X, the site formerly known as Twitter, is reportedly blocking subpoena requests related to the legal case involving late financier and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Why? No one knows, but it’s certainly weird.
According to Business Insider, the social media platform declined to disclose information about accounts related to Epstein’s accuser, a woman named Rina Oh Amen. The legal case has nothing to do with the platform itself, but instead involves a spat between Oh Amen and another Epstein accuser, the better-known Virginia Giuffre.
While both women claim to have been victims of Epstein, their dispute involves mutual accusations that they were also involved in Epstein’s criminal activities.
People familiar with the matter reported:
[Ghislaine] Maxwell recruited Giuffre at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida in 2000 and brought her to Epstein’s side. Giuffre accused Oh Amen of participating in sexual and physical abuse of her in the early 2000s. In 2021, Oh Amen sued Giuffre, accusing Giuffre of defaming her through these remarks. Giuffre countersued, claiming Amen was Epstein’s “girlfriend.” In court documents and public statements, each side has accused the other of being one of Epstein’s recruiters rather than the actual victims.
The legal discovery process is currently underway to obtain evidence related to the case, and two female attorneys are contacting relevant third parties. As part of this process, Giuffre attempted to access one of Oh Amen’s previous accounts on X, which account involved communications with Giuffre. The account had previously been suspended, locking Oh Amen and cutting off access to DM.
While Giuffre’s attorney’s simple request for access to the account seemed like a no-brainer, Insider wrote that attorneys representing Records” and, in one case, a company lawyer wrote “Oh Amen has access to
Gizmodo reached out to X for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
No one can tell what exactly X is playing here. As of May, Elon Musk, the founder and former CEO of X, was involved in another legal case related to Epstein. The U.S. Virgin Islands, home to Epstein’s notorious “pedophile island,” subpoenaed Musk earlier this year to question him about any communications he might have had with Epstein and JPMorgan Chase. The Virgin Islands are currently suing JPMorgan Chase, accusing the bank of facilitating Epstein’s crimes. Musk has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the case, although he is one of many Silicon Valley luminaries subpoenaed in the case, including Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.
