A trove of documents related to the child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was has been released by the US justice department. Comprised of thousands of files, the cache shows photographs of the late financier and his accomplice, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, alongside some of the most significant figures from the last century.
The images help illustrate the relationships Epstein and Maxwell forged with royalty, politicians, musicians and actors.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year jail sentence for child sex trafficking and Epstein died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial. He was convicted of child sex offences in a separate case in 2008.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
There are several pictures of Mounbatten-Windsor in the cache of files released on Friday, appearing to show how he gave Epstein and Maxwell access to British high society.
One undated picture shows the former prince, now 65, reclining across the legs of five women, with Maxwell smiling down at him. Sky News said on Saturday it believed the picture was taken at Sandringham, the royal estate in Norfolk where King Charles and his family will this week spend Christmas. The broadcaster said it had cross-referenced the image with other pictures taken there.
Another photograph, believed to have been taken in June 2000, shows the trio in the royal box at Ascot. A third image appears to show them hunting at Balmoral, the Scottish home of the royal family, but it is unclear when it was taken.
Bill Clinton
Clinton, who served as president of the US between 1993 and 2001, is pictured in several of the images released on Friday. The 79-year-old is shown relaxing in a hot tub and swimming in a pool. In other photos, he poses with Maxwell, the musicians Michael Jackson, Diana Ross and Mick Jagger and the actor Kevin Spacey. Like many of the images in the cache of documents, they are not dated.
Clinton socialised with Epstein in the late 1990s and early 2000s, before the financier’s first arrest. Clinton has not been accused of wrongdoing by any survivors of Epstein’s abuse and has always denied knowledge of the late financier’s child sex offending.
Angel Ureña, Clinton’s spokesperson, said the photographs were more than 20 years old and that the politician had ended his friendship with Epstein when his crimes emerged.
“There are two types of people here,” Ureña said. “The first group knew nothing and cut Epstein off before his crimes came to light. The second group continued relationships with him after. We’re in the first. No amount of stalling by people in the second group will change that.”
Peter Mandelson
Mandelson, who was recently sacked as the UK’s ambassador to the US after details about his friendship with Epstein emerged, is pictured looking on as Epstein blows out candles on a large birthday cake. Although the image was part of the cache of documents released on Friday, it has been published before.
The Labour peer, 72, is understood to have been close to Epstein since the early 2000s, describing him in a 50th birthday message as “my best pal”. Epstein was introduced to the then British prime minister, Tony Blair, in May 2002 in a meeting understood to have been facilitated by Mandelson, a former MP and cabinet minister.
Mandelson chose to continue his friendship with Epstein after the financier’s conviction for child sex offences in 2008, encouraging him to “fight for early release”. In September, shortly before he was forced out as ambassador, Mandelson said: “I regret very, very deeply indeed carrying on that association with him for far longer than I should have done.”
Michael Jackson
The singer is pictured posing with Epstein next to a large painting in an image released on Friday. In a separate picture published as part of the cache of documents, he appears next to Clinton and fellow singer Diana Ross.
The pictures of Jackson have not been dated by the justice department and it is unclear where they were taken. There is no suggestion Jackson was aware of, or involved in, any of Epstein’s crimes.
Mick Jagger
The 82-year-old lead singer of the Rolling Stones is pictured with Clinton and an unidentified woman. The woman’s face has been redacted, but the trio appear to be in cocktail attire. The US justice department did not reveal where or when the photograph is supposed to have been taken.
Jagger has not yet responded to the release, but there is no suggestion he was involved with, or aware of, Epstein’s crimes.
Kevin Spacey
The actor is pictured in a group with Maxwell and Clinton in Winston Churchill’s war rooms, the secret underground meeting place for the British cabinet during the second world war. This image is understood to have been taken in 2002, when Clinton travelled to the UK to address the Labour party conference.
There is no information to suggest Spacey, 66, was involved with, or aware of, Maxwell and Epstein’s crimes and he has not yet made any comment on the documents.
Separately, Spacey was acquitted of nine sexual offences during a criminal case in 2023.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.theguardian.com ’
