jeffrey epstein ghislaine maxwell
© Handout/US District Court fo the Southern District of New York/AFPJeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
New court papers have been released in the sex trafficking saga - but the people named in them are likely to escape unscathed

An American court this week released over 900 documents relating to the sordid and seemingly never-ending Jeffrey Epstein saga.

Epstein was the very well-connected billionaire financial adviser - with a fondness for being "massaged" by teenage girls from Miami trailer parks - who committed suicide (so it is said) in a Manhattan prison cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

The Western media had, of course, conferred celebrity status on Epstein - in tandem with his lover and partner in crime, Ghislaine Maxwell, long before his controversial and opportune death. Maxwell, no stranger to scandal in her own right, is the daughter of disgraced billionaire publisher Robert Maxwell - who committed suicide in 1991 on the eve of being exposed for having stolen hundreds of millions of pounds from his companies' pension funds.

Epstein was one of Robert Maxwell's financial advisers, and when Ghislaine moved to New York after her father's death, they became romantically involved. She needed and valued his financial advice, and he was impressed with her wide range of social connections within elite circles globally - that extended even to the British royal family.

Maxwell herself is now residing in an American jail cell - having been convicted of sex trafficking and procuring young girls for Epstein in 2021, and receiving a twenty-year sentence.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre
© Bebeto Matthews/APVirginia Roberts Giuffre (centre) holds a press conference in August 2019.
Ironically, Epstein and Maxwell were brought down by one of the young girls that they exploited sexually - an Australian, Virginia Giuffre, who pursued them both relentlessly through the American legal system. Giuffre also took legal proceedings against the hapless Prince Andrew - a close friend of Epstein and Maxwell with whom she says she was forced to have sex on numerous occasions - that resulted in a multi-million dollar out-of-court settlement and the Prince's banishment from public life two years ago.

The inherently salacious nature of the long-running Epstein tale and its #MeToo subtext no doubt account for the Western media's ongoing fascination with Epstein and Maxwell. But there is also another factor at work - a desire to expose and bring down those individual members of the global elites who associated with Epstein and were beneficiaries of his hospitality and largesse.

There is, however, an element of political naivety in this - after all, haven't Western elites always sexually exploited young girls from the lower orders? More importantly, surely the widespread fraudulent financial activities of these powerful individuals and the corporations they govern are more deserving of exposure?

It should come as no surprise that a clever and ambitious spiv like Epstein (who did not come from a privileged background and was a teacher before becoming a financial adviser to the global elites) should also regularly supply his clients with young working-class women at his private residences.

Media coverage of this week's document release - and there are more releases to come - has therefore focused on the identity of those prominent individuals who are named in the pleadings, depositions, and exhibits that have now been disclosed.

Not surprisingly, former President Bill Clinton figures prominently - having regularly flown on Epstein's private jet and stayed on his private island in the Caribbean. One document quotes Epstein as saying "Clinton likes them young". "Slick Willie" - as he was known to his political opponents in Arkansas - has, of course, denied any improper conduct and any knowledge of Epstein's trafficking in young girls. Who would not believe Bill Clinton's denials on such matters? So convincing have they been that not even Hilary has felt the need to come out and support him publically.

Famous American lawyer and academic Alan Dershowitz receives numerous mentions in the documents - including one allegation that he had sex with an underage girl while staying with Epstein. Dershowitz, who acted for Epstein and obtained a favourable plea bargain for him in relation to sex charges that he faced in 2008, has strongly denied this allegation. He admits, however, that he often visited Epstein's residences and that on one occasion had a massage - but denies any impropriety or knowledge of Epstein's egregious misconduct. Dershowitz's denials are strengthened by the fact that he sued Giuffre over allegations that she made about him a few years ago, and she settled the action after admitting that she may have mistaken Dershowitz for someone else.


Comment: More likely she was bullied and browbeaten with threats of unending lawfare. Dershowitz is a sleazebag of the first order, who is on record advocating for the age of consent to be lowered to 15.


Prince Andrew, again not surprisingly, figures very conspicuously in the released documents - but his very close association with Epstein and Maxwell is old news, as is his liaison with Ms Giuffre and his subsequent denial of it. Michael Jackson is mentioned once in the documents - although it is very unlikely that he committed any sexual impropriety while enjoying Epstein's hospitality. The documents make absolutely clear that only young women were on offer at Epstein's residences. Donald Trump is also mentioned in passing - but it is a matter of public record that Trump's relationship with Epstein ended decades ago.

Of more interest are those members of the global elites with lesser public profiles who are mentioned in the documents. These individuals include Tom Pritzker, billionaire head of the Pritzker Organisation and Executive Chairman of Hyatt Hotels; Glenn Dubin, billionaire investor and co-founder of Highbridge Capital; Marvin Minsky, AI pioneer and MIT Professor; and Bill Richardson, former Governor of New Mexico, where Epstein had one of his homes.

In the documents, Ms. Giuffre alleges she had sex with Pritzker, Dubin, and Minsky, who died in 2016. Pritzker has denied Giuffre's allegation.

No doubt, the release of the Epstein documents this week - and the subsequent releases - will be front-page news in the Western media. Details of the sexual crimes allegedly committed by Epstein and his friends will be salaciously pored over by readers excited by such scandals, and the reputations of a few individual participants will be so damaged that they will not be invited to Davos next year.

But the corrupt financial system that created Epstein and allowed him to prosper - he had amassed a fortune of $700 million - will continue to operate completely unchecked and beyond effective scrutiny. And even at the level of exposing those individuals who exploited the young girls that Epstein supplied them with - most will simply escape unscathed.

Portions of many of the documents released this week are redacted, and only Epstein and Maxwell know the names of all the elite individuals who were actually involved in their activities. Epstein is conveniently dead, and Maxwell has remained silent on this issue throughout her trial and incarceration - a wise move, perhaps given Epstein's fate. Media coverage of the Epstein saga in the West purports to be investigative journalism - but its defects disclose the real scandal, namely that genuine investigative journalism no longer exists in the West.
Graham Hryce is an Australian journalist and former media lawyer, whose work has been published in The Australian, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age, the Sunday Mail, the Spectator and Quadrant.