On Wednesday, a judge unsealed a new set of filings from a court case tied to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a tranche that’s been colloquially — and misleadingly — referred to as “the list.”
Even before their release, the documents reignited long-gestating conspiracy theories about prominent figures who were once in Epstein’s orbit, including former President Bill Clinton and GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, while providing both Democrats and Republicans with a new opportunity to attempt to link their opponents with Epstein’s crimes.
Because the documents were misrepresented on social media as a “list” of potential Epstein clients or co-conspirators, there was a major focus on who and what they would expose and whether prominent Epstein associates would be explicitly tied to his trafficking of minors. In reality, many people referenced in these documents are not accused of wrongdoing, and the filings are not a “client list” as some surmised.
Instead, the “list” is actually dozens of documents from a 2015 court case filed by Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre against his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, who has been convicted of child sex trafficking. These documents reference roughly 150 of Epstein’s associates, including Clinton and Trump, but don’t provide significant new information so much as they offer a more in-depth look at the people in Epstein’s circles.
Despite the lack of revelations thus far, political actors, particularly those on the right, remain eager to utilize the information in these filings to continue amplifying the conspiracy theories they’ve long promoted.
What is the “Epstein list”?
Following a request from the Miami Herald, the judge in the Maxwell case, Loretta Preska, ruled in favor of unsealing the documents from a defamation case against Maxwell, arguing that much of the information was already public.
Epstein, a millionaire businessman charged with sex trafficking, and…
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