Sealed depositions involving Jeffrey Epstein name Ehud Barak as offender
The sealed depositions were obtained by the outspoken Harvard professor in connection to a separate 2019 civil defamation lawsuit, filed by the same plaintiff Virginia Giuffre.
By ZACHARY KEYSERFormer Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak arives before delivering a statement in Tel Aviv, Israel(photo credit: REUTERS)Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak responded to a report filed by the Miami Herald, claiming that he was mentioned in sealed court documents which alleged that he was sexually involved with a minor in relation to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein."Barak's name was inserted into the article in order to push aside the allegations against Dershowitz," Barak said in a statement, according to N12. "In Dershowitz's paper it's stated that the women's testimony is false. Barak does not comment on imaginary rumors or false affidavits. Moreover, neither did Barak know nor did he meet Epstein in 2002, when the women supposedly left the US for Australia."Sealed depositions from a 2016 defamation suit filed by Virginia Giuffre, one of the purported victims of Epstein's sex trafficking ring, against Ghislaine Maxwell, an associate and alleged madam of Jeffrey Epstein, were obtained by the legal team of lawyer Alan Dershowitz. And, according to the Herald, Barak was named within the confidential documents as one of the people the plaintiff was trafficked to and forced to have sex with.The sealed depositions were obtained by the outspoken Harvard professor in connection to a separate 2019 civil defamation lawsuit filed by the same plaintiff, who alleges she was forced to have sex with Dershowitz while working as a locker room attendant at US President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. Dershowitz in response countersued for defamation.Giuffre's lawyers were attempting to keep the documents sealed, according to the Herald report, because they were worried that Dershowitz might twist the information to use in his favor. However, his lawyer Howard Cooper admitted in court Tuesday that they procured some of the confidential affidavits, where Giuffre named Barak as one of her offenders.Epstein, a wealthy 66-year-old money manager who once counted Trump, former President Bill Clinton and Britain’s Prince Andrew as friends, was arrested in July of last year and pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking charges involving women and girls as young as 14 from 2002 to 2005 throughout Manhattan and Florida.He died August 10, two days after signing his will, by apparently hanging himself in his cell. Days later, a federal judge dismissed the case.Many of Epstein's alleged victims, like Giuffre, are still attempting to obtain compensation for the sexual abuse they claim to have endured at the hands of the late financier, and those allegedly in connection with him. Giuffre recently appeared on the Netflix series Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, amid her legal battles with Dershowitz and Maxwell, where she candidly detailed her association with Epstein. She vehemently named Prince Andrew as one of her offenders in the series.Reuters contributed to this report.
