Jeffrey Epstein court documents: Bill Clinton 'threatened' magazine not to publish articles about his 'good friend'

Bill Clinton “threatened” a prominent magazine and told staff not to publish articles about Jeffrey Epstein, newly unsealed court documents suggest.

The claim is made in an email that was written by Virginia Giuffre – Epstein’s first public accuser – in 2011.

In the message to a journalist, Ms Giuffre alleges that the former US president had walked into the offices of Vanity Fair, and said stories about his “good friend” should not be written.

Latest updates: Second batch of files released

Graydon Carter, a former Vanity Fair editor, told The Daily Telegraph: “This categorically did not happen.”

Ms Giuffre was preparing to release a new book at the time – and describes being worried about what the magazine might publish about her.

Mr Clinton is among several high-profile figures who have been named in court filings relating to Ghislaine Maxwell, her relationship with Epstein and alleged victims of sexual abuse.

In documents released on Wednesday, it was claimed that Epstein had said Clinton “likes them young, referring to girls”.

Back in 2019, a spokesperson for the former president said he had “not spoken to Epstein in well over a decade” and “knows nothing about the terrible crimes”.

There is no indication of any wrongdoing by Mr Clinton, and Sky News has contacted his foundation for a response to the latest court documents.

Epstein – a disgraced financier – had been accused of abusing underage girls as young as 14. In 2019, he killed himself in prison as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.

Ghislaine Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted of helping recruit and groom teenagers for Epstein to molest.

Prince Andrew reported to police

Allegations of sexual assault made against the Duke of York have also re-emerged in the unsealed court documents.

Republic, a pressure group calling for the abolition of the monarchy, has reported Prince Andrew to the police after the filings were made public.

The group’s chief executive, Graham Smith, is urging the Met to reopen its investigations – and has called on the King to make a public statement on the matter.

Mr Smith said: “To date, there appears to have been no serious criminal investigation, no interview of the accused or other witnesses, and no clear justification for taking no action.”

There will be sleepless nights for some wealthy and high-profile individuals

When Judge Loretta Preska ruled that these documents, relating to the many crimes of Jeffrey Epstein, be unsealed, she said it was because there is a public interest in doing so.

But she also said it was because much of the information contained within them, and many of the names of Epstein’s associates, were already in the public domain. That has proven to be accurate.

Social media has been alive with chatter about a list of Epstein “clients” or co-conspirators being released imminently and conspiracy theories about celebrity paedophiles. But, as with the first tranche of documents, there was no bombshell revelation to be found anywhere in these 327 pages.

There were no allegations of new third parties being involved in sexual abuse. The documents included 19 different exhibits, from legal arguments to depositions recounting alleged crimes. The details were mostly already known because of how extensive the reporting around Epstein’s offending has been and years of evidence and testimony contained in connected criminal and civil cases.

Nevertheless, there are fascinating nuggets to be found among them about the circles Epstein moved in. Epstein allegedly boasted about his association with two former presidents, Donald Trump and Bill Clinton. Both men are mentioned numerous times in the documents but neither is accused of any wrongdoing.

About 240 files are expected to be unsealed in total so this gradual release, day by day, could last well into next week. Judge Preska is also weighing arguments from additional Does who are seeking to have their names withheld from future disclosures.

Even though many of those named in the documents are not accused of wrongdoing, there will still be a lot of sleepless nights for some wealthy and high-profile individuals, sweating over what is contained on these pages.

Prince Andrew has strenuously denied the allegations against him in the past.

In 2022, he settled a civil case out of court with Virginia Giuffre after she claimed she was sexually assaulted by the prince when she was 17 years old.

That settlement, which was reported to be as much as £12m, carried no admission of guilt.

Buckingham Palace, which no longer speaks on behalf of the duke after he stepped down as a working royal in 2019 over his friendship with Epstein, has not commented on the documents.

Among the unsealed filings was evidence given by Johanna Sjoberg, who had worked for Epstein as a masseuse.

She alleged that Prince Andrew had touched her breast while sitting on a couch inside Epstein’s Manhattan apartment in 2001.

In other court documents, Ms Giuffre alleges she was sex trafficked to the duke and “two of the world’s most respected politicians” – but their names remain redacted.

Another filing shows that Ghislaine Maxwell claimed a journalist helped “concoct” the allegations against Prince Andrew and knew them to be “false”.

More documents to emerge

The court documents being unsealed relate to a 2015 civil lawsuit filed by Ms Giuffre against Maxwell, who was Epstein’s former girlfriend and household manager.

Ms Giuffre was suing Maxwell for defamation after her spokesperson issued a statement describing her allegations as “obvious lies”.

In December, New York district judge Loretta Preska ruled papers related to the case should no longer remain secret as many of the individuals mentioned have already given media interviews.