Jeffrey Epstein document release highlights his sprawling connections across states

Newly released court documents tied to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein reveal not just the names of high-power figures, but they also highlight the way the accused sex trafficker’s influence reached across multiple states.

The hundreds of pages released Wednesday are from a years-old lawsuit brought by one of Epstein’s alleged victims and include the names of some of his associates, witnesses and victims for the first time. Many of the names have only a tangential connection to Epstein, who was accused of operating an international sex trafficking ring targeting underage girls. Some of the people named are now deceased.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged Epstein with sex trafficking in 2019 after the Miami Herald renewed interest in the case. He died by suicide in jail awaiting trial.

As the nation learns more about the vast network of people associated with Epstein, the USA TODAY Network has documented a web of suspected associates, victims and local connections.

Among the most notable names mentioned in the documents are former presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, but no wrongdoing was alleged. Others included Prince Andrew of Great Britain, prominent litigator Alan Dershowitz, billionaire hedge fund founder Glenn Dubin and deceased modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel. 

Meanwhile, communities around the country are also closely watching the release of new information – which is set to continue.

Epstein’s reach in Ohio tied to Victoria’s Secret billionaire

Ohio billionaire Leslie H. Wexner − founder of retail empire L Brands, which encompassed Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works and other famous brands − was among the names of Epstein’s associates revealed Wednesday. Epstein was a longtime financial adviser of the New Albany, Ohio, mogul.

Wexner's name is mentioned several times in the documents released Wednesday evening, but neither he nor any of the figures whose names are mentioned in the released files have been charged with a crime. Wexner told his employees he had no knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.

Epstein and Wexner's business ties dated to the mid-1980s and had local influence in Ohio.

In 1998, Epstein was identified as president − along with Wexner − of The New Albany Company development firm, according to Ohio business records. Epstein owned land in the New Albany development, including a home on King George Drive that he owned from 1994 until selling it for $0 to the Wexners in December 2007.

Epstein also gave or pledged $336,000 to Ohio State University, money the school ultimately gave to a state human trafficking initiative in 2020.

Jeffrey Epstein documents:Fact checking false and misleading claims

First criminal investigation began in Palm Beach, Florida

The first time Epstein was investigated in connection to the allegations of sex trafficking began in Palm Beach, Florida, where it turned out dozens of girls had stories of being abused on his island in the Caribbean. Many attended Royal Palm Beach High School, where classmates allegedly recruited victims in a pyramid-like trafficking scheme.

Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to a solicitation charge and an additional felony charge of procuring a minor for prostitution in a deal that allowed him to avoid a hefty 60-count federal indictment.

In newly released documents, one Palm Beach victim, Johanna Sjoberg, testified that she once met Michael Jackson at Epstein’s home but nothing occurred between the two.

New Jersey: Famed magician in docs, airport was a central hub for Epstein’s travels

Sjoberg also testified that one person present at Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion was famed magician David Copperfield, who is from New Jersey. Copperfield is among the high-profile names mentioned in the documents released Wednesday.

According to Sjoberg in a 2016 deposition, Copperfield used to do magic tricks at Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion and was aware that some of the girls or women in Epstein's circle were paid to recruit others. Copperfield’s publicist didn’t respond to inquiries from the Asbury Park Press, part of the USA TODAY Network.

But Epstein’s reach in New Jersey wasn’t limited to Copperfield’s alleged presence at his mansion. According to 2019 reporting by the New Jersey Bergen Record, also part of the USA TODAY Network, Epstein’s globe-trotting life of luxury and suspected sex trafficking traveled through a convenient hub for the wealthy: Teterboro Airport in Bergen County, New Jersey. 

The heart of Epstein’s global transportation network was a corporate airport carved from a New Jersey swamp. His planes, which ranged from a Cessna to a Gulf Stream jet to a Boeing 727, recorded at least 730 flights to and from Teterboro from 1995 to 2013, according to flight logs contained in court documents. Epstein was arrested in July 2019 at Teterboro Airport after flying from Paris. 

In the wake of Epstein’s arrest and unraveling, members of Congress urged federal regulators to combat human trafficking at Teterboro Airport.

Human trafficking:A network of crime hidden across a vast American landscape

Contributing: David Jackson, Aysha Bagchi and Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY; Mark Williams, the Columbus Dispatch; Christopher Maag, The Bergen Record; Holly Baltz, the Palm Beach Post; Juan Carlos Castillo and Chris Jordan, the Asbury Park Press