The judge who oversaw the 2016 defamation case against Ghislaine Maxwell, the disgraced former associate of Jeffrey Epstein, filed by one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, has ordered the release of more court documents which will unveil the identities of several people who had heretofore attempted to keep their names a secret.
The case has already been settled, and many of the names have already come out through subsequent court proceedings or other means, the judge said. One of the “John Does” is Maxwell’s former personal assistant, who faces her own accusations as well, and at least one of them is a victim who has publicly discussed her experiences.
For these reasons, Judge Loretta Preska determined on Friday that public interest outweighed privacy concerns and that much of the “purportedly sensitive information” had already come to light during Maxwell’s 2021 trial. She therefore ordered the release of more documents.
Currently, those individuals are referred to in court documents as Does 12, 28, 97, 107, 144, 147, 171, and 183.
One of the names revealed is that of Tom Pritzker, a billionaire and the executive chairman of Hyatt Hotels. He is also a cousin of the Democrat governor of Illinois, J. B. Pritzker. Tom Pritzker had fought to keep his name concealed, but Preska dismissed his reasoning. Though his name did come up in a deposition, Preska said, a witness in the deposition said he or she did not recognize Pritzker.
Giuffre has previously alleged that Epstein and Maxwell forced her to have sex with Pritzker and other high-profile men, including Prince Andrew of Britain; Bill Richardson, the former Democrat governor of New Mexico; and Glenn Dubin, a wealthy hedge-fund manager, the Daily Beast reports. All of the men have denied the accusations against them.
The documents also release the name of Emmy Tayler, Maxwell’s former assistant. Preska elected to release documents with Tayler’s name because she had already been mentioned in other court documents. Tayler had also filed her own lawsuit against Julie K. Brown of the Miami Herald, alleging that Brown misrepresented her in a book about Epstein. Though Tayler has also been accused of sexually abusing minors, she, too, has denied the accusations.
Documents also indicate that Doe 147 is an Epstein victim named Sarah Ransome. Though Preska acknowledges that Ransome is a victim, she also noted that Ransome has publicly discussed her past experiences regarding Epstein. She testified publicly in another trial, published a book, and wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post.
Preska ruled that documents related to Doe 28, another victim, will remain sealed since she “continues to experience trauma as a result of these events.” Her identity will not be revealed.
Doe 12 will likewise remain anonymous since he or she was neither a victim nor an alleged perpetrator in the case.
Preska has also ruled that documents unveiling the identity of Doe 183 be released, since he or she “has been a subject of intense media coverage” whose name “has appeared in numerous places in unsealed portions of Ms. Maxwell’s criminal trial transcript.” However, Preska has stayed her own ruling until November 28 so that Doe 183 has time to appeal her decision.
Last December, Maxwell was convicted for her role in sexually abusing underage girls along with Epstein. She has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Maxwell reached a settlement with Giuffre in 2017, but the documents related to that case have been difficult to access. Preska has been slowly releasing some of the documents for the past five years.
According to Business Insider, except for Doe 183, “Friday’s hearing ends the saga of the anonymous ‘John Does'” in that case.
* Article from: The Blaze
