London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Aug 16, 2026

Ghislaine Maxwell ends fight to keep names of eight 'John Does' secret. Court to decide whether names should be unsealed

Ghislaine Maxwell ends fight to keep names of eight 'John Does' secret. Court to decide whether names should be unsealed

Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Michael Bloomberg, Conrad Black, Leon Black, Hassanal Bolkiah (Sultan of Brunei), Richard Branson, Phil Collins, David Copperfield, Andrew Cuomo, Lynn Forester de Rothschild, Alan Dershowitz, Steve Forbes, Ace Greenberg, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Adnan Khashoggi, Rupert Murdoch, Chuck Schumer, Ehud Barak, Peter Soros, Larry Summers, Leslie Wexner, watch out! Ghislaine Maxwell will no longer fight to keep the names of eight 'John Does' secret and will leave it to the court to decide whether the names should be unsealed, according to a letter dated January 12.
Ghislaine Maxwell will no longer fight to keep the names of eight 'John Does' secret and will leave it to the court to decide whether the names should be unsealed, according to a letter dated January 12.

The documents are part of a 2015 defamation lawsuit against Maxwell brought by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who claimed Jeffrey Epstein sexually abused her while she was a minor and that Maxwell aided in the abuse.

Maxwell, 60, faces up to 65 years in prison after she was found guilty last month in a New York federal court on five federal charges, including sex trafficking of a minor. The charges were related to her role in Epstein's sexual abuse of minor girls between 1994 and 2004.

Giuffre's attorney had previously filed a brief on Wednesday, arguing for the names to be revealed.

"After careful review of the detailed objections submitted by Non-Party Does 17, 53, 54, 55, 73, 93 and 151, counsel for Ghislaine Maxwell writes to inform the Court that she does not wish to further address those objections," Maxwell attorney Laura Menninger wrote. "Each of the listed Does has counsel who have ably asserted their own respective privacy rights. Ms. Maxwell therefore leaves it to this Court to conduct the appropriate review."

"[G]eneralized aversion to embarrassment and negativity that may come from being associated with Epstein and Maxwell is not enough to warrant continued sealing of information. This is especially true with respect to this case of great public interest, involving serious allegations of the sex trafficking of minors," Guiffre attorney Sigrid McCawley wrote. "Now that Maxwell's criminal trial has come and gone, there is little reason to retain protection over the vast swaths of information about Epstein and Maxwell's sex-trafficking operation that were originally filed under seal in this case."

McCawley said the court has already rejected other similar arguments for anonymity and the same standard should apply to the eight 'John Does' who still remain anonymous in court documents.

"Upon review of the objections of those Does, it is apparent that their objections essentially mirror objections to unsealing that this Court has already rejected: that unsealing certain documents might be embarrassing, would expose non-parties to media attention, and could result in some unfortunate association between the non-parties and Jeffrey Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell," McCawley wrote.

McCawley added at least two of the unidentified people -- John Does 53 and 54 respectively -- do not oppose and do not generally object to their names being unsealed.

Maxwell also was found guilty of transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and three related counts of conspiracy. Her attorneys plan to appeal.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Italian Speed Camera Issues Nearly 32,000 Fines in 10 Weeks, Worth More Than €3 Million
AI Manager at San Francisco Store Recommends Firing Human Employee
Better.com Founder Who Fired 900 Employees on Zoom Is Ousted as CEO
Thieves Steal Antonello da Messina Renaissance Masterpieces From Sicilian Museum
Reform UK Unveils Plan to Cut Welfare Spending by More Than £50 Billion a Year
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Praised Extinction Rebellion for Doing a 'Great Service'
UK Wildfire Phone Alert Triggers Backlash as Users Switch Off Emergency Warnings
Heathrow Roads Reopen After Burst Water Main Floods Access to Terminals 2 and 3
Former NBA Players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White Say They Will Enter 2027 WNBA Draft
Former Cambridge Professor Jason Arday Found Dead Days After Resigning Amid Plagiarism Row
US Appeals Court Rules AI Agent's Website Actions Are Legally Attributed to the User
France's Constitutional Council Blocks Social Media Ban for Children Under 15
Liechtenstein Changes Royal Succession Rules to Allow Women to Inherit the Throne
Women Allege Rape and Sexual Abuse at British Army College for Teenage Recruits
Minnesota: Two independent investigators posed as Muslims (one wearing a burqa) and showed how they could vote in elections without identification.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham Takes Regional Tour to Highlight Local Infrastructure and Environmental Problems
Nigel Farage Wins Clacton By-Election to Return to the House of Commons
Bank of England Warns Rising Inflation Could Squeeze UK Household Incomes
UK Government Announces £65 Million Aid Package for Farmers Hit by Severe Drought
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in Second Quarter Despite Energy Market Pressures
UK Issues Emergency Alert as Severe Wildfires Spread Across England and Wales
UK and Finland Discuss European Defence and Continued Support for Ukraine
Nigel Farage Wins Clacton By-Election to Return to the House of Commons
UK Government Deploys Military to Help Fight Wildfires and Bans Disposable Barbecues
UK Records Hottest Day of the Year as Fifth Summer Heatwave Peaks in Southern England
UK Condemns Houthi Actions and Warns of Red Sea Threat to Global Trade
UK and Solomon Islands Open Wildlife Photography Exhibition in Honiara
UK Small Businesses Face Continued Cash Flow and Tax Pressures
Greatham Marsh Restoration Restores Tidal Wetland in Hartlepool After More Than 200 Years
UK Health Regulator Urges University Students to Check Meningitis and Measles Vaccination Status
Mining Remediation Authority Completes Major Ground Stabilization Works in Scottish Community
UK Food Crime Investigators Seize 33 Tonnes of Illegal Food in Multi-Agency Operation
Technical Qualification Uptake Hits Record High as Advanced Mathematics Results Improve
UK Summer Temperatures on Course to Challenge Long-Standing Records, Met Office Says
UK Farmers Bring Forward Cereal Harvests as Drought Threatens Yields
Wildfires Surge Across England and Wales as Fire Chiefs Report Record July
UK Nurses Warn of Heat Risks as Hospital Staff Struggle With Extreme Temperatures
Southern Water Seeks Drought Order for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Amid Water Shortages
UK Heatwave Pushes West London Temperature to 38.1 Degrees as Health Alerts Continue
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in Second Quarter Despite Global Uncertainty
China’s Kimi Launches AI-Focused Credit Card With Agricultural Bank of China and American Express
UK Residents Gather to Watch Rare Partial Solar Eclipse
Reform UK Deputy Leader Richard Tice Faces Criticism Over Legal Threat Against Guardian Journalist
Michael Forsyth Elected Speaker of the House of Lords
Cambridge Researchers Launch £20 Million Human Organoid Drug Testing Programme
Heathrow Loses European Passenger Traffic Lead to Istanbul Airport
Households Near New UK Electricity Pylons to Receive £250 Annual Energy Bill Discount
UK Government Estimates Zero-Hours Contract Ban Could Cost Employers Up to £3 Billion a Year
Robert Jenrick Leaves Conservatives for Reform UK in Major Parliamentary Defection
UK Police Chiefs Urge Government to Block Early Release of Andrew Harper Killers
×