NEW YORK (AP) — From tech titans to Wall Street power brokers and foreign dignitaries, a who’s who of powerful men make appearances in the huge trove of documents released by the Justice Department in connection with its investigations of Jeffrey Epstein.
All have denied having anything to do with his sexual abuse of girls and young women. Yet some of them maintained friendships with Epstein, or developed them anew, even after news stories made him widely known as an alleged abuser of young girls.
None have been charged with a crime connected to the investigation. Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019.
Here’s a primer on some of the notable names in the Epstein files:
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
The man formerly known as Britain’s Prince Andrew has long been dogged by questions about his relationship with Epstein, including allegations from the late Virginia Roberts Giuffre that she was trafficked by Epstein and instructed to have sex with Mountbatten-Windsor when she was 17.
The former prince has repeatedly denied that it happened, but his brother, King Charles III, still stripped him of his royal titles late last year, including the right to be called a prince and the Duke of York.
Mountbatten-Windsor’s name appears at least several hundred times in Friday’s document release, including in Epstein’s private emails.
Among the correspondence is an invitation for Epstein to dine at Buckingham Palace, Epstein’s offer to introduce Mountbatten-Windsor to a 26-year-old Russian woman, and photos that appear to show Mountbatten-Windsor kneeling over an unidentified woman lying on the floor.
Sarah Ferguson
In March of 2011, Sarah Ferguson, then the Duchess of York, made a public apology for letting Jeffrey Epstein pay off some of her debts. Both she and her ex-husband, the former Prince Andrew, had come under tremendous public scrutiny for continuing a friendly relationship with Epstein after he pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl.
She told London’s Evening Standard newspaper she would have “nothing ever to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever again.” But just two months later, she emailed Epstein to say she was going on Oprah Winfrey’s TV show and wanted his advice on how she should answer questions about their relationship.
“I just want to make sure you are aware of this and seek your advice on how you would like me to answer,” Ferguson wrote.
Epstein replied, “Jeffrey was unfairly characterized as a pedophile by the tabloid press. Many years ago jeffrey pleaded guilty to soliciting underage prostitutes. He paid his debt to society and has sought forgiveness. I have nothing more to say.”
Elon Musk
The billionaire Tesla founder turns up at least a few times in Friday’s document release, notably in email exchanges in 2012 and 2013 in which he discussed visiting Epstein’s infamous Caribbean island compound.
But it’s not immediately clear if the island visits took place.