- Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan ruled on Thursday to unseal more than 80 documents that Ghislaine Maxwell had wanted to keep under wraps
- Preska said the documents – which will run to hundreds of pages – should be made public within a week
- They include flight logs from Epstein’s jets, a deposition in 2016 in which Maxwell’s lawyers said she was asked ‘intrusive’ questions about her sex life
- The documents also include police reports from Palm Beach, Florida, where Epstein had a home
- It will include communications between Maxwell and Epstein from January 2015 when Virginia Roberts Giuffre made allegations about them in court papersÂ
- In the papers Giuffre claimed she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew three times when she was just 17 at Epsteinâs command
- The documents were part of a defamation lawsuit brought by Giuffre against Maxwell, which was confidentially settled in 2017
- The case is separate from the criminal proceedings against Maxwell, who is accused of procuring girls as young as 14 for Epstein to abuse
By DANIEL BATES FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
A judge today has ordered the unsealing of a vast tranche of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, which could shed light on his friendship with powerful men accused of having sex with his victims.
Judge Loretta Preska said that 80 documents – which will run to hundreds of pages – should be made public within a week.
The documents will include depositions from Ghislaine Maxwell, which could explain her alleged role in Epsteinâs sex trafficking operation.
They could include details about Maxwellâs sex life that her lawyers have previously tried to stop from being released, relating to a seven-hour, 418-page deposition Maxwell gave which her legal team said was âextremely personal, confidentialâ.
In filings Maxwellâs lawyers have called the depositions a âseries of (efforts) to compel Maxwell to answer intrusive questions about her sex life’.
The documents will also include communications between Maxwell and Epstein from January 2015 when Virginia Roberts made explosive allegations about them in court papers.
In the papers Roberts claimed she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew three times when she was just 17 at Epsteinâs command.
The case is separate from the criminal proceedings against Maxwell, 58, who is accused by federal prosecutors of procuring girls as young as 14 for Epstein to abuse. She has pleaded not guilty and is due to stand trial next year.
A judge today has ordered the unsealing of a vast tranche of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein , which could shed light on his friendship with powerful men accused of having sex with his victims. The documents will include depositions from Ghislaine Maxwell , which could explain her alleged role in Epsteinâs sex trafficking operation
They include flight logs from Epstein’s jets, a deposition in 2016 in which Maxwell’s lawyers said she was asked ‘intrusive’ questions about her sex life. The documents also include police reports from Palm Beach, Florida, where Epstein had a home
Although the case is separate from Maxwell’s criminal case, one of the unsealed deposition documents is linked to her perjury charge.
The case ruled on Thursday was originally brought by Roberts, now a 36-year-old mother-of-three who lives in Australia and goes by her married name Virginia Giuffre.
She sued Maxwell in 2015 for defamation because Maxwell accused her of lying.
Roberts said in court filings that Maxwell recruited her and other girls into a sex trafficking ring for âpolitically connected and financially powerful peopleâ.
The case was settled in 2017 for an undisclosed sum but media organizations sued for documents in the case to be made public.
Judge Loretta Preska said that 80 documents – which will run to hundreds of pages – should be made public within a week
During the hearing at Manhattanâs federal court, Judge Preska said Maxwellâs right to privacy was outweighed by the need for the documents to become public.
She went through the dozens of documents, which included Giuffre’s depositions and various dull-sounding legal papers.
The contents however could be explosive and may contain fresh evidence against the wealthy elite who socialized with Epstein.
After the ruling Maxwellâs lawyer Laura Menninger asked for a two week delay in the unsealing so they could file an appeal in the Second Circuit in New York.
Menninger said: âThere have been some significant changes with respect to my clientâs positions and perhaps known to everyone listening to this, while we were speaking about a potential ongoing criminal investigation (before), since that time Miss Maxwell has been indicted and a trial has been scheduled.
âNow we are in a vastly different position and have grave concerns about our clients ability to receive a fair trial given the intense media scrutiny around anything that is unsealedâ.
Giuffreâs lawyer Sigrid McCawley said she wanted the documents made public âas swiftly as possibleâ.
Judge Preska said if the Second Circuit had not ruled within a week then the files should be made public.