A  judge has said that documents containing the identities of victims and alleged associates of deceased convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein can be made available to the public. 

Judge Loretta Preska said Friday that several documents from a 2015 defamation trial against Epstein associate and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell could be unsealed as a a matter of public interest. 

The judge’s ruling will allow the names of several “John Does” to be revealed from a  seven-year-old trial in which Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre had sued Maxwell for defamation. Preska said that a lot of the “purportedly sensitive information” included in the documents had already been made public through Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial. 

Under contention were the real names of “Does” 12, 28, 97, 107, 144, 147, 171, and 183. “Doe 183” got a temporary delay to allow that individual to appeal. 

“That Doe’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein has been a subject of intent media coverage, and Doe 183’s name has appeared in numerous places in unsealed portions of Ms. Maxwell’s criminal trial transcript,” Preska said Friday, according to a report from Insider. “In the court’s view, there’s no reason to redact Doe 183 from the documents.”

The names that were revealed included several alleged associates and victims of Epstein, the disgraced financier who died in a New York City jail cell in August 2019. 

Billionaire Hyatt Hotel executive Tom Pritzker, a cousin of Illinois Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker, was one of the individuals named in the documents. He had hoped to keep his name sealed as he said it would harm his reputation. 

Giuffre has accused him of having sex with her as part of Epstein’s trafficking scheme, but Pritzker has denied the allegations. Pritzker’s name was referenced in the documents during a deposition. 

Emmy Tayler, who was once employed as Maxwell’s personal trainer, name was also included in the sealed documents. She has contested the nature of her relationship with Maxwell, and said that she is innocent from any allegation of wrongdoing. 

One victim, Sarah Ransome, was also included in the documents while another’s name was kept secret due to “ongoing trauma.” Another name that will remain sealed was described as a “classic outsider” by Preska. 

All of the information from the unsealed documents will likely be made public in the coming weeks.

Former President Donald Trump responded to Friday’s big news that the Justice Department was handing over its criminal investigations into him to a special counsel to avoid potential political bias by claiming that the DOJ was being “weaponized” against him.

Attorney General Merrick Garland named Jack Smith, a former war crimes prosecutor, as special counsel overseeing the Department’s criminal investigation into Trump’s handling of U.S. government records after leaving office and his actions related to the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

“The Department of Justice has long recognized that in certain, extraordinary cases, it is in the public interest to appoint a special prosecutor to independently manage an investigation and prosecution,” Garland said in a Friday press briefing. “Based on recent developments, including the former president’s announcement that he is a candidate for president in the next election and the sitting president’s intention to be a candidate as well, I have concluded that it is in the public’s interest to appoint a special counsel.”

Trump first responded in an interview with Fox News, claiming that he was “not going to partake” in the investigation.

A spokesperson for Trump later said, “this is a totally expected political stunt by a feckless, politicized, weaponized Biden Department of Justice.”

Trump demanded that the Republican Party “stand up and fight” amid the announcement of a special counsel.

“It is unfair to the country, to the Republican Party, and I don’t think people should accept it. I am not going to accept it,” he told Fox News.

The 76-year-old later addressed the matter during an event Friday night at Mar-a-Lago, claiming that he thought that the investigations into him were winding down.

The active investigation about the classified materials that were discovered in his private residence when the FBI raided his home back in August was paused 60 days prior to the midterm elections due to DOJ policy about trying to not interfere in elections.

Trump then turned his attention to President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, who is also under criminal investigation by the DOJ.

“Where’s their special prosecutor, by the way?” Trump asked. “Where’s their special prosecutor? They said, when I announced they had to do this. Well, he announced too, he said he wants to run, where’s their special prosecutor?”

The U.S. attorney overseeing the criminal investigation into Hunter Biden is David C. Weiss, a holdover from the Trump administration.

“Why isn’t there a special counsel being set up for them?” Trump continued. “Tremendous corruption, they’re corrupt people, they’re criminals. I’ve done nothing wrong. They participated in massive criminal activity with many other nations.”

Trump then suggested that the special counsel was appointed because House Republicans announced that they would be investigating the Biden family.

“And it’s not a fair situation what’s going on and I guarantee you they get a fair investigation, this will not be a fair investigation,” Trump continued. “But again, I thought this was all done or very close to being done. These people are corrupt, and yet they go after innocent people under the guise of legitimacy.”