Maxwell gives up battle to keep the identities of eight other men secret

GHISLaINE Maxwell has given up trying to keep secret the identities of eight men in a lawsuit brought by Prince andrew’s accuser.

The convicted sex trafficker has abandoned her attempts to block Virginia roberts from seeking to unmask them.

They were mentioned anonymously in legal papers when Miss roberts sued Maxwell in the civil courts for defamation in 2015.

But now Miss roberts has requested they be made public among ‘vast swathes of information’ about the ‘sex trafficking operation’ Maxwell ran with Jeffrey Epstein.

Maxwell had previously opposed making the documents public. But yesterday it appeared she has had a change of heart. In a letter to the judge in the civil case, the British socialite’s lawyer Laura Menninger said her client would now ‘leave it to the court’ to decide if the names should be made public. ‘She does not wish to further address those objections,’ the letter states.

according to court filings, John Doe 17 is among those wishing to keep his identity under wraps, arguing that being named in the case would cause him ‘annoyance and embarrassment’.

another John Doe, number 151, claimed that he was ‘trying to live a private life’ and that naming him would mean he was ‘hounded’ by the media. If Judge Loretta Preska decides to ‘unseal’ the secret documents in the case, they could shed fresh light on the duke’s relationship with Maxwell and Epstein.

Miss roberts’ lawyer Sigrid McCawley urged the judge: ‘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.’

among the men, John Doe 73 argues against unsealing because of a ‘general aversion’ to being associated with Maxwell and Epstein. Doe 93 claims that documents which mention him have ‘no relevance’ and could be seen as ‘salacious’.

Prince andrew has strongly and repeatedly denied all claims made against him by Miss roberts – who now uses her married name Giuffre – calling them ‘baseless’.