DOJ Investigation: Re Jeffrey Epstein Plea Deal; 2008 SDFL; 2019 SDNY

[Reality Check]

I hope there is a complete investigation that includes Dershowitz, Starr, Acosta and any other enablers.

I have seen Ken Starr's name mentioned. What is the connection?

[Maybenaut]

Okay. I noticed the words "interstate or foreign commerce." I was interested in knowing if the 2008 crimes only took place in Florida.

The operative words will be "in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce." Almost anything will qualify.

[bob]

I hope there is a complete investigation that includes Dershowitz, Starr, Acosta and any other enablers.

I have seen Ken Starr's name mentioned. What is the connection?

Starr was part of the legal team that obtained the sweetheart deal for Epstein.

[Reality Check]

Ah ok. That's another reason to detest Ken Starr.

[Kendra]

Ah ok. That's another reason to detest Ken Starr.

Starr was all over the news shows during Mueller's investigation. Haven't seen him so much last few months. Would love to see some have him in for some hard questions.

[Kendra]

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/13/nyre ... elite.html#

A strange thing happened when Jeffrey Epstein came back to New York City after being branded a sex offender: His reputation appeared to rise.

In 2010, the year after he got out of a Florida prison, Katie Couric and George Stephanopoulos dined at his Manhattan mansion with a British royal. The next year, Mr. Epstein was photographed at a “billionaire’s dinner” attended by tech titans like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. A page popped up on Harvard University’s website lauding his accomplishments, and superlative-filled news releases described his lofty ambitions as he dedicated $10 million to charitable causes.

Powerful female friends served as social guarantors: Peggy Siegal, a gatekeeper for A-list events, included him in movie screenings, and Dr. Eva Andersson-Dubin, a champion of women’s health, maintained a friendship that some felt gave him credibility. Mr. Epstein put up a website showing Stephen Hawking and other luminaries at a science gathering he had organized.
“I’m not a sexual predator, I’m an ‘offender,’ Mr. Epstein told The New York Post in 2011. “It’s the difference between a murderer and a person who steals a bagel.”

[Slim Cognito]

[TexasFilly]

Ah ok. That's another reason to detest Ken Starr.

Yes, the ironical hypocrisy of the man who went after Bill Clinton's sexual improprieties. First covering up sexual assault at Baylor then working hard to ensure Epstein went unpunished.

[Chilidog]

supposedly Dershowitz kept his underwear on.

that’s disgusting.

[kate520]

Ah ok. That's another reason to detest Ken Starr.

Yes, the ironical hypocrisy of the man who went after Bill Clinton's sexual improprieties. First covering up sexual assault at Baylor then working hard to ensure Epstein went unpunished.

Jeez, the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy is...Vast. And ridiculously long-lived. Maybe it’s not really Her Emails they protest, after all.

Hiya.

[kate520]

Maybenaut

The best way to understand it is to go back and look at the indictment and the statute. The indictment says he is alleged to have conspired to engage in sex trafficking in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1591(a) and (b). It also says he engaged in sex trafficking in violation of 18 U.S.C Sec. "1591(a), (b)(2), and 2." I think there's a typo in there.

Not a typo. I saw a discussion on Twitter (popehat?) about it, but I canna remember what. It’s late. If I remember I’ll look tomorrow.

[Lani]

Jeffrey Epstein: Model prisoner who swept, mopped floors, official says
https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/2019 ... icial-says

Lovely story about how nice Epstein was in jail - not prison. And no, nothing special about the accommodations he had! Other than protection in the local jail - not prison. And released for 12 hours/day. Nope, nothing special.

It is unclear when Epstein was approved for work release. At one point in the interview, Gauger indicates it was immediately upon his entry to the jail, explaining that “every other inmate would be given the same privileges if they met the parameters.” Later, he said Epstein spent 3 ½ months in lock-up before sheriff’s officials, after consulting with Epstein’s attorneys, agreed he could leave the stockade to go to work from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. six days week. Gauger couldn’t be reached for comment to explain the discrepancy and no records were immediately available.

And then he went home under house arrest... sort of.

But, Epstein was often not home. He regularly got permission to fly to New York, Boston and Miami. He flew back and forth between Little James Island, his private estate in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Colbath, who approved the travel, said Epstein couldn’t be gone more than one night, couldn’t travel on weekends and his trips had to be for business or legal matters. He also had to alert his probation officers 48 hours in advance.

However, Epstein didn’t have to report where he went or who he met with.

Attorneys who tried to rein in what they called Epstein’s efforts to intimidate and harass young women who had filed civil suits against him also met with little success.

[Kendra]

https://nypost.com/2019/07/14/inside-th ... %20buttons

In 2004, Elisabetta Tai was a 21-year-old Italian model with big dreams.

Jeffrey Epstein's cell is 3 doors down from El Chapo
A month after arriving in Manhattan, her booker gave her an Upper East Side address and told her he had set up a meeting with the man who would be able to get her a gig modeling for the Victoria’s Secret catalog.
“He told me this is one of the most important people in modeling,” Tai told The Post. “He said that this man is in charge of Victoria’s Secret and he’s going to change your life.”

Jeffrey Epstein did end up changing Tai’s life — but not in the way she expected, she said.

[Hurtzi]

supposedly Dershowitz kept his underwear on.

that’s disgusting.

[Maybenaut]

Maybenaut

The best way to understand it is to go back and look at the indictment and the statute. The indictment says he is alleged to have conspired to engage in sex trafficking in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1591(a) and (b). It also says he engaged in sex trafficking in violation of 18 U.S.C Sec. "1591(a), (b)(2), and 2." I think there's a typo in there.

Not a typo. I saw a discussion on Twitter (popehat?) about it, but I canna remember what. It’s late. If I remember I’ll look tomorrow.

I figgered it out. 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2 involves principals. It says,

(a) Whoever commits an offense against the United States or aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures its commission, is punishable as a principal.

(b) Whoever willfully causes an act to be done which if directly performed by him or another would be an offense against the United States, is punishable as a principal.

They could have avoided the confusion if they had written "Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2 and 1591(a) and (b)(2)." The way it was drafted made me think they were invoking 1591(e)(2) (defining "coercion"), but forgot the "(e)".

[Addie]

Associated Press

Inside Epstein network, layer upon layer to protect the boss ...

The linchpin of the operation described in the federal indictment against Epstein were the recruiters — some of them victims themselves — who targeted girls as young as 13. Epstein deemed his team so essential that he attempted to shield several of them from federal charges under the same nonprosecution agreement that allowed him to avoid a lengthy federal prison sentence and plead guilty in 2008 to lesser state charges in Florida.

That unusual deal , initially filed in secret, went as far as to bar the federal government from charging “any potential co-conspirators of Epstein.”

That agreement could be upended by the indictment unsealed in New York federal court this month that charges Epstein with conspiracy and sex trafficking, which could see the 66-year-old sentenced to up to 45 years in prison if convicted.

Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, declined to say whether any of Epstein’s associates will be charged. He also would not say whether they are cooperating with the investigation. ...

Epstein has pleaded not guilty and is due in court Monday for a bail hearing. Prosecutors want him jailed pending trial, arguing that he is a flight risk and could attempt to influence witnesses. They said Friday that Epstein sent $350,000 recently to two individuals, including a former employee, after the Miami Herald started publishing articles about the Florida plea agreement.

Epstein’s New York indictment refers to unnamed employees who prosecutors say played a critical role in Epstein’s alleged crimes in the early 2000s and received payments to arrange massages that led to sex acts, with girls who then sometimes would be paid to find others like themselves.

[Kendra]

Former SDNY prosecutor Elie Honig (sp?) Was on CNN this afternoon. He said there is precedent on MY prosecutors not being bound by the FL agreement. Said it was a case he prosecuted and appealed and they were not bound by the other district's agreement.

Bail hearing tomorrow?

[Volkonski]

Courthouse News
‏
@CourthouseNews
28m28 minutes ago
More
Feds Say Evidence Is Piling up Daily Against Epstein http://ow.ly/R9bR30p7ZjZ

Federal prosecutors, preparing for a bail fight Monday, say evidence against financier Jeffrey Epstein is growing “stronger by the day” after several more women contacted them in recent days to say he abused them when they were minors.

Prosecutors say Epstein, 66, is a flight risk and danger to the community and should remain incarcerated until he is tried on charges that he recruited and abused dozens of underage girls in New York and Florida in the early 2000s.

His lawyers counter that their client has not committed crimes since pleading guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution in Florida in 2008 and that the federal government is reneging on a 12-year-old deal not to prosecute him. They say he should be allowed to await trial under house arrest in his $77 million Manhattan mansion, with electronic monitoring.



They said several additional women in multiple jurisdictions had identified themselves to the government, claiming Epstein abused them when they were minors. Also, dozens of people have called the government to report information about Epstein and the charges he faces, prosecutors said.

[Addie]

Associated Press

Jeffrey Epstein to Remain Behind Bars on Sex Abuse Charges as Judge Decides Whether to Grant Bail

(NEW YORK) — Financier Jeffrey Epstein will remain behind bars for now as a federal judge mulls whether to grant bail on charges he sexually abused underage girls.

The judge said Monday he needed more time to make a decision during a hearing Monday in New York.

Federal prosecutors maintain the well-connected Epstein, 66, is a flight risk and danger to the community — saying he should remain incarcerated until he is tried on charges that he recruited and abused dozens of underage girls in New York and Florida in the early 2000s.

Prosecutors said their case is getting “stronger by the day” after several more women contacted them in recent days to say he abused them when they were underage.

[Reality Check]

Adam Klasfeld
‏Verified account @KlasfeldReports
4m4 minutes ago

David Boies, for the victims, gets "the last word," Berman says.

Boies asks for one of the victims whom he represents to speak briefly. "Sure," Berman said, granting permission.


Adam Klasfeld
‏Verified account @KlasfeldReports
2m2 minutes ago

Annie Farmer, one of Epstein's accusers: "I was 16-years-old when I had the misfortune to meet" Jeffrey Epstein, and she was flown into New Mexico.

"His wealth, his privilege and the notoriety of the case would make it... more difficult," Farmer says, her voice cracking.


Adam Klasfeld
‏Verified account @KlasfeldReports
3m3 minutes ago

Courtney Wild (sp?, need to double check): "I was sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein starting at the age of 14."

Berman: Where did that occur?
CW: In Palm Beach, Florida.

[Reality Check]

[TexasFilly]

Accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein is willing to post bail as high as $100 million, his lawyer said Monday, as a prosecutor argued that the case against the wealthy investor is “already significantly stronger and getting stronger every single day.”
****

The lawyer, Martin Weinberg, said that contrary to numerous media accounts, Epstein is not a billionaire.

***

Judge Richard Berman said that he would not rule until Thursday whether the registered sex offender Epstein, 66, should be allowed to post bail.

Berman also said he planned to allow some of Epstein’s accusers, who attended the detention hearing, to speak at the proceeding.

And he said that he was inclined to unseal Epstein’s financial information, which was filed under seal last week as part of his bail application, unless prosecutors or defense lawyers could convince him it should remain out of public view.

****




Weinberg [Epstein's lawyer] told the judge Monday that prosecutors have not shown that Epstein continued being involved with underage girls in the past 14 years, after he pleaded guilty to a single Florida state charge related to sexual misconduct with a girl in 2008.

“He wasn’t a predator that couldn’t control his conduct, once he knew he was under investigation he disciplined himself,” Weinberg saying of a state probe in Florida in the mid-2000s.

When Judge Berman noted that he has read research whcih says the chance of recidivism of sex offenders increases over time, in contrast to claims by Epstein’s lawyer that it decrease, the defense lawyer pushed back.

“It’s not like he’s an out of control rapist,” Weinberg said. “It’s not like he was unable to control his conduct.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/15/jeffrey ... rsday.html

[Kendra]

Two victims spoke during the Jeffrey Epstein bail hearing. The first was Annie Farmer, who said she was 16 when she met Epstein. As she spoke, Epstein had his head turned to stare at her, a stern expression on his face. He remained staring at her the entire time. victims spoke during the Jeffrey Epstein bail hearing. The first was Annie Farmer, who said she was 16 when she met Epstein. As she spoke, Epstein had his head turned to stare at her, a stern expression on his face. He remained staring at her the entire time.

[neonzx]

What is the problem here? Don't we all have a safe with of piles of cash, dozens of diamonds, and a fake passport?

Seems a slam dunk for the judge to deny bail.

[TexasFilly]

What is the problem here? Don't we all have a safe with of piles of cash, dozens of diamonds, and a fake passport?

Seems a slam dunk for the judge to deny bail.

Well, the fake passport was expired.

The judge's comments in the CNBC article I linked above were...encouraging. I hope the 3 days it's going to take Judge Berman to make a decision includes time to write an opinion (because you know Epstein's legal team will try to appeal if he has to stay in jail.) Because I would've ruled from the bench, today. IANACL but it's interesting that the bail decision has apparently gone from the Magistrate to the Judge. I haven't seen any comment about that. If Epstein is let out on bail he's gonna be gone forever.