Reporter Julie Ok. Brown exits federal court docket following a bail listening to for Jeffrey Epstein in July 2019.

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

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Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Reporter Julie Ok. Brown exits federal court docket following a bail listening to for Jeffrey Epstein in July 2019.

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Bill Clinton “likes them young.”

That’s simply one in all many allegations contained in a number of hundred pages of recently released court documents in a case introduced in opposition to the intercourse trafficker and personal financier Jeffrey Epstein.

One of Epstein’s victims says he made these remarks in regards to the former president to her.

The paperwork had been unsealed late Wednesday in a lawsuit introduced by a type of victims.

Besides former president Clinton — who hasn’t been accused of something and who denies information of Epstein’s unlawful actions — the paperwork embody the names of dozens of highly effective males with alleged connections to Epstein.

Donald Trump, magician David Copperfield, Prince Andrew and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak are additionally named.

Most of these publicly named — a lot of whom are already recognized to have hyperlinks to Epstein — have denied any wrongdoing or information of Epstein’s felony actions. And the truth that folks had been named in these paperwork doesn’t suggest any of them face allegations or proof of wrongdoing. They are recognized as having social connections to Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide in jail in 2019.

Investigative journalist Julie Ok. Brown’s reporting for the Miami Herald in 2017 and 2018 result in extra expenses for Epstein and recognized practically 80 of his victims. She speaks with All Things Considered host Juana Summers about why is it necessary to know what’s in these paperwork.

This interview has been edited for size and readability.

Interview highlights

Juana Summers: Have you been in contact with any of Epstein’s victims? And are you aware in any respect how they’re feeling on this second with this newest launch?

Julie Ok. Brown: Well, I do know that they need the reality to return out. They really feel that this has been hidden for too lengthy. And definitely, a part of the mechanism in our system that has hidden plenty of what has transpired is our court docket system.

Summers: I imply, there are folks on the market, Julie, who’re in all probability saying, “We already know this, there is not anything new here.” But I collect that you’d argue that it is necessary for these paperwork to be public, that it is necessary for folks to see what’s in it. Why is that?

Brown: Well outline “new.” No, there’s nothing in right here that claims “so-and-so committed a crime” or “so-and-so actually had sex with a certain person.” But these are those that clearly knew what Jeffrey Epstein was doing. They had been both socially linked with him — in a few circumstances, we all know of those that even talked brazenly about the truth that they knew Epstein was recruiting ladies. Now, does that imply that they had been responsible of something? No. But I believe to dismiss this as a result of there’s nothing salacious or felony in it’s actually short-sighted.

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Summers: I do not need to lose sight of the truth that this case and Epstein’s convictions stemmed from him victimizing younger ladies, youngsters, however his crimes and these paperwork are additionally about relationships amongst wealthy and highly effective folks in our society. Can you clarify how these very relationships might have helped him prey on his victims?

Brown: He was a little bit of a braggart. I imply, we suspect that he might not have recognized a few of the those that he claimed to those ladies that he knew. He would say, for instance, “I just got off the phone with Michael Jackson” — or whoever, I’m simply utilizing that for instance — he would inform these ladies that. And then after all, they might be in his mansions and they might see images of him with world leaders and well-known folks. So he took benefit of that with a view to, if nothing else, to intimidate these ladies.

This March 28, 2017, picture supplied by the New York State Sex Offender Registry reveals Jeffrey Epstein.

New York State Sex Offender Registry by way of AP

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New York State Sex Offender Registry by way of AP

This March 28, 2017, picture supplied by the New York State Sex Offender Registry reveals Jeffrey Epstein.

New York State Sex Offender Registry by way of AP

And that is how he used his standing. And anybody that socialized with him and who had dinners with him or visited his islands or went on his airplane, needed to see him with a few of these ladies and younger girls and needed to see the best way that he operated.

Summers: We have been following the discharge of those new paperwork and there are nonetheless extra to return. Julie, are you able to assist us look forward to what is perhaps popping out sooner or later?

Brown: This is all been a thriller even to us, as a result of they have been sealed for therefore lengthy. So we actually do not know for sure. But one factor that we all know from what’s been launched to date is that these paperwork do inform a narrative. They inform a narrative of a person who had affect, who had energy, who had cash. And he was in a position to make use of all these issues to abuse tons of of women. And we have to actually look at how that occurred and why it occurred. Because except we do this, these sorts of circumstances, the intercourse trafficking that occurred right here, goes to proceed to occur.

Summers: As we talked about, you will have been overlaying this story for years. What do you suppose the legacy of the story of Jeffrey Epstein is.

Brown: I hope the legacy is that individuals do not settle for this sort of justice in America. That wealthy folks, highly effective folks, rich folks mustn’t get particular therapy. You know, people who find themselves susceptible and who haven’t got a voice in our system are sometimes prosecuted extra absolutely and rigorously than individuals who have energy and cash. And that actually is one thing that this story is an instance of. And I believe that all of us should query how that occurs and why it occurs, and our system wants to vary.