PEOPLE

It’s a Christmas nightmare for men who were friends with Jeffrey Epstein

As a New York judge has said the people named in a lawsuit have 14 days to appeal before the documents are unsealed, it’s a whole new kind of festive countdown, says Helen Rumbelow
Helen Rumbelow
The Times
Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein
Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein
AFP
Helen Rumbelow
The Times

There are many countdowns associated with the festive season that encourage us to reflect upon and embrace its values. In Advent we mark the days and weeks before Christmas with spirituality or cheap chocolate; the 12 days leading up to Twelfth Night are an invitation to throw off normal cares and self-consciousness to celebrate with friends and family. And for the end of 2023 only, there has been a new countdown: a 14-day ticking clock that could not be better designed to torture the souls of any high-profile man worried about their hitherto secret associations with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

• Jeffrey Epstein associates to be named in unsealed documents

The ruling from Loretta Preska, a federal judge in New York, has timings