The initial tranche includes 40 previously undisclosed documents with almost 1,000 pages of depositions and statements, with the final batch expected to name prominent individuals.
A New York judge on Wednesday began to unseal a tranche of documents containing the identities of people linked to Jeffrey Epstein, the financier who committed suicide in 2019 as he awaited trial for sex crimes.
Speculation has been rife in recent weeks that a judge was about to release a list of clients or alleged co-conspirators of Epstein.
And on Wednesday, the judge began the process of unveiling the documents.
The great majority of those whose names appear in the documents aren't accused of wrongdoing or have been mentioned previously in legal proceedings.
The reveal is part of a defamation proceeding between Epstein's former mistress, Ghislaine Maxwell, and a plaintiff against the pair, Virginia Giuffre.
Last month a judge listed some 180 cases — under pseudonyms — ordering that their identities be made public within 14 days, meaning the early part of January.
Who was Jeffrey Epstein?
Epstein was arrested in New Jersey on sex trafficking charges in July 2019. The 66-year-old was found dead in his jail cell two weeks later, with medical examiners stating the death was a suicide.
Epstein was connected to numerous famous people, most notably former US Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump and the UK's Prince Andrew.
Disgraced British socialite, Ghislaine Maxwell, who was also an associate and one-time girlfriend of Epstein, was convicted on five counts of sex trafficking by a New York court in December 2021 before getting a 20-year jail term in June 2022.
Source: Dw
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