex trafficking charges involving multiple victims. She was convicted in 2021.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

Contributing: CNN’s Riley Gutiérrez McDermid, Kara Scannell and Curt Devine.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified the lawyer questioning Nadia Marcinkova, as well as Marcinkova’s relationship to Epstein. She was an Epstein assistant.

[ghtrrgwe]

Names in Jeffrey Epstein court documents unsealed

New York federal court documents containing previously hidden names of people associated in some way with the late notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein began being unsealed Wednesday evening.

Many of the more than 150 people named in the civil court filings that are in the process of being released 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.

They include victims of Epstein who testified at the criminal trial of his procurer and former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.

The documents were filed in connection with a Manhattan federal court lawsuit by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre against Maxwell.

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 long-standing abuse of girls and young women at residences in New York, the U.S. Virgin Islands and elsewhere.

Among the documents unsealed Wednesday was a deposition taken of Giuffre by lawyers for that suit and requests to take other depositions of other individuals by her lawyers.

One such request details how Maxwell in her deposition was unable to recall details about Epstein’s contacts with Britain’s Prince Andrew and former President Bill Clinton, who both had been friends of the pedophile.

Andrew in February 2022 agreed to settle out of court a lawsuit filed by Giuffre accusing him of sexually assaulting her when she was under the control of Epstein and Maxwell. Andrew has long denied her allegations, but his reputation has been wrecked because of them and because of his connection to Epstein.

Another Epstein accuser, Johanna Sjoberg, in a deposition unsealed Wednesday, was also asked about Clinton by Giuffre’s lawyer.

“Did Jeffrey ever talk to you about Bill Clinton?” Giuffre’s attorney asked

Sjoberg responded, “He said one time that Clinton likes them young, referring to girls.”

Clinton has never been accused of sexual misconduct with women or girls connected to Epstein.

A spokesman for Clinton, when asked for comment by NBC News, referred to a statement issued in 2019 that said he “knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he has been recently charged in New York.”

The same statement in 2019 said that Clinton had not spoken to Epstein “in well over a decade.”

Sjoberg in her deposition, was asked if she ever massaged Donald Trump, another former president, who at one point was friends with Epstein.

On one occasion, she testified, she was on a plane with Epstein, Maxwell and Giuffre that landed in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where Trump had casinos, after the plane’s pilots said they could not land in New York.

“Jeffrey said, Great, we’ll call up Trump and we’ll go to — I don’t recall the name of the casino, but — we’ll go to the casino,” Sjoberg said.

Sjoberg also testified about an incident involving Prince Andrew at Epstein’s home in Manhattan, when Maxwell went to a closet and pulled out a puppet of Andrew, and then brought it to where the prince was sitting with Giuffre on a couch, and someone suggested taking a photo.

“And so Andrew and Virginia sat on the couch, and they put the puppet, the puppet on her lap,” Sjoberg testified. “And so then I sat on Andrew’s lap, and I believe on my own volition, and they took the puppet’s hands and put it on Virginia’s breast, and so Andrew put his on mine.”

Sjoberg elsewhere testified that the magician David Copperfield was at a dinner at Epstein’s residence and that there was another young girl present.

Sjboberg said Copperfield “questioned me if I was aware that girls were getting paid to find other girls.”

Epstein was known to receive sexual massages from girls and young women, some of whom had been recruited by other women for that purpose.

In Maxwell’s deposition, which was filed Wednesday, she was asked about the billionaire Glenn Dubin, a co-founder of the Highbridge Capital hedge fund.

“Did you ever instruct [Giuffre] to have sex with Glenn” Dubin, Giuffre’s lawyer asked Maxwell.

Maxwell replied, “I have never instructed Virginia to have sex with anybody ever.”

Dubin’s spokesman in 2019 denied claims by Giuffre that Maxwell had ever instructed her to have sex with him.

Also mentioned in documents unsealed Wednesday was the late modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, Epstein’s onetime lawyer Alan Dershowitz and the late former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.

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.

In a statement Wednesday, Giuffre’s lawyer, Sigrid McCawley, said that since 2019, when Epstein was arrested and a federal appeals court issued a ruling about access to the court documents, “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.”

“Questions of who enabled and facilitated him and who participated in an operation that resulted in unspeakable harm and devastation to the lives of countless girls and young women quickly surfaced.  Some of those questions have been answered; many have not,” McCawley said. “Some justice for the survivors has, indeed, been achieved; not nearly enough as hoped for and deserved. 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.”

On Tuesday, New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, during an interview on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show,” said in regard 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 “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” show, quickly fired back at Rodgers in a tweet on the social media site X, formerly Twitter, 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.

— Additional reporting by CNBC’s Dawn Giel.

[shrek-ray]

In third batch of Epstein documents, a call from Harvey Weinstein, more famous men and disquieting details

#Epstein #EpsteinList #Epsteinadasi 

The third round of documents from a lawsuit connected to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted pedophile who died in jail before he could face trial on federal sex-trafficking charges, was publicly released Friday.

Friday’s release included over thirteen hundred pages as of mid-afternoon, and it follows hundreds of pages of documents already unsealed on Wednesday and Thursday, with more expected.

The unsealed documents are part of a 2015 civil defamation suit brought by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, an American woman who claimed Epstein sexually abused her as a minor and that Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend, aided in the abuse. The unsealing this week stems from a December 18 court order from the judge overseeing the lawsuit, a response to media’s legal efforts to publicly release the documents.

The documents in total, including material yet to be unsealed, are expected to include nearly 200 names, including some of Epstein’s accusers, prominent businesspeople, politicians and potentially more.

CNN is reviewing the documents.

Famous friends and acquaintances

A former Jeffrey Epstein employee recounted a litany of famous and influential people, including two former presidents, in Epstein’s orbit during a 2009 deposition unsealed on Friday.

Juan Alessi told attorneys that he had dinner with former president Donald Trump in the kitchen of Epstein’s Palm Beach home and met former president Bill Clinton on Epstein’s plane. He also said he met Prince Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, at the Palm Beach home, according to the deposition.

Alessi also said he met foreign beauty queens and an unnamed winner of a Nobel Prize in Chemistry, according to the document.

When asked on Wednesday about the appearance of Clinton’s name in an earlier batch of unsealed documents, a Clinton spokesman reiterated a 2019 statement that Clinton had flown on Epstein’s private plane but said Clinton knew nothing of the financier’s “terrible crimes.”

The spokesman said that it has now “been nearly 20 years since President Clinton last had contact with Epstein.” Clinton has not been accused of any crimes or wrongdoing related to Epstein.

Trump has also not been accused of any crimes or wrongdoing with regard to Epstein. When asked earlier this week about Trump’s name appearing in the newly unsealed documents, a Trump spokesman reacted by attacking the media.

Alessi also spoke about the young women who came to the house to give Epstein massages.

Alessi answered questions about one female whom he understood to be under the age of 18. Her name was still redacted from the unsealed documents. Alessi said her mother would occasionally accompany her to Epstein’s home.

In terms of payment, “everybody got $100 an hour,” Alessi said.

Famed magician and illusionist David Copperfield is also among the high-profile men identified as a friend to Epstein.

Copperfield’s name is mentioned during deposition testimony released Friday of one of Epstein’s then-employees, Sarah Kellen. A lawyer for the plaintiffs asked about Epstein’s relationship with the illusionist and whether they recruit girls for each other. The lawyer questioned if Copperfield gives tickets to Epstein for young women when he is performing shows and if the girls are invited backstage after the shows.

To all questions, Kellen asserts her Fifth Amendment right and refuses to answer the question.

Copperfield is also named in a 2016 deposition released Wednesday by a woman who massaged Epstein for years in the early 2000s. She said she met the illusionist at a dinner at Epstein’s Palm Beach residence and testified it was her observation the two were friends.

Johanna Sjoberg testified in the deposition that Copperfield performed magic tricks while he was at the Palm Beach House and asked her what she knew about Epstein’s methods for procuring girls to work for him.

“He questioned me if I was aware that girls were getting paid to find other girls,” Sjoberg said.

Copperfield didn’t elaborate at the time, Sjoberg said.

She also said there was another girl at the house that “seemed young” at a dinner that included Copperfield. She recalled thinking at the time that the girl could have been in high school.

CNN has reached out to representatives for Copperfield for comment.

The name of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein appears in a 2005 handwritten note left for Epstein as well.

The handwritten note, dated March 1, 2005, appears to be a telephone message left for Epstein that Weinstein attempted to call Epstein that morning. “She had on the phone Mr. Harvey Weinstein,” the message reads. It was included among nearly 200 written phone messages.

Brad Edwards, Giuffre’s lawyer at one point, wrote a book titled “Relentless Pursuit: My Fight for the Victims of Jeffrey Epstein,” released in 2020, in which he discusses Weinstein’s involvement in Epstein’s world. Edwards wrote that Epstein told a victim he would introduce her to Weinstein. In another excerpt, Edwards wrote Epstein ended his relationship with Weinstein after he acted too aggressively with one of his “favorite girls.”

There is no implication of wrongdoing by Weinstein in connection to Epstein in the documents.

CNN has reached out to an attorney for Weinstein.

Weinstein, 71, remains in prison after being convicted on sex crimes charges in New York and California linked to allegations that he used his influence to lure women into private meetings, assault them and then silence any accusations.

Disquieting documents

Some of the documents are unsettling.

In a newly unsealed excerpt from a deposition of Nadia Marcinkova, an Epstein assistant who was accused in civil lawsuits of having perpetrated abuse alongside Epstein, an attorney asked her: “Were you with Jeffrey Epstein on his birthday when one of his friends sent to him 12 – sorry, three 12-year-olds for the purposes of Jeffrey Epstein sexually abusing them?”

He then asks if “these three 12-year-olds were from France. Were they sent to him on his birthday by Jean Luc Brunel or by somebody else?”

Marcinkova invoked the Fifth Amendment to that question and throughout her deposition, which includes multiple still-redacted names.

Brunel, a French modeling scout, died in a jail cell in 2022 while under investigation by French authorities for his ties to Epstein.

Virginia Giuffre has also recounted the story of 12-year-olds being sent to Epstein in her own court depositions.

Previous document releases included information about Epstein’s associates and accusers, though much of the information had previously been reported on by various media outlets or released through other court proceedings.

Giuffre and Maxwell settled their civil suit in 2017, but some court documents remained sealed until now.

Most of the documents from the suit were unsealed in 2019 – one day before Epstein died by suicide in jail.

Epstein was indicted in 2019 on federal charges of operating a sex trafficking ring in which he allegedly sexually abused dozens of underage girls.

Epstein died in jail while awaiting trial. Prosecutors in New York indicted Maxwell on sex trafficking charges involving multiple victims. She was convicted in 2021.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

Contributing: CNN’s Riley Gutiérrez McDermid, Kara Scannell and Curt Devine.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified the lawyer questioning Nadia Marcinkova, as well as Marcinkova’s relationship to Epstein. She was an Epstein assistant.

[nicholeota]

Jeffrey Epstein's court files unsealed, Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew emerge as big names

Court documents with names of people linked to sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein were made public Wednesday (Jan 3). Former US president Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew – a member of the UK's royal family, as well as musician Michael Jackson and famed magician David Copperfield emerged as some of the big names.#Epstein  #EpsteinList #Epsteinadasi #EpsteinClientList EpsteinIsland EpsteinFiles EpsteinDocs A New York federal judge had earlier given orders for the release of the files as part of a lawsuit linked to Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell. She has been serving a 20-year jail prison sentence for crimes which she allegedly committed along with Epstein. A total of 943 pages were released by the court. Some of the people named have been accused of wrongdoing and others present on the list are either potential witnesses or those making allegations.

New York Judge Loretta Preska, while giving orders for making the names public, said that many of those who have been named in the lawsuit were already identified in Maxwell's criminal trial and by the media. The judge said that no objection was raised by others over the release of the documents.

'Clinton likes them young'

Ghislaine Maxwell, in a deposition, talked about Andrew's visit to Epstein’s Island which is located in the US Virgin Islands. Epstein has faced accusations of abusing many girls on this island. “Were you present on the island when Prince Andrew visited?” the investigators asked Maxwell. Responding in affirmation, she said, “I can only remember once.” Speaking about whether any girls were present on the island at that time, Maxwell said, “There were no girls on the island at all. No girls, no women, other than the staff who work at the house.” In one of the documents, a deposition given by Johanna Sjoberg was also included. Sjoberg was allegedly procured by Maxwell for performing sex acts on Epstein. In her deposition, Sjoberg said that Epstein “said one time that Clinton likes them young, referring to girls”.

Also read: Explained | Jeffrey Epstein scandal continues ‘beyond the grave’. Here’s all you need to know

The files also included Maxwell's testimony which confirmed that Clinton had travelled on the private jet of Epstein but added that she was not aware how many times. In the early 2000s, Clinton travelled on Epstein's plane for humanitarian trips to Africa and the former US president also praised the sex offender, calling him a committed philanthropist.

Michael Jackson, David Copperfield's Epstein connection

Sjoberg added that Michael Jackson as well as David Copperfield visited Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion. “Did you ever meet anybody famous when you were with Jeffrey? she was quizzed. “I met Michael Jackson … at [Epstein’s] house in Palm Beach,” she said. When questioned if she massaged Jackson, Sjoberg said: “I did not.” Talking about Copperfield, Sjoberg said that he came for dinner at one of the homes of Epstein and “he did some magic tricks”.

Watch: Joe Biden to speak at Valley Forge about US democracy

Sjoberg further replied in the affirmative when asked, “Did you observe David Copperfield to be a friend of Jeffrey Epstein’s?”

“He questioned me if I was aware that girls were getting paid to find other girls,” she added.

Epstein contacted Trump?

The document further included testimony in which Sjoberg said that she was informed by Epstein that he would contact Donald Trump while on their way to one of his casinos in New Jersey. "Jeffrey said, 'Great, we'll call up Trump'," Sjoberg testified after it was said by the pilots that their plane could not land in New York and needed to be stopped in Atlantic City, New Jersey. However, no alleged wrongdoing of Trump has been revealed in the documents. In 2019, Epstein was indicted on federal charges of running a sex trafficking ring in which dozens of underage girls were allegedly abused by him. Epstein, while waiting for trial in the prison, allegedly died by suicide. Meanwhile, Maxwell was indicted by the prosecutors on sex trafficking charges.

[dfe23q11]

Jeffrey Epstein's court files unsealed, Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew emerge as big names

Court documents with names of people linked to sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein were made public Wednesday (Jan 3). Former US president Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew – a member of the UK's royal family, as well as musician Michael Jackson and famed magician David Copperfield emerged as some of the big names.

A New York federal judge had earlier given orders for the release of the files as part of a lawsuit linked to Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell. She has been serving a 20-year jail prison sentence for crimes which she allegedly committed along with Epstein.

A total of 943 pages were released by the court. Some of the people named have been accused of wrongdoing and others present on the list are either potential witnesses or those making allegations.

Also read: Bill Clinton in list of 200 names linked to Jeffrey Epstein that will be released: Report

New York Judge Loretta Preska, while giving orders for making the names public, said that many of those who have been named in the lawsuit were already identified in Maxwell's criminal trial and by the media. The judge said that no objection was raised by others over the release of the documents.

'Clinton likes them young' Ghislaine Maxwell, in a deposition, talked about Andrew's visit to Epstein’s Island which is located in the US Virgin Islands. Epstein has faced accusations of abusing many girls on this island.

“Were you present on the island when Prince Andrew visited?” the investigators asked Maxwell. Responding in affirmation, she said, “I can only remember once.” Speaking about whether any girls were present on the island at that time, Maxwell said, “There were no girls on the island at all. No girls, no women, other than the staff who work at the house.”

In one of the documents, a deposition given by Johanna Sjoberg was also included. Sjoberg was allegedly procured by Maxwell for performing sex acts on Epstein. In her deposition, Sjoberg said that Epstein “said one time that Clinton likes them young, referring to girls”.

Also read: Explained | Jeffrey Epstein scandal continues ‘beyond the grave’. Here’s all you need to know

The files also included Maxwell's testimony which confirmed that Clinton had travelled on the private jet of Epstein but added that she was not aware how many times. In the early 2000s, Clinton travelled on Epstein's plane for humanitarian trips to Africa and the former US president also praised the sex offender, calling him a committed philanthropist.

Michael Jackson, David Copperfield's Epstein connection Sjoberg added that Michael Jackson as well as David Copperfield visited Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion. “Did you ever meet anybody famous when you were with Jeffrey? she was quizzed. “I met Michael Jackson … at [Epstein’s] house in Palm Beach,” she said.

When questioned if she massaged Jackson, Sjoberg said: “I did not.” Talking about Copperfield, Sjoberg said that he came for dinner at one of the homes of Epstein and “he did some magic tricks”.

Watch: Joe Biden to speak at Valley Forge about US democracy

Sjoberg further replied in the affirmative when asked, “Did you observe David Copperfield to be a friend of Jeffrey Epstein’s?”

“He questioned me if I was aware that girls were getting paid to find other girls,” she added.

Epstein contacted Trump? The document further included testimony in which Sjoberg said that she was informed by Epstein that he would contact Donald Trump while on their way to one of his casinos in New Jersey.

"Jeffrey said, 'Great, we'll call up Trump'," Sjoberg testified after it was said by the pilots that their plane could not land in New York and needed to be stopped in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

However, no alleged wrongdoing of Trump has been revealed in the documents. In 2019, Epstein was indicted on federal charges of running a sex trafficking ring in which dozens of underage girls were allegedly abused by him.

Epstein, while waiting for trial in the prison, allegedly died by suicide. Meanwhile, Maxwell was indicted by the prosecutors on sex trafficking charges.

#Epstein #EpsteinList #Epsteinadasi #EpsteinClientList EpsteinIsland EpsteinFiles EpsteinDocs

[df23efe]

Jeffrey Epstein's court files unsealed, Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew emerge as big names

Court documents with names of people linked to sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein were made public Wednesday (Jan 3). Former US president Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew – a member of the UK's royal family, as well as musician Michael Jackson and famed magician David Copperfield emerged as some of the big names.

A New York federal judge had earlier given orders for the release of the files as part of a lawsuit linked to Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell. She has been serving a 20-year jail prison sentence for crimes which she allegedly committed along with Epstein.

A total of 943 pages were released by the court. Some of the people named have been accused of wrongdoing and others present on the list are either potential witnesses or those making allegations.

Also read: Bill Clinton in list of 200 names linked to Jeffrey Epstein that will be released: Report

New York Judge Loretta Preska, while giving orders for making the names public, said that many of those who have been named in the lawsuit were already identified in Maxwell's criminal trial and by the media. The judge said that no objection was raised by others over the release of the documents.

'Clinton likes them young' Ghislaine Maxwell, in a deposition, talked about Andrew's visit to Epstein’s Island which is located in the US Virgin Islands. Epstein has faced accusations of abusing many girls on this island.

“Were you present on the island when Prince Andrew visited?” the investigators asked Maxwell. Responding in affirmation, she said, “I can only remember once.” Speaking about whether any girls were present on the island at that time, Maxwell said, “There were no girls on the island at all. No girls, no women, other than the staff who work at the house.”

In one of the documents, a deposition given by Johanna Sjoberg was also included. Sjoberg was allegedly procured by Maxwell for performing sex acts on Epstein. In her deposition, Sjoberg said that Epstein “said one time that Clinton likes them young, referring to girls”.

Also read: Explained | Jeffrey Epstein scandal continues ‘beyond the grave’. Here’s all you need to know

The files also included Maxwell's testimony which confirmed that Clinton had travelled on the private jet of Epstein but added that she was not aware how many times. In the early 2000s, Clinton travelled on Epstein's plane for humanitarian trips to Africa and the former US president also praised the sex offender, calling him a committed philanthropist.

Michael Jackson, David Copperfield's Epstein connection Sjoberg added that Michael Jackson as well as David Copperfield visited Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion. “Did you ever meet anybody famous when you were with Jeffrey? she was quizzed. “I met Michael Jackson … at [Epstein’s] house in Palm Beach,” she said.

When questioned if she massaged Jackson, Sjoberg said: “I did not.” Talking about Copperfield, Sjoberg said that he came for dinner at one of the homes of Epstein and “he did some magic tricks”.

Watch: Joe Biden to speak at Valley Forge about US democracy

Sjoberg further replied in the affirmative when asked, “Did you observe David Copperfield to be a friend of Jeffrey Epstein’s?”

“He questioned me if I was aware that girls were getting paid to find other girls,” she added.

Epstein contacted Trump? The document further included testimony in which Sjoberg said that she was informed by Epstein that he would contact Donald Trump while on their way to one of his casinos in New Jersey.

"Jeffrey said, 'Great, we'll call up Trump'," Sjoberg testified after it was said by the pilots that their plane could not land in New York and needed to be stopped in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

However, no alleged wrongdoing of Trump has been revealed in the documents. In 2019, Epstein was indicted on federal charges of running a sex trafficking ring in which dozens of underage girls were allegedly abused by him.

Epstein, while waiting for trial in the prison, allegedly died by suicide. Meanwhile, Maxwell was indicted by the prosecutors on sex trafficking charges.

#Epstein #EpsteinList #Epsteinadasi #EpsteinClientList EpsteinIsland EpsteinFiles EpsteinDocs

[zumirago]

In third batch of Epstein documents, a call from Harvey Weinstein, more famous men and disquieting details

The third round of documents from a lawsuit connected to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted pedophile who died in jail before he could face trial on federal sex-trafficking charges, was publicly released Friday.

#Epstein  #EpsteinList #Epsteinadasi #EpsteinClientList EpsteinIsland EpsteinFiles EpsteinDocs

Friday’s release included over thirteen hundred pages as of mid-afternoon, and it follows hundreds of pages of documents already unsealed on Wednesday and Thursday, with more expected.

The unsealed documents are part of a 2015 civil defamation suit brought by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, an American woman who claimed Epstein sexually abused her as a minor and that Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend, aided in the abuse. The unsealing this week stems from a December 18 court order from the judge overseeing the lawsuit, a response to media’s legal efforts to publicly release the documents.

The documents in total, including material yet to be unsealed, are expected to include nearly 200 names, including some of Epstein’s accusers, prominent businesspeople, politicians and potentially more.

CNN is reviewing the documents.

Famous friends and acquaintances A former Jeffrey Epstein employee recounted a litany of famous and influential people, including two former presidents, in Epstein’s orbit during a 2009 deposition unsealed on Friday.

Juan Alessi told attorneys that he had dinner with former president Donald Trump in the kitchen of Epstein’s Palm Beach home and met former president Bill Clinton on Epstein’s plane. He also said he met Prince Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, at the Palm Beach home, according to the deposition.

Alessi also said he met foreign beauty queens and an unnamed winner of a Nobel Prize in Chemistry, according to the document.

When asked on Wednesday about the appearance of Clinton’s name in an earlier batch of unsealed documents, a Clinton spokesman reiterated a 2019 statement that Clinton had flown on Epstein’s private plane but said Clinton knew nothing of the financier’s “terrible crimes.”

The spokesman said that it has now “been nearly 20 years since President Clinton last had contact with Epstein.” Clinton has not been accused of any crimes or wrongdoing related to Epstein.

Trump has also not been accused of any crimes or wrongdoing with regard to Epstein. When asked earlier this week about Trump’s name appearing in the newly unsealed documents, a Trump spokesman reacted by attacking the media.

Alessi also spoke about the young women who came to the house to give Epstein massages.

Alessi answered questions about one female whom he understood to be under the age of 18. Her name was still redacted from the unsealed documents. Alessi said her mother would occasionally accompany her to Epstein’s home.

In terms of payment, “everybody got $100 an hour,” Alessi said.

Famed magician and illusionist David Copperfield is also among the high-profile men identified as a friend to Epstein.

Copperfield’s name is mentioned during deposition testimony released Friday of one of Epstein’s then-employees, Sarah Kellen. A lawyer for the plaintiffs asked about Epstein’s relationship with the illusionist and whether they recruit girls for each other. The lawyer questioned if Copperfield gives tickets to Epstein for young women when he is performing shows and if the girls are invited backstage after the shows.

To all questions, Kellen asserts her Fifth Amendment right and refuses to answer the question.

Copperfield is also named in a 2016 deposition released Wednesday by a woman who massaged Epstein for years in the early 2000s. She said she met the illusionist at a dinner at Epstein’s Palm Beach residence and testified it was her observation the two were friends.

Johanna Sjoberg testified in the deposition that Copperfield performed magic tricks while he was at the Palm Beach House and asked her what she knew about Epstein’s methods for procuring girls to work for him.

“He questioned me if I was aware that girls were getting paid to find other girls,” Sjoberg said.

Copperfield didn’t elaborate at the time, Sjoberg said.

She also said there was another girl at the house that “seemed young” at a dinner that included Copperfield. She recalled thinking at the time that the girl could have been in high school.

CNN has reached out to representatives for Copperfield for comment.

The name of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein appears in a 2005 handwritten note left for Epstein as well.

The handwritten note, dated March 1, 2005, appears to be a telephone message left for Epstein that Weinstein attempted to call Epstein that morning. “She had on the phone Mr. Harvey Weinstein,” the message reads. It was included among nearly 200 written phone messages.

An unsealed legal document in a civil case related to Jeffrey Epstein shows a handwritten phone message saying Harvey Weinstein called. A close-up of that message is seen here. An unsealed legal document in a civil case related to Jeffrey Epstein shows a handwritten phone message saying Harvey Weinstein called. A close-up of that message is seen here. From Exhibit in Epstein-related litigation Brad Edwards, Giuffre’s lawyer at one point, wrote a book titled “Relentless Pursuit: My Fight for the Victims of Jeffrey Epstein,” released in 2020, in which he discusses Weinstein’s involvement in Epstein’s world. Edwards wrote that Epstein told a victim he would introduce her to Weinstein. In another excerpt, Edwards wrote Epstein ended his relationship with Weinstein after he acted too aggressively with one of his “favorite girls.”

There is no implication of wrongdoing by Weinstein in connection to Epstein in the documents.

CNN has reached out to an attorney for Weinstein.

Weinstein, 71, remains in prison after being convicted on sex crimes charges in New York and California linked to allegations that he used his influence to lure women into private meetings, assault them and then silence any accusations.

Disquieting documents Some of the documents are unsettling.

In a newly unsealed excerpt from a deposition of Nadia Marcinkova, an Epstein assistant who was accused in civil lawsuits of having perpetrated abuse alongside Epstein, an attorney asked her: “Were you with Jeffrey Epstein on his birthday when one of his friends sent to him 12 – sorry, three 12-year-olds for the purposes of Jeffrey Epstein sexually abusing them?”

He then asks if “these three 12-year-olds were from France. Were they sent to him on his birthday by Jean Luc Brunel or by somebody else?”

Marcinkova invoked the Fifth Amendment to that question and throughout her deposition, which includes multiple still-redacted names.

Brunel, a French modeling scout, died in a jail cell in 2022 while under investigation by French authorities for his ties to Epstein.

Virginia Giuffre has also recounted the story of 12-year-olds being sent to Epstein in her own court depositions.

Previous document releases included information about Epstein’s associates and accusers, though much of the information had previously been reported on by various media outlets or released through other court proceedings.

Giuffre and Maxwell settled their civil suit in 2017, but some court documents remained sealed until now.

Most of the documents from the suit were unsealed in 2019 – one day before Epstein died by suicide in jail.

Epstein was indicted in 2019 on federal charges of operating a sex trafficking ring in which he allegedly sexually abused dozens of underage girls.

Epstein died in jail while awaiting trial. Prosecutors in New York indicted Maxwell on sex trafficking charges involving multiple victims. She was convicted in 2021.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

Contributing: CNN’s Riley Gutiérrez McDermid, Kara Scannell and Curt Devine.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified the lawyer questioning Nadia Marcinkova, as well as Marcinkova’s relationship to Epstein. She was an Epstein assistant.

[sjaiogha]

Read the Jeffrey Epstein Documents in Full  #Epstein #EpsteinList #Epsteinadasi  https://www.newsweek.com/read-jeffrey-epstein-documents-full-1857679

Previously sealed court documents identifying people associated with disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were made public on Wednesday.

The 943 pages of court filings are related to a lawsuit by Virginia Giuffre, an alleged sex trafficking victim, against Epstein's longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was found guilty in 2021 of conspiring with the financier and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Maxwell was accused of luring girls to Epstein's various homes for him to abuse. She has maintained her innocence and has appealed her conviction.

Epstein, who was accused of preying on underage girls as young as 14, died at the age of 66 in a jail cell of suicide before he could stand trial in Manhattan on sex trafficking charges. Authorities determined he hanged himself. He always denied any wrongdoing.

At the time, he was already a convicted sex offender after being found guilty by a Florida state court in 2008 of one count of soliciting prostitution and one count of soliciting prostitution from a minor.

The documents, whose release was ordered by a New York judge in December, reveal the names of over 70 people who associated with Epstein during his life, four of which are redacted. The names include celebrities and officials like Michael Jackson, magician David Copperfield and former U.S. president Bill Clinton.

They also contain excerpts of depositions and motions in the case against Maxwell which shed light on her relation with Epstein and answer claims made against several of his associates, including Britain's Prince Andrew.

Read the unsealed Epstein documents in full here.

Most of the names revealed in the unsealed documents were already known to the public. While the release of the files were much anticipated, the documents do not contain a "smoking gun" against those who associated with Epstein. They don't contain any evidence or allegation of wrongdoing linked to these people, who are simply considered to have associated with Epstein.

The disgraced millionaire, who had become a millionaire thanks to his law firm called J Epstein and Co, founded in the early 1980s, was known to have a wide circle of friends among celebrities, politicians and other high-profile figures.

Clinton, who was not accused of any wrongdoing by Giuffre, has consistently said he was not aware at the time he associated with Epstein of the disgraced financier's crimes.

Former president Donald Trump, who's currently the frontrunner of the Republican primary for this year's presidential election, was also named in the court documents released on Wednesday. He is not accused of any wrongdoing linked to Epstein's criminal activity.