Hundreds of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have been released by a New York court, with damning claims about a series of high profile establishment names.
Newly released evidence from a defamation case in the US names former American President Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew among dozens of people alleged to have been associates of the sex-trafficker.
Epstein socialised with Wall Street titans, royalty and celebrities before pleading guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008.
He took his own life in 2019 at age 66 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.
Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
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The names of more than 150 people mentioned in a lawsuit by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's most prominent accusers, were kept under seal for years until a federal judge ruled last month that there was no legal justification to keep them private.
The bombshell documents show Epstein accuser Johanna Sjoberg claimed she was told Bill Clinton "liked them young" and that Prince Andrew put his hand on her breast to pose for a photo.
Both Clinton and Andrew have always denied any wrongdoing.
The 42nd President, who was in the White House between 1993 and 2001, is mentioned several times in hundreds of pages of newly-released court documents.
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US President Bill Clinton poses for photographs after addressing the nation from the Oval Office in the White House 10 June, 1999,
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A spokesman for Clinton said in 2019 that the 77-year-old knew Epstein and had used his private jet.
However, he denied knowledge of his sex crimes and Giuffre’s claims that he visited the financier’s private island.
In the deposition released on Wednesday, Sjoberg was asked: “Do you know if Bill Clinton was a friend of Jeffrey Epstein?”
The 43-year-old replied: “I knew he had dealings with Bill Clinton. I did not know they were friends until I read the Vanity Fair article about them going to Africa together.”
Jeffrey Epstein
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When asked about what Epstein said about Clinton, Sjoberg added: "He said one time that Clinton likes them young, referring to girls."
More documents are expected to be unsealed or unredacted in the coming days.
Former President Donald Trump, who is seeking to return to the White House in November, was also named on multiple occasions.
However, both Trump and Clinton were at no point accused of any wrongdoing.
Donald Trump, Melania Trump ,Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
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Michael Jackson and David Copperfield were among the other names contained in court documents.
Ghislaine Maxwell, who Giuffre's lawsuit is being brought against, is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role as a recruiter for Epstein.
The defamation case was settled in 2017 after Giuffre sued Maxwell for branding her a liar over her claims that she was sexually abused as a minor.
Maxwell's lawyers are appealing against the sentence, adding: "She has consistently and vehemently maintained her innocence."
