A federal judge ruled last week that attorneys for one of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged sex-trafficking victims must “destroy” documents believed to contain the names of the convicted sex offender’s business associates.

The ruling: Senior U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska determined Virginia Giuffre’s lawyers had improperly obtained the files in question and ordered they “be destroyed,” Newsweek reported.

• The highly sought-after information, gathered in a 2015 civil suit filed by Giuffre, allegedly contains the names of people who conducted business with Epstein.
• Preska’s ruling means that Giuffre’s legal team cannot possess the documents, but does not mean all copies must be wiped out.
• The judge also asked Giuffre for proof the materials had been destroyed.

Dershowitz: Preksa’s ruling came on the heels of a request by Alan Dershowitz, an attorney and former member of President Donald Trump's legal defense team, to review the files from the Giuffre lawsuit.

• Preska denied the former Harvard Law professor’s request, saying his petition to view documents “with over a thousand docket entries" amounted to a “carpet bombing.”
• Giuffre has claimed that Epstein forced her to have sex with Dershowitz, a charge which prompted the prominent attorney to file a defamation suit against her last year.
• Dershowitz, meanwhile, slammed Preska’s decision, telling Newsweek, “I oppose the destruction of evidence that may contain smoking gun proof that my false accuser made up her story.”

Epstein’s crimes: Epstein, a wealthy and well-connected financier, pleaded not guilty last year to a range of crimes involving alleged sex trafficking and abuse of girls as young as 14.

• Giuffre has also said Prince Andrew and other powerful men had sex with her at Epstein's direction when she was underage. 
• alleged that Epstein forced her to have sex with powerful and high-profile men, including Prince Andrew, while she was underage.
• Esptein was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell in August.
• Epstein’s death was officially ruled a suicide and medical examiners determined that he hung himself.

His death was officially ruled a suicide, but widely believed conspiracy theories hold that he was murdered to prevent him from testifying against powerful associates. 

Epstein's alleged fixer, Ghislaine Maxwell, was arrested by the FBI last week in New Hampshire on charges of luring underage girls to be abused by him.