Newly released court documents reveal that Virginia Giuffre accused Bill Clinton of pressuring Vanity Fair to stop a planned story about Jeffrey Epstein. Ms Giuffre, in a 2011 email, claimed the former US President walked into Vanity Fair's offices and warned against publishing sex-trafficking articles about his "good friend" Mr Epstein.
Ms Giuffre started her email, deliberating on whether to engage with Vanity Fair to promote her book 'The Billionaire's Playboy Club'. "I am looking at both sides of the picture," the email read.
"On the upside, it will give exposure to build up publicity for the case and the story, but as you said, it must be carefully written and not give any notions about the upcoming book and or any new info," she wrote.
"... B. Clinton walked into VF (Vanity Fair) and threatened them not to write sex-trafficking articles about his good friend J.E (Jeffrey Epstein)," she added.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Vanity Fair's former editor, Graydon Carter, claimed that "this absolutely did not happen," reported The Telegraph.
Jeffrey Epstein himself, however, reportedly stopped Vanity Fair from publishing a story by journalist Vicky Ward about abuse claims from sisters Maria and Annie Farmer.
Ms Ward revealed in a 2022 podcast that Epstein threatened her, claiming to have damaging information, saying, "I have reported here about you, your husband - I have everything under the sun that was sent to me by people who want to be helpful."
Vanity Fair explained that the abuse claims were not included in the 2003 article due to legal standards.
The documents, part of Virginia Giuffre's 2015 defamation case against Ghislaine Maxwell, were released on Thursday. Former British socialite, Maxwell, is serving a 20-year sentence, while Epstein died in jail in 2019. This release is the second batch of files from the Manhattan court, revealing more details about the Epstein scandal.
In a 2011 email exchange with a journalist, Virginia Giuffre, who previously accused Prince Andrew of teenage abuse (a claim he vehemently denies), discussed the possibility of selling a now-infamous photo of her and the Prince to Vanity Fair. The controversial photo captures Prince Andrew with his arm around Giuffre's waist. She was also advised to incorporate the phrase "sex trafficked" into any potential statement provided to the magazine.
Bill Clinton's spokeswoman reiterated his previous statement, maintaining that he had no knowledge of Epstein's crimes and never visited the private island, as Virginia Giuffre has alleged. Meanwhile, Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyers said she is focused on getting her case dismissed and has consistently maintained her innocence.
