5 of the most powerful political figures named in the Epstein files: list

By CP Staff, Thursday, January 04, 2024

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, laughs during a press conference in the capital rotunda January 10, 2008, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Richardson formally announced his withdrawal from his bid for the U.S. presidency. | Rick Scibelli/Getty Images

4. Bill Richardson

Former U.S. Congressman, Ambassador, Secretary of Energy, and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is among the names referenced in the newly-released documents linked to Epstein.

In a deposition taken May 3, 2016, Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre claimed she was instructed by Epstein associate and sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell to “give a massage” to Richardson during a trip to Epstein’s ranch in New Mexico.

When asked whether she ever met Richardson, Giuffre said, “I want to say that he was supposed to come to dinner when we were in New Mexico. I don't know if I met him. I believe that he and Ghislaine had dinner separate from myself.”

Giuffre also said Maxwell personally instructed her to “give a massage to Bill Richardson.”

Richardson, the chair of the 2004 Democratic National Convention, was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for his work in the North Korea nuclear crisis.

He died in September 2023.

In August 2019, Bloomberg reported Richardson denied ever meeting Giuffre, calling the allegations “completely false.”