Prince Andrew, Clinton named in Jeffrey Epstein's court documents

Britain's Prince Andrew and former US President Bill Clinton have been named in the newly released court documents connected to accused sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The names of more than 150 people mentioned in a lawsuit by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's most prominent accusers, were kept under seal for years until a federal judge ruled last month that there was no legal justification to keep them private.

Of more than 100 people named, some included several politicians and financial leaders, including hedge-fund owner Glenn Dubin, billionaire US businessman Tom Pritzker and the late New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.

Clinton has also been named, although there is no implication of any illegality.

The list stems from a long-settled defamation lawsuit that Giuffre filed against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend.

The court documents also included Epstein accuser Johanna Sjoberg's previously reported claims of groping by Prince Andrew, which he has denied. 

More documents are expected to be unsealed or unredacted in the coming days.

Epstein socialised with Wall Street titans, royalty and celebrities before pleading guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008. He took his own life in 2019 at age 66 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.

Dozens of women have accused Epstein of wrong-doing at his private Caribbean island and homes he owned in New York, Florida and New Mexico.

Sigrid McCawley, Giuffre's lawyer, said some questions about who enabled Epstein have still not been answered.

"The unsealing of these documents gets us closer to that goal," she said in a statement on Wednesday.