Jeffrey Epstein: did he have a painting of Bill Clinton in a dress, who is Doe 36 - what happened to his house

As the world awaits the release of the 'Jeffrey Epstein list' - documents relating to more than 170 people who were either associates, friends or victims - attention is once again back on the disgraced financier.

On Monday 18 December, US Judge Loretta Preska ruled that the files - part of a 2015 US defamation case by Virginia Giuffre against Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite who supplied Epstein with underage girls - be made public.

Though the exact date and time of the documents' unsealing is not known, the individuals who are set to be named in the documents had 14 days to appeal against the Judge Preska’s decision – meaning they are likely to be released in early January.

Judge Preska ordered some individuals should be named because they had already given interviews to the media – including Johanna Sjoberg, who has claimed Prince Andrew touched her breast while sitting on a couch inside the US billionaire’s townhouse in 2001.

Epstein's townhouse, situated in one of Manhattan's most affluent neighbourhoods, became a focal point of curiosity and speculation following the financier's arrest and subsequent demise.

Located on the Upper East Side at 9 East 71st Street, the seven-story mansion stood as a symbol of Epstein's opulent lifestyle and was shrouded in mystery even before his legal troubles deepened. But what has happened to it since? Here is everything you need to know.

What happened to Jeffrey Epstein's townhouse?

In the aftermath of Epstein's arrest on charges of sex trafficking minors and his subsequent suicide while in federal custody in 2019, attention swiftly turned to his properties, notably the townhouse.

Given the gravity of the allegations against Epstein, his assets, including his homes, became subject to legal scrutiny and potential forfeiture. Epstein's townhouse wasn't just a luxurious residence; it was a place where disturbing allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation were said to have taken place.

Amid ongoing investigations and legal proceedings involving Epstein's estate, the fate of the townhouse remained uncertain, and questions arose about what would become of the notorious property.

Reports indicated that the property held a worth estimated at tens of millions of dollars due to its prime location and extravagant design, though its notoriety cast a shadow over its market value.

The associations with Epstein's alleged crimes made it a challenging asset to handle, potentially affecting its sale or repurposing. Over time, discussions surfaced about potential uses for the property that could distance it from its troubling past.

Suggestions ranged from transforming it into a memorial for victims of sexual abuse to repurposing it entirely, perhaps as a philanthropic institution or a centre supporting survivors of trafficking and abuse.

The fate of the townhouse remained unresolved for a considerable period due to the complexities of legal processes, the contentious nature of Epstein's estate and the sensitivity surrounding the property's history.

But eventually, updates about the townhouse emerged, and reports indicated that in 2021, the property was sold for a substantial sum, though the exact details remained private.

Since 2020, all five of Epstein's properties have been sold, with the financier's estate promising that victims of alleged sexual assault will receive a portion of the proceeds, believed to have totalled around $150 million (£119 million).

Did he have a painting of Bill Clinton in a dress?

One of the stranger rumours surrounding Epstein's Manhattan townhouse suggested the financier had a painting depicting former President Bill Clinton wearing a blue dress and heels hanging from the wall.

The alleged image was said to depict Clinton lounging provocatively, his dress resembling that famously worn by Monica Lewinsky during her affair with the former president, complete with bright red heels.

Such a painting does indeed exist, and was created by New York-based Australian artist Petrina Ryan-Kleid, who named her artwork 'Parsing Bill'. But whether it was present in Epstein's home has never been verified.

The Daily Mail first reported on the rumours, citing an unidentified source who claimed to have taken a picture of the unnerving Clinton painting in 2012 through a doorway. The paper said that it had seen metadata confirming the photo's location and date.

The New York Post then followed up with its own report, citing another unnamed source who described the painting as being "hanging up there prominently—as soon as you walked in—in a room to the right. Everybody who saw it laughed and smirked.”

The rumours added a bizarre and lurid layer to the already scandalous narrative surrounding Epstein, but it's crucial to note that concrete evidence or reliable substantiation of the painting's placement within Epstein's townhouse remained elusive, which led to its status as more of an urban legend or a conspiracy theory rather than an established fact.

Who is Doe 36?

Clinton is one of the high profile names expected to be included on the 'Epstein list', according to ABC News, who report that Doe 36 in the currently redacted files is the codename for the former US president.

Although Virginia Giuffre - whose accusations include claims that she was forced to have sexual encounters with Prince Andrew, allegations he has repeatedly denied - has never accused Clinton of any misconduct, she insists that she met him on Epstein's infamous private island, which Clinton has denied ever visiting.

But private flight records maintained by one of Epstein's pilots have previously revealed that, in the years following his presidency, Clinton took numerous flights on Epstein's aircraft, including travels to Paris, Bangkok and Brunei.

Clinton has been frequently mentioned in relation to Epstein, including in a 2002 article published in New York magazine, where Clinton, through a spokesman, described Epstein as “both a highly successful financier and a committed philanthropist with a keen sense of global markets and an in-depth knowledge of 21st-century science."

Clinton said he severed his relationship with Epstein in 2005 following allegations that Epstein had lured underage to his Palm Beach residence for sexualised massages.

Following Epstein's 2019 arrest, Clinton released another statement in which he claimed to have known "nothing" about Epstein's offences, to have not spoken to Epstein "in well over a decade," and to have "never been to Little St James Island, Epstein's ranch in New Mexico, or his residence in Florida."