Why Bill Cosby and Roger Clemens’ Cases Are Mentioned in New Epstein Documents

Disgraced comedian Bill Cosby and former MLB pitcher Roger Clemens are just two of the nearly 200 names listed in the newly unsealed documents relating to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case and the subsequent defamation case against his former partner, Ghislaine Maxwell.

But what do these two high-profile celebrity cases have to do with Epstein and victim Virginia Giuffre?

On Thursday, hundreds of pages of additional documents used in the civil lawsuit brought forth against Maxwell by Giuffre, a victim of their human trafficking enterprise, were publicly released.

Among the many documents is a copy of the 2016 court transcripts, in which Giuffre accused Maxwell of lying about systematic abuse she had suffered at the hands of Epstein and his clientele. In that case (which was eventually settled in 2017), Giuffre's attorney Sigrid McCawley argued that Cosby and Clemens' defamation cases were good examples of how victims speaking out against abusers is not defamatory.

In the 2014 Cosby case, a group of seven women alleging that they were assaulted by the Cosby Show star claimed that he falsely called them liars after they spoke out about his abuse. In 2015, Cosby filed a countersuit alleging that the women had defamed his character and intentionally derailed his TV career by filing the lawsuit against him, and the suit was eventually settled in 2019.

Back in 2016, McCawley said that the victims' argument in Cosby's case relied on the notion that if a victim "intentionally lied about being sexually assaulted," it would expose them to "scorn and ridicule."

"Therefore, Bill Cosby's statements [about the victims lying] could be found to have a defamatory meaning, and the court allowed the case to proceed past the motion to dismiss stage," McCawley argued.

The attorney also cited MLB trainer Brian McNamee's defamation suit against Clemens, in which the former pitcher was called out for using steroids to enhance his play. In that argument, the court had decided that Clemens calling McNamee a liar was defamatory enough to move pass a motion to dismiss, McCawley noted.

"He came forward and called his trainer a liar publicly, and the court found that that statement that he is a liar was actionable defamation that survived the motion to dismiss, because publicly proclaiming someone a liar is actionable defamation," she argued. "It is not mere denial, it is actionable defamation."

It is important to note that names mentioned in the now-unsealed documents include both individuals accused of wrongdoing as well as those who merely had tangential ties to the late financier.

In the initial 2015 lawsuit, Giuffre alleged that Epstein and Maxwell had facilitated her sexual abuse and trafficked her to Prince Andrew. The now-40-year-old woman won $12 million at the end of the suit, while the Prince said in 2019 that he had "no recollection of ever meeting" Giuffre.

Epstein died in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 after he was arrested for child sex trafficking and conspiracy. New York and federal investigators ruled the death a suicide at age 66. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of abusing and trafficking underage girls. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and has since appeal her conviction.