Court unseals Giuffre v. Maxwell records — the 'Epstein list'
A federal judge orders the unsealing of roughly 950 pages from Virginia Giuffre's defamation case against Ghislaine Maxwell, naming some 150 associates of Epstein. Widely billed as 'the Epstein list,' the documents identify the famous and powerful — but being named is not the same as being accused.
On January 3, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York began releasing a long-sealed cache of documents from Giuffre v. Maxwell, the 2015 defamation suit Virginia Giuffre had brought against Ghislaine Maxwell and settled in 2017. The release, ordered by Judge Loretta A. Preska, was rolled out in batches over the following days and drew enormous public attention under the shorthand “the Epstein list.”
What Was Unsealed
Judge Preska ordered the unsealing of material associated with roughly 187 entries that had been litigated under the pseudonym “J. Doe.” The documents — depositions, exhibits, and motions totaling some 950 pages — named approximately 150 people connected to Epstein in various capacities: associates, employees, alleged victims, and individuals mentioned only in passing. The identities of many victims who were minors at the time of their abuse were kept sealed.
The Names — and the Caveat
The filings referenced a roster of prominent figures. Former President Bill Clinton was mentioned more than 50 times, though the records allege no wrongdoing on his part and his representatives did not object to the unsealing. Giuffre’s deposition testimony named individuals she said Maxwell directed her toward, including Prince Andrew, former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, MIT cognitive scientist Marvin Minsky, modeling scout Jean-Luc Brunel, and investor Glenn Dubin — several of whom denied the claims.
News organizations and legal experts stressed a point that was repeatedly lost in viral coverage: appearing in the documents was not evidence of a crime. Many people were named as witnesses, contacts, or subjects of rumor, not as participants in abuse.
Why It Mattered — and What It Was Not
The unsealing fed years of public demand for “the list” and demonstrated how much remained hidden. But these were civil court records from a single defamation case — not the federal government’s own investigative files. The DOJ’s FBI files, financial records, and intelligence holdings stayed locked, a distinction that drove the continued push for the legislation that became the Epstein Files Transparency Act. When the DOJ finally began releasing its files in December 2025, much of the new material went well beyond what the 2024 unsealing had revealed.