On Wednesday and Thursday, a decide unsealed new units of filings from a courtroom case tied to deceased intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein, a tranche that’s been colloquially — and misleadingly — known as “the record.”

Even earlier than their launch, the paperwork reignited long-gestating conspiracy theories about outstanding figures who had been as soon as in Epstein’s orbit, together with former President Invoice Clinton and GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, whereas offering each Democrats and Republicans with a brand new alternative to try to hyperlink their opponents with Epstein’s crimes.

As a result of the paperwork had been misrepresented on social media as a “record” of potential Epstein shoppers or co-conspirators, there was a serious deal with who and what they might expose and whether or not outstanding Epstein associates can be explicitly tied to his trafficking of minors. In actuality, many individuals referenced in these paperwork should not accused of wrongdoing, and the filings are not a “shopper record” as some surmised.

As a substitute, the “record” is definitely dozens of paperwork from a 2015 courtroom case filed by Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre in opposition to his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, who has been convicted of kid intercourse trafficking. These paperwork reference roughly 150 of Epstein’s associates, together with Clinton and Trump, however don’t present vital new info a lot as they provide a extra in-depth take a look at the folks in Epstein’s circles and an in depth view of the scope of his abuse.

Regardless of the shortage of revelations to this point, political actors, notably these on the best, stay desirous to make the most of the data in these filings to proceed amplifying the conspiracy theories they’ve lengthy promoted.

What’s the “Epstein record”?

Following a request from the Miami Herald, the decide within the Maxwell case, Loretta Preska, dominated in favor of unsealing the paperwork from a defamation case in opposition to Maxwell, arguing that a lot of the data was already public.

Epstein, a millionaire businessman charged with intercourse trafficking, and Maxwell, a former socialite and longtime confidant of Epstein, have confronted quite a few allegations they contributed to the sexual abuse and assault of minors and helped different highly effective people do the identical. Epstein’s dying, which was dominated a suicide by federal authorities, occurred in jail whereas he was awaiting trial.

The unsealed paperwork (which retain some redactions) come from a wide range of courtroom filings, emails, police reviews, and depositions with figures key to the case, together with former staff and victims of Epstein and Maxwell in addition to law enforcement officials.

The depositions particularly include accusations of sexual misconduct by figures in Epstein and Maxwell’s circles, narratives on how Maxwell and others in Epstein’s make use of recruited women and younger ladies to work at Epstein’s properties, and particulars of intercourse acts not less than a few of these recruited had been coerced into, typically below the guise of giving massages or taking part in lingerie modeling jobs.

Accounts given to Florida regulation enforcement as a part of their mid-2000s investigation into Epstein embody interviews with a number of folks, a lot of them minors, who had been coerced into intercourse acts. Of their statements to police, they describing giving massages to Epstein that turned unexpectedly sexual, with some saying they got cash to recruit others. Collectively, they element a sample of sexual abuse by which Epstein masturbated and sexually assaulted people throughout the massages, typically, by which verbal threats had been made as a way to cowl up the abuse.

Who’s talked about and what did we find out about them?

There are a selection of well-known politicians and celebrities who’re talked about. Along with Clinton and Trump, the UK’s Prince Andrew, former New Mexico Gov. Invoice Richardson, and former Sen. George Mitchell, amongst others, make appearances. Clinton and Trump have additionally fielded allegations of sexual misconduct unrelated to Epstein, although not everybody talked about has.

• Invoice Clinton, who is understood to have taken a number of airplane journeys with Epstein, is talked about, although the references don’t element wrongdoing. Epstein accuser Johanna Sjoberg testified as a part of the case and stated that Epstein instructed her that “Clinton likes them younger,” however that she wasn’t conscious of Clinton partaking in any sexual contact with minors at Epstein’s invitation.

A Clinton spokesperson has stated that the previous president had no information of Epstein’s crimes and that he had not contacted Epstein in additional than a decade.

• Donald Trump is talked about. Sjoberg testified that Epstein as soon as mentioned going to a on line casino in Atlantic Metropolis with him, although the references don’t element wrongdoing. In 2002, Trump beforehand stated that he had identified Epstein for “15 years” and that he was a “terrific man” who “likes lovely ladies as a lot as I do, and plenty of of them are on the youthful facet.” In 2019, he distanced himself from Epstein after allegations of intercourse trafficking got here out, saying he was “not a fan.”
• Prince Andrew seems in Sjoberg’s deposition; she accused him of groping her breast, allegations that Buckingham Palace has beforehand denied. Sjoberg added that somebody took {a photograph} of the groping and that she was ushered out of the room after it occurred, whereas Giuffre remained with Andrew.

Prince Andrew has additionally individually settled a case with Giuffre, who has accused him of sexual abuse, which he denied.

• Legal professional and former Trump impeachment counsel Alan Dershowitz is talked about and accused of getting sexual relations with a minor known as Jane Doe #3 within the paperwork and witnessing the abuse of further women. Dershowitz has posted a video denying these allegations.

Beforehand, Giuffre had additionally accused Dershowitz of sexual misconduct towards her, although she later dropped the allegations and said that she “might have made a mistake” figuring out Dershowitz. Notably, in 2008, Dershowitz additionally helped Epstein negotiate a plea deal over expenses he confronted for soliciting a minor for prostitution that resulted from the mid-2000s investigation in Florida.

• Different well-known names talked about embody magician David Copperfield, who allegedly spoke with Sjoberg about whether or not women had been being paid to search out different women and isn’t accused of any wrongdoing. Jean-Luc Brunel, a deceased modeling scout, is one other particular person Giuffre stated she was pressured to have sexual relations with and is cited as somebody who helped purchase and farm women out to Epstein. Richardson and Mitchell are additionally folks whom Giuffre says she was pressured to have sexual relations with; each denied these allegations. Giuffre explicitly references Richardson in a deposition, whereas Mitchell is talked about as a witness of curiosity.

What’s the significance of the “record” and does it matter?

The paperwork refocus the highlight on Epstein in addition to the highly effective males related to him, elevating recent questions on their involvement along with his crimes. That different paperwork stay sealed and Epstein isn’t accessible to supply his firsthand account solely add to the uncertainty inherent in these questions and provide new gas to conspiracy theories.

On the best, Epstein’s dying by suicide has been a central supply of conspiracy fodder, together with in bolstering unfounded claims that Epstein is an instance of the Clintons having their political enemies killed. Moreover, the far proper has tried to make use of Epstein’s ties to varied Democrats to push unsubstantiated claims concerning the get together selling a pedophilia ring, a conspiracy concept often called QAnon, which has been used to spice up help for Trump.

As Vox’s Anna North has defined, these on the left have linked Epstein’s dying to unfounded claims of Trump orchestrating the deaths of his political foes as effectively. Moreover, there have been efforts to make use of Trump’s historical past of sexual assault and rape allegations to recommend he was a direct participant in Epstein’s crimes.

The conspiracies have even ensnared these with nothing to do with the Epstein case. In a Tuesday look on ESPN, soccer participant Aaron Rodgers steered Jimmy Kimmel might be named within the paperwork. Rodgers’s Kimmel reference adopted a joke the late-night host had beforehand made calling Rodgers a “tin-foil hatter” for fueling hypothesis concerning the Epstein record.

Kimmel was fast to assert Rodgers’s feedback had severe fallout. “Your reckless phrases put my household at risk,” Kimmel stated in a social media assertion.

Because the Pizzagate state of affairs in 2016 highlighted, these conspiracy theories can have real-world penalties and implications. That yr, web trolls on the best promoted a false conspiracy concept that outstanding Democrats had fashioned a sex-trafficking ring focusing on kids and that they used pizza institutions like Comet Ping Pong in Washington, DC, to take action. Due to this, the restaurant suffered vital harassment and noticed a gunman go to its premises and hearth inside.

To this point, the Epstein conspiracies have but to end in comparable penalties, although there are issues they may gas misinformation and equally charged situations amid the extremely polarized political atmosphere of the 2024 election.

Replace, January 5, 12:30 pm ET: This story was initially revealed on January 4 and has been up to date with info from new paperwork that had been launched.