Virginia Giuffre claimed she was sex-trafficked to the Duke of York and “two of the world’s most respected politicians”, court documents show.

A US judge ordered hundreds of documents to be unsealed as part of Giuffre’s previously settled civil claim against disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, which was filed in 2015.

The first tranche of documents, released on Wednesday (US time), named 200 people, including Prince Andrew, former US presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, and the late physicist Stephen Hawking. Being named in the documents is not related to being guilty of any offence.

In an email exchange with journalist Sharon Churcher in May 2011, Giuffre – who now lives in Australia – spoke of her concerns about working with Vanity Fair after former US president Bill Clinton had allegedly “threatened them not to write sex-trafficking articles” about paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

In a follow up email, Churcher said it would be a “gamble” for Giuffre to give the magazine a statement about how she had no more to say about how she was “sex-trafficked to PA and other men including two of the world’s most respected politicians”.

The names of the two politicians in the email remain redacted.

In another email with the Epstein victim, Churcher appeared to suggest to Giuffre how to support to the FBI her allegation that she was “given” to Andrew.

The email from March 2011 read: “I am told the FBI have the flight logs. They also have the journal. It’s the document they confiscated from a houseman called Alfredo Rodriguez.

“Maybe Jason means that he wants to know how they corroborate the flight to London when you were ‘given’ to Andrew.

“Here’s how: You had photos from that trip – taken in Granada and London – and you recalled going to Paris as well and Morocco.

“I found that itinerary in the logs [you landed at Luton airport near London].

“Also Johanna had recalled being groped by Andrew one Easter at the NY mansion and that Ghislaine sat both of you on his knee.

“You had an identical memory and there was a flight to NY just before Easter in ’01 that I found in the logs.”

In another document released on Thursday (US time), Maxwell claimed Churcher, who was working for the Mail on Sunday, helped “concoct” sexual assault allegations against Andrew.

In 2016, Maxwell’s legal team claimed Churcher was “aware” the allegations made by Giuffre against the duke were “false” and said she “helped manufacture some of the stories that have been denied”.

Andrew stepped down from public life after the furore over his friendship with Epstein. He paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case with Giuffre, a woman he claimed never to have met.

The duke, who is the King’s younger brother, was cast out of the working monarchy and no longer uses his HRH style after Giuffre, who was trafficked by Epstein, accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was 17.

He strenuously denies any wrongdoing.

The document showed that Maxwell’s legal team alleged that a handwritten diary by Giuffre, which contained information about her alleged encounter with Andrew, was a “completely fabricated document”.

So far around 60 out of about 250 documents have been released in connection with the case.

Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.

The death was ruled a suicide.

Maxwell has been imprisoned since July 2020, despite numerous attempts from her defence counsel to have her released on bail.

She was sentenced to 20 years in prison at the federal court in the Southern District of New York in June 2022.

The socialite indicated her desire to appeal shortly after her conviction with her lawyers claiming victims had “faded, distorted and motivated memories”.

Her appeal is scheduled to be heard in November next year.

-AAP